I'm not sure if this is conventional wisdom at this point, but I think that this week's draft is going to be a pivotal moment in a turning point season. After a Superbowl championship and a 15-1 season, it's pretty tough not to back-slide. When you're back-sliding consists of winning your division, challenging for the number 2 seed in the playoffs, and winning your first round game against a division rival and their historically amazing, MVP running back, you're sitting in a pretty good spot.
On the other hand, there's nothing about the way the Packers finished the last season that could lead fans to be as confident as they were going into the last two seasons. The running game is a mess. The offensive line is a mess, which impacts the running game as well the ability of Aaron Rodgers to be effective. There were legitimate calls for Dom Capers to be fired after how lackluster the defense performed, especially in the playoff game against the 49ers. The pass rush disappeared for significant portions of the season and the safety play still hasn't recovered from the loss of Nick Collins.
The Packers are at a crossroads. To be sure, with Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers on the team, it will not be difficult for the team to win games. What remains to be seen is whether the team has truly been passed by the likes of the 49ers and the Seahawks. As usual, the Packers have been quiet this offseason, and that has led to a higher than usual amount of criticism of Ted Thompson. I'm not yet sure if i think that criticism is fair, but I do know that if the problem areas aren't addressed, that criticism will continue to grow.
If the Packers aren't going to improve via free-agency, then the draft has to be the mechanism for improvement. Well, the draft is here. It's time to see what the next class will bring to the table. Can the line be improved? Will the running game be revived? Can the defense regain its form? It's tough to tell. I don't think that they will need to fix all of these problems to regain championship form. Plugging one or two of the holes could allow the team to reach its destination, especially when Aaron Rodgers is at the helm.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Move Along... Nothing to See Here...
It's that time again: the time when Packer fans complain about how the team is doing nothing to improve itself and how Ted Thompson is not willing to spend money. To them I say "calm down." This isn't new and it isn't a problem.
Ted Thompson has made exactly one big, splashy move since taking over as Packers GM (unless you count trading Brett Favre, which I suppose you could). That move is the signing of Charles Woodson. True enough, that was a huge deal and worked out wonderfully for both sides. The truth of the matter is that Woodson largely fell into the Packers' lap because of doubts about Woodson stemming from his time in Oakland. Had any significant market existed for him at the time, he would not have been the bargain that Thompson shops for.
Other than Woodson, Ryan Picket is the biggest acquisition that Thomspon has made. While a quality acquisition, it wasn't exactly flashy. Most of the players Thompson adds are role players, backups and special teams contributors. So far, that seems to have been working pretty well.
What that allows him to do is maintain the core of players that the team has drafted. Players like Rodgers and Matthews would likely be on their way out if Thompson were prone to splashy moves (think Redskins, Cowboys and Al Davis' Raiders). Instead, they're in line for extensions that should keep them with the team for a long time. Sure, the team parted ways with Greg Jennings, but the team has sufficient depth to step up because of the focus on the draft. Ted Thompson is not going to over-pay for players.
Cullen Jenkins and Marco Rivera are all guys that Packer fans wanted to keep, but other teams over-paid for them and they did not pan out at all for their new teams. That's the truth of the matter. Big names free agents don't tend to lead to team success. Just ask Cullen Jenkins how the Eagles "Dream Team" did.
The apparently dirty secret is that long-term success is built by building from the inside. It is beyond me why some Packer fans continue to struggle with this idea. Would you really rather have Jerry Jones out there making moves and headlines as opposed to Ted Thompson sitting up in his tower, plotting, planning and winning? We have a recent championship, the best quarterback in the game, stacked wide receivers, and one of the scariest defensive players in the league. I'd rather have that than Jerry's headlines any day of the week.
Ted Thompson has made exactly one big, splashy move since taking over as Packers GM (unless you count trading Brett Favre, which I suppose you could). That move is the signing of Charles Woodson. True enough, that was a huge deal and worked out wonderfully for both sides. The truth of the matter is that Woodson largely fell into the Packers' lap because of doubts about Woodson stemming from his time in Oakland. Had any significant market existed for him at the time, he would not have been the bargain that Thompson shops for.
Other than Woodson, Ryan Picket is the biggest acquisition that Thomspon has made. While a quality acquisition, it wasn't exactly flashy. Most of the players Thompson adds are role players, backups and special teams contributors. So far, that seems to have been working pretty well.
What that allows him to do is maintain the core of players that the team has drafted. Players like Rodgers and Matthews would likely be on their way out if Thompson were prone to splashy moves (think Redskins, Cowboys and Al Davis' Raiders). Instead, they're in line for extensions that should keep them with the team for a long time. Sure, the team parted ways with Greg Jennings, but the team has sufficient depth to step up because of the focus on the draft. Ted Thompson is not going to over-pay for players.
Cullen Jenkins and Marco Rivera are all guys that Packer fans wanted to keep, but other teams over-paid for them and they did not pan out at all for their new teams. That's the truth of the matter. Big names free agents don't tend to lead to team success. Just ask Cullen Jenkins how the Eagles "Dream Team" did.
The apparently dirty secret is that long-term success is built by building from the inside. It is beyond me why some Packer fans continue to struggle with this idea. Would you really rather have Jerry Jones out there making moves and headlines as opposed to Ted Thompson sitting up in his tower, plotting, planning and winning? We have a recent championship, the best quarterback in the game, stacked wide receivers, and one of the scariest defensive players in the league. I'd rather have that than Jerry's headlines any day of the week.
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