Love’s first game as El Hombre…

[RashanGary]

Loaded? I thought the offensive line was terrible? How can a loaded team have a losing record and not make the playoffs? Adding some rookies can't be enough to go from a losing team to being loaded with talent. Are you now saying Rodgers played that badly?

Haha! True, how could this loaded team with the goat at QB not win more than 8 games last year

[texaspackerbacker]

Loaded? I thought the offensive line was terrible? How can a loaded team have a losing record and not make the playoffs? Adding some rookies can't be enough to go from a losing team to being loaded with talent. Are you now saying Rodgers played that badly?

hahahahaha I appreciate the fact that you read and remember my posts so well. Keep up the good work, Grasshopper. If you recall, though, I also said, O Line beyond the bare minimum, is not very significant as a factor in a team's success. Based on his own standard of greatness and with the extenuating circumstances of injuries to himself and the receivers, of course Rodgers played bad last year. We can only hope Love plays up to that level of "badness". If he does, and the receivers stay relatively healthy, and Barry can get his head even halfway out of his ass with all that talent on defense, then hell yes, they are a loaded team - just like anybody with a lick of sense thought the Packers were last season, and they woulda been if not for most of the receivers and Rodgers getting hurt and Barry shitting the bed as a DC.

[MadScientist]

The Packers passed 53.6% of the time last year. I suspect they will be around that again this season.

[sharpe1027]

So a team like the 49ers can go 13-4 with Jimmy G. and Brock Purdy, but a loaded Packers team with Rodgers couldn't make the playoffs?

No. The Packers simply aren't loaded with talent ignoring the QB position. I'd not argue with them being average, but they're not loaded.

[run pMc]

O Line beyond the bare minimum, is not very significant as a factor in a team's success.

Some might call that a dumb take, but I'll just say it's a take any GM or QB or RB would disagree with. There's a reason most elite tackles are taken in the Top 10, and more are taken than WR or TE, or punter. If you think OL doesn't matter, I'd refer you back to early last season when they decided to trot out Hansen and Newman on the right side. Can't blame Rodgers performance on injuries and then turn around and say OL doesn't matter beyond 'bare minimum'. You also don't have Aaron Jones running for 1000 yards without a decent OL.

As for the packers roster, they have talent. A LOT of it underperformed last year: Myers, Dillon, Stokes, Savage, Devondre, et al. Even Jaire and Kenny Clark had decent if somewhat down years (for them). Are they loaded?
SF has more talent and are at the top along with PHI in the NFC. GB's roster has some holes and warts but could compete for a wildcard spot. They shouldn't go 3-14 like the Bears did last year. That team had so little talent it tried to build a roster from other teams' training camp cuts.

I will say with something like 25 drafted players in the last two years, GB has a lot of young but unproven talent. A lot of it won't pan out, but even if they hit on 30% of the picks they're doing ok.

[texaspackerbacker]

Some might call that a dumb take, but I'll just say it's a take any GM or QB or RB would disagree with. There's a reason most elite tackles are taken in the Top 10, and more are taken than WR or TE, or punter. If you think OL doesn't matter, I'd refer you back to early last season when they decided to trot out Hansen and Newman on the right side. Can't blame Rodgers performance on injuries and then turn around and say OL doesn't matter beyond 'bare minimum'. You also don't have Aaron Jones running for 1000 yards without a decent OL.

As for the packers roster, they have talent. A LOT of it underperformed last year: Myers, Dillon, Stokes, Savage, Devondre, et al. Even Jaire and Kenny Clark had decent if somewhat down years (for them). Are they loaded?
SF has more talent and are at the top along with PHI in the NFC. GB's roster has some holes and warts but could compete for a wildcard spot. They shouldn't go 3-14 like the Bears did last year. That team had so little talent it tried to build a roster from other teams' training camp cuts.

I will say with something like 25 drafted players in the last two years, GB has a lot of young but unproven talent. A lot of it won't pan out, but even if they hit on 30% of the picks they're doing ok.

How many of those top ten picked O Linemen over the years have flopped? I'll suggest it was a large percentage of them - all the way from Mandarich to the present (I'm sure if I'm wrong, one of these whiny fact checkers in here will look it up and say otherwise hahahaha).

Which teams had the highest reputed O Lines over past years? One of them that I can think of was the Lions, and it didn't keep them from being bottom-dwellers.

I stand by what I have said 100% - Rodgers and Favre MADE the reputation of the Packers O Lines as being above average, some would say excellent. What I saw over the years/decades was consistent heavy pass rush pressure on Packer QBs that Favre and Rodgers got away from. The few games they missed, guys like Seneca Wallace and Tolzien were literally running for their lives. And did the Packers have a top flight running game over those same times. Sometimes yes, but arguably, that was MADE by the Rodgers/Favre passing game and would not have stood by itself with a mediocre passing game.

