Roster Depth Has Its Costs and Benefits

            Just as offseason programs got underway, Ted Thompson and the Packers front office opted to bring back DWTS champ and aging veteran receiver Donald Driver. The decision produced mixed reactions from experts as practice squad standouts Tori Gurley, Diondre Borel and Shaky Smithson continue to wait their turn in joining the league’s premier wide receiver corps.

Driver’s resigning doesn’t necessarily shut the door to the youngsters’ hopes in Green Bay; the Packers kept five tight ends on the Week 1 roster last season and – with their emphasis on special teams – could do the same at wide receiver this season. However, any extra receiver retained shares a limited role in the offense for as long as Driver is around.

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Quick Recap of the Packers Draft

Ted Thompson’s eighth draft as Packers GM may have been the most interesting of them all, adding six straight defensive players before capping off the weekend with an O-lineman and QB.  While both Thompson and McCarthy maintained the notion that selection was based on best player available, the selections fell suspiciously in line with the Packers’ direct needs. Further, Thompson traded up an uncharacteristically high three times.
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Breaking Down the 2012 Packers Schedule

The 2012 NFL schedule is out and fans are already blowing up hotel receptionists. As Mike McCarthy likes to point out, it’s not always about who you play, but when you play them. In addition to teams getting hot and cold on their own, some tend to fare better at different points of the season. Under McCarthy, the Packers have been very mediocre in the first half of the season, with the exception of 2007 and 2011.

Last season, the Packers played in five prime time games (including Thanksgiving), a tribute to being both good and an exciting team to watch. Not surprisingly, the Packers received another five prime time games in 2012, including one Monday nighter. One interesting thing to note about the Packers’ schedule is that five of their six divisional games come after the bye week.

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2012 Draft Analysis: Defensive Linemen

When Green Bay Packers fans are asked what was the biggest difference between the 2010 and ’11 seasons, the most common answer is the free agent departure of Cullen Jenkins. The loss of the former starting defensive end is a hole that still needs to be filled and the 2012 draft would be the perfect time for Ted Thompson to address it.

The strength of the 2011 defensive line was starting tackles Ryan Pickett and B.J Raji, but after those two, the Packers didn’t get consistent play from any of the other defensive linemen on the roster.

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2012 Draft Analysis: Cornerbacks

Dre KirkpatrickIt’s been quite some time since Ted Thompson hit it big on cornerback in the draft. In fact, you’d have to go all the way back to his days in Seattle where the current Packers GM endorsed the selection of Washington State cornerback Marcus Trufant. That’s not to say Thompson hasn’t built the position well – Sam Shields was quite the find in undrafted free agency – it’s just that his wins haven’t come in Radio City Music Hall.

For the most part, Ted has avoided early-round selection of cornerbacks, his only early-day pick being second-round bust Pat Lee in 2008. Thompson added Al Harris look-a-like, Davon House, in the fourth round of last year’s draft but so far has seen zero return on investment. With a fair amount of cornerback talent in the first two rounds of this year’s draft, don’t be surprised to see Thompson make a move with either the 28th or 59th pick.

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2012 Draft Analysis: Quarterbacks

Kirk CousinsHaving just lost Matt Flynn to Seattle in free agency, the Packers will be faced with their first offseason since 2008 where quarterback is a relevant position to scout for heading into the draft. The Packers barely missed a handsome return on their seventh round investment in Flynn but discovered the value in developing a middle-of-the-road passer behind a great one. Expect Green Bay to draft another arm this year that can serve as insurance for Aaron Rodgers and potential trade bait in a couple of seasons.

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2012 Draft Analysis: Outside Linebackers

The Green Bay Packers changed to a 3-4 defense in 2009, and since then general manager Ted Thompson has not made drafting the outside linebacker position a top priority. Three-time pro bowler Clay Matthews is the lone early-round selection by Thompson at the crucial position in the defense, but after the anemic production in 2011, there is urgency for an OLB to taken high in this year’s draft.

Matthews was the 26th pick in 2009 after the Packers traded two third-round picks to move up from the second round to nab him and this year would be the perfect time for Thompson to use that aggressiveness once again.

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2012 Draft Analysis: Offensive Tackles

Intuitively, the selection of back-to-back first round tackles over the past two drafts makes one think that Ted Thompson will lay off the position in 2012. However, Ted has never been one to shy away from elite talent that’s available in bargain territory. At the same time, the late first round selections of Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod were unique in that they satisfied both BPA and need criteria.

Now that need is not as much of a concern, it would seem less likely that the Packers GM would pounce on a tackle in the first round unless it was an clear cut steal. To add to that, this year’s tackle class isn’t as front-loaded as the previous two drafts. With USC’s Matt Kahlil and Iowa’s Riley Reiff looking like top-15 locks, the only other hands-down first round tackle would be Stanford’s Jonathan Martin.

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Packers Need to Establish Consistency Up Front

Derek SherrodThe protection in front of Aaron Rodgers has been a rollercoaster ride since the 2011 MVP took over as starter four years ago.  Rodgers found the turf often in 2008 and was lucky to play a full season in 2009. With two respectable seasons now under their belt, it’s time for the offensive line to take it to the next level. The barrier to becoming a consistently elite front five? The uncertain picture at tackle.

Let’s put the Scott Wells and Chad Clifton talk to the side here. For a quarterback to have sustainable production in this league, he must receive consistent protection from his tackles – namely the blindside blocker. Rodgers needs exactly that from Clifton’s heir at left tackle. Green Bay has four potential paths to take, starting with the most obvious: Derek Sherrod.

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2011 Roster Evaluations: Running Backs

Packers RB Brandon SaineIn a year where Aaron Rodgers’ arm fueled most of the offensive production, the Green Bay backfield was left in the shadows. James Starks picked up where he left off in the prior postseason, leaving many to believe he would become the feature back by December. Instead, a late-season resurgence by Ryan Grant kept the backfield split through the final match in January.

Kudos to Mike McCarthy for calling plays around each of his backs’ strengths rather than inserting any back into running plays. Grant, a known liability inside the tackles, used his speed to turn standard sweeps into sizable gains. Starks resumed his role as the “slasher”, picking up the dirty yards inside. John Kuhn saw increased goal line work and remained a fan favorite, picking up a pro bowl nomination in the process.

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