What do we have now? Potentially great pass receivers, Aaron Jones who as a change of pace RB is as good as any in the league. I don't think he could handle a true run-first offense, carrying it 25 or 30 a game. And Dillon got kinda exposed as not so great last season except as a change of pace guy. Our D could certainly be near the top of the league if Barry is any kind of a decent DC. It all comes down to Love.

I said previously, it could be anything from 5 or 6 wins if Love flops to 13 or 14 if he is good. If by some miracle, he reaches Rodgers level, the sky's the limit. My guess too would be 8 - 10 wins with Love being a half step above the pits.

Who in here can honestly say they didn't thoroughly expect the Packers to be just about the best team in the league going into last season? I certainly did.

[sharpe1027]

I think the Packers are setup with the potential to have a real good group of players in two or three years. They have shifted younger over the past two years and it's likely they will have some struggles this year. Hopefully, it pays dividends in a few years.

[run pMc]

You'll stand by what you said even after you've been proven wrong.

There have been surveys of picks by position and showed the vast majority of Pro-Bowl and All-Pro tackles are taken in the first round, most often high in the first round.
Of course some R1 picks will bust out, that doesn't change the fact that if you want a good pair of tackles, you'll probably need to draft them early.

Say whatever you like about Rodgers and Favre, the GB OL has received very high pass blocking grades on a consistent basis for many years. There are football analytics sites that prove this, and believe it or not the eyeball test supports it as well. Watch some other teams' OL.

The Lions and Philly probably had the best OL in the NFC last year, and both beat GB. Neither team was a bottom-dweller last year and actually finished better than GB.
Jared Goff was patting the ball waiting for guys to get open, he had so much time. Would you say Jared Goff made his line better?

I've long ago come to the conclusion that you're either (a) fairly ignorant about the game and just a blind fan, or (b) you're a troll. Hard to say, your posts seem to ignore objective facts.

[texaspackerbacker]

You'll stand by what you said even after you've been proven wrong.

There have been surveys of picks by position and showed the vast majority of Pro-Bowl and All-Pro tackles are taken in the first round, most often high in the first round.
Of course some R1 picks will bust out, that doesn't change the fact that if you want a good pair of tackles, you'll probably need to draft them early.

Say whatever you like about Rodgers and Favre, the GB OL has received very high pass blocking grades on a consistent basis for many years. There are football analytics sites that prove this, and believe it or not the eyeball test supports it as well. Watch some other teams' OL.

The Lions and Philly probably had the best OL in the NFC last year, and both beat GB. Neither team was a bottom-dweller last year and actually finished better than GB.
Jared Goff was patting the ball waiting for guys to get open, he had so much time. Would you say Jared Goff made his line better?

I've long ago come to the conclusion that you're either (a) fairly ignorant about the game and just a blind fan, or (b) you're a troll. Hard to say, your posts seem to ignore objective facts.

Proven wrong huh? hahahahahahahaha

There's somehow proof that the line was great and they didn't just have good stats because of the QBs? Yeah right to that hahahahahahahaha.

I'll give you that it could somehow be the way ya'all want to believe, but cause and effect just can't be proven. Analyzing how good a block is? Nothing subjective about that hahahahaha - the QB doesn't get sacked and gets the pass away, and wow, it's great blocking, even though it sure as hell didn't look that way according to how the play went. Other teams? Oh, how about Brady's Patriots for many years and then at Tampa too. I think it's safe to say he didn't have the mobility to make his lines look overly good. I don't know, were they loaded with high draft picks?

The Lions have had that great reputation O Line for a long time, and they still manage to be losers. The Bears have had above average O Lines throughout their years as chronic losers. Philadelphia? I honestly don't know who or what kind of draft picks their personnel are, but it's a safe bet that Jalen Hurts had a lot to do with the perception that they were so good. You got any counter examples? Winners with mediocre QBs and "great" O Lines?

What I said is that a bigger percentage of O Linemen drafted early in the first round are busts? Do you seriously dispute that?

I've tended to give you the benefit of the doubt as fairly competent and civil - unlike the fool who posted just below yours, but sometimes I wonder about you too. Swallowing shit doesn't somehow make that shit not shit.

[sharpe1027]

Tex doesn't give a shit about anything that doesn't fit his predetermined narrative. It's a fun diversion to engage the stupidity, but ultimately pointless.

[sharpe1027]

See, pointless. Civil? After calling people shithead and similar names for months ya don't like when some so much as says the word stupidity?

[texaspackerbacker]

I expect that shit from a lowlife imbecile like you, sharpe, but runpMc has tended to have a fair amount of competency and decency in the past.

[sharpe1027]

I expect that shit from a lowlife imbecile like you, sharpe, but runpMc has tended to have a fair amount of competency and decency in the past.

Hey, being called a lowlife seems like an improvement over all the name calling you've been dishing out for months. What did I do to get in your good graces?

[King Friday]

I don’t think they will pass that much, mainly because I expect Love to run the ball at least 4-5 times a game.

[Fritz]

I don’t think they will pass that much, mainly because I expect Love to run the ball at least 4-5 times a game.

Okay, this is how that first game is gonna go down:

Packers offense looks kinda disjointed - like it always does in the first game. But Love plays pretty well. Throws one pick in the first half, but mostly looks the part, though he does play it mostly very tight to the vest - doesn't take a lot of chances, lots of check-downs.

Packers in a tight game. Second half, Love looks more confident. Starts looking the part. Overall, he's having a pretty decent game, and Packer fans are encouraged. Joe Barely's defense plays kinda lousy - the usual defensive backs pointing at each other after broken plays, running backs gashing the Packer defense. But the game is close, but at the end of the game, at a key moment, Love throws a dumb, dumb pick and the Packers lose.

Packer fans panic after the game, despite the fact there were encouraging signs.

[RashanGary]

Okay, this is how that first game is gonna go down:

Packers offense looks kinda disjointed - like it always does in the first game. But Love plays pretty well. Throws one pick in the first half, but mostly looks the part, though he does play it mostly very tight to the vest - doesn't take a lot of chances, lots of check-downs.

Packers in a tight game. Second half, Love looks more confident. Starts looking the part. Overall, he's having a pretty decent game, and Packer fans are encouraged. Joe Barely's defense plays kinda lousy - the usual defensive backs pointing at each other after broken plays, running backs gashing the Packer defense. But the game is close, but at the end of the game, at a key moment, Love throws a dumb, dumb pick and the Packers lose.

Packer fans panic after the game, despite the fact there were encouraging signs.

It’s gonna be overreaction Monday for sure, no matter how it goes. But after half a season, with him being in his 4th year, we’ll have a good idea. I won’t overreact on one game, but I better see something good in 8.

[sharpe1027]

They'll probably pass more if the get behind often and have to play catch-up.

[King Friday]

They'll probably pass more if the get behind often and have to play catch-up.

We were behind a lot last year.

[run pMc]

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-final-2...-line-rankings
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-final-2...-line-rankings
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-final-2...-line-rankings
https://lombardiave.com/2020/08/05/p...ckle-rankings/

https://www.si.com/nfl/packers/news/...offensive-line
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-rate-rankings
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-players-teams

These are rankings and grades over the last three years that maybe 5 minutes of Googling got me.
They consistently list GB OL as being above average if not top 5 either overall or in certain categories like pass block win rate.

Those numbers are graded out independently of the QB, i.e., they measure things like whether the pass rusher is blocked for 2.5 seconds or longer, etc.

2021 was actually a down year for GB because they didn't have Bakhtiari or Jenkins (after the ARI game)...and they still graded out decent.

Bottom line: the GB OL has been good and still is. Disputing that is like disputing GB won 8 games last year - the numbers don't lie.
This will be an offense with a developing passing game with JLove and young receivers, but a very good veteran OL and run game. We'll find out not only if JLove is any good, but also how good of a coach MLF really is. Should make for some very exciting if unpredictable Sundays.

Love's first game will be quite interesting - on the road vs. CHI and Justin Fields. He might outplay Fields and GB still lose because they can't stop the run.
Very curious to see how the rookie receivers look in preseason in pads.

[texaspackerbacker]

Good job of researching hahahahaha. It's about like I woulda expected - as you say, not top five, but fairly good/above average. I do wonder, though, whether a. that 2.5 seconds is until the pass is thrown or contact with the QB is made by a pass rusher OR b. until the QB is flushed from the pocket. It kinda makes a difference. I also am not surprised that the level wasn't much lower without the sacred cow, Bakhtiari.

I did NOT blame the O Line for the Packers' mediocre record last year (I can just see these whiny "fact checkers" scrambling to find that I said otherwise - I don't think I ever did). It was, of course, the D as well as Rodgers and the receivers not playing up to the standard of previous many years that primarily caused the badness - and that primarily being caused by injuries and inexperience in the receivers.

I also substantially agree with your last paragraph, except you need to substitute "if" for "because". If Barry's competence as a DC is still where it was last year, they're in trouble - against RB runs and especially against QB runs. At this point, though, I'm optimistic that with all that outstanding talent, even Barry can put together a top flight D. As for Love, outplaying Fields is not all that high a standard, so he just might meet it. And if he does, I say again, the Packers are pretty much a loaded team otherwise - WRs, RB, hopefully now TE, hopefully the D, and yeah, even the O Line being above average (which as I said and some whined about, shouldn't make that much difference anyway hahahaha).