Retooling the roster?

[Fosco33]

Seems like the moves today - Banjo and Abby to IR - have got to be to take two positions of relative strength / health (Safety and WR) to hopefully shore up two very weak/injured positions (RB/CB/TE).

The question remains on how TT will fill those holes. Street bodies, trades or free agents?

Will this be like 2010 when they get healthy and hot at the right time and avoid Lambeau due to the cold in playoffs?

In past week - shields, lacy, banjo and Abby to IR and replace that with Knile Davis and Geronimo Allison. Jeesh

[Harlan Huckleby]

The promotion of Geronimo is puzzling. They have plenty of slow-footed receivers. I wonder if Abby's career is over, but that may be from habit.

[Bossman641]

What exactly is Abby's injury again? It's time to recycle the bottom of the WR rotation. Janis has seemingly made zero improvement from year to year and Abby can't stay healthy.

[gbgary]

What exactly is Abby's injury again? It's time to recycle the bottom of the WR rotation. Janis has seemingly made zero improvement from year to year and Abby can't stay healthy.

bruised thy

[Cheesehead Craig]

What exactly is Abby's injury again? It's time to recycle the bottom of the WR rotation. Janis has seemingly made zero improvement from year to year and Abby can't stay healthy.

Like I said earlier, time to cut bait with both after the season. One can't learn how to play WR and the other is hurt constantly.

[run pMc]

If nothing else, Geronimo gives them a big (slowish) body at WR who can play outside and give Jordy a few snaps off. Either dude's legs are tired, or he's lost a gear.
Being 6'3" outta give Rodgers a big catching radius so he can skate by with his iffy accuracy.

Janis is pretty good on ST as a gunner; they'll keep him for that, especially with Banjo done for the season. They can get by with Hyde, Brice, and Evans at S and on ST.
I wonder if they promote Dorleant from the PS? That's a green secondary, especially at CB.

[pbmax]

^ Red Zone baby.

[Rutnstrut]

Funny how they went away from James Jones to go with youth and speed. At least Allison has youth.

[Pugger]

I sure hope Allison is faster than James Jones is these days...

[hoosier]

They surely will be trying to get another RB. Trying to get by with Don Jackson and Knile Davis for the remainder of the season doesn't make any sense. Is Raymont Harris available?

[vince]

^ Red Zone baby.

Yup good call pb. If he can help there, it would make a huge difference. Clearly not a burner but what we saw in camp and preseason (Big target. Wide radius. Sure hands. Gets off the line. Catches it in traffic.) jibes with his NFL.com scouting report too.

Allison is a lean strider who stretches defenses vertically and is able to high-point passes, making him a potential red zone weapon.

Can steer clear of press coverage with foot quickness and head fakes off the snap. High point pass catcher who gets full extension when trying to pluck the high throws. Able to stick the landing when making a touch catch near the boundary. Angular receiver who will fight through a tackler after the catch.

And Ryan Wood recently documented the significant extent to which the Packers red zone deficiencies have impacted point production this year.
Near misses depriving Packers of points

It has become a weekly trend for an offense grappling with inconsistency. A most conservative estimate has the Packers leaving up to 36 points off the scoreboard for various reasons this season, which comes out to a touchdown per week. [All documented at the end of the article as end zone drops, 4th and goal failures, red zone fumbles, missed field goal/xp, and a phantom holding call in the redzone on a would-be TD]. The estimation doesn’t include multiple first-and-goal situations that have become field goals, and also a tough incompletion between Rodgers and Jordy Nelson in the back, left corner of the end zone against Detroit.

For context, those 36 points would increase the Packers’ average scoring to 29.3 points per game, which would be third in the NFL behind the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. Currently, they’re tied with the Denver Broncos for 16th in scoring with 23.3 points per game. The Packers particularly have struggled since their bye, with 30 of the missed 36 points coming in their past three games.

No, this isn’t to suggest the Packers are close to being one of the NFL’s best offenses. Quite the contrary. Elite offenses make simple plays that directly lead to points.

Regardless, it could be telling the Packers’ 4.2 red-zone trips per game are tied with the Falcons for second in the NFL, [Falcons lead the NFL in scoring] behind only a Chargers (4.7) offense that ranks third in scoring. Their average number of red-zone trips is almost identical to the 4.1 they averaged in 2011, and a shade better than the 3.9 they averaged in 2014.

The Packers' turnovers too often have come after they crossed midfield, killing promising drives. Yet they have entered the red zone at a proficient rate. More troubling than turnovers has been an inability to finish scoring drives.

Their red-zone issues are in line with last season’s clip. The Packers ranked 17th in the NFL with a 55 percent touchdown ratio in 2015, still higher than their 2016 clip. In 2011, at the height of their offensive success, the Packers ranked third in the NFL with touchdowns on 65.22 percent of their red-zone trips.

We'll see if he even suits up on Sunday, but I'm hoping there's a plan for him to help what ails the offense. He seems like he could be a perfect situational contributor.

[Patler]

Like I said earlier, time to cut bait with both after the season. One can't learn how to play WR and the other is hurt constantly.

In his third season, Donald Driver had 13 receptions for 167 yards, and that was a season in which Ahman Green was the teams leading receiver and Bill Schroeder was second.

[vince]

If nothing else, Geronimo gives them a big (slowish) body at WR who can play outside and give Jordy a few snaps off. Either dude's legs are tired, or he's lost a gear.
Being 6'3" outta give Rodgers a big catching radius so he can skate by with his iffy accuracy.

Janis is pretty good on ST as a gunner; they'll keep him for that, especially with Banjo done for the season. They can get by with Hyde, Brice, and Evans at S and on ST.
I wonder if they promote Dorleant from the PS? That's a green secondary, especially at CB.

Dorleant's on IR I believe so he couldn't return until after week 8 if they wanted to use the only IR return designation on him - which would be a surprise I'd say. From what I saw though, I do think Dorleant is more NFL-ready than Hawkins (and he's just as fast), but both being undrafted rookies from smaller schools that's not saying much. I wouldn't be shocked to see him activated though. I think his speed, quickness, ball skills and instincts are going to make him stick in the league, and obviously they're short on guys that can cover on the boundary. Even whan he has two healthy legs, I think Rollins needs to be inside.

[Cheesehead Craig]

In his third season, Donald Driver had 13 receptions for 167 yards, and that was a season in which Ahman Green was the teams leading receiver and Bill Schroeder was second.

So you are in the camp of Janis needing to stay on the roster and given more time. Gotcha.

[gbgary]

drafting where we draft year after year has lead to us some of the offensive trouble we're experiencing. tt needs to counter that with an impact player or two in free agency or by trade. what we're seeing from Rodgers may, just MAY, be the door closing.

[Smidgeon]

drafting where we draft year after year has lead to us some of the offensive trouble we're experiencing. tt needs to counter that with an impact player or two in free agency or by trade. what we're seeing from Rodgers may, just MAY, be the door closing.

That was why he signed Cook. But the injury has prevented that from having the desired effect.

[Patler]

So you are in the camp of Janis needing to stay on the roster and given more time. Gotcha.

I'm in the camp of not giving up on him yet. He had a long way to go, and his development as a rookie was interrupted by a case of shingles that kept him out of the off season and the start of training camp. Then this year he lost all of camp and the preseason games due to the broken hand. He clearly needs work, and has missed out on a lot of it. He has shown a lot of raw potential as a receiver, return man and ST coverage guy, but clearly needs consistency.

It took Donald Driver until his 4th season before he contributed much on offense. I'm willing to give Janis this year and the next training camp.

[Joemailman]

I'm in the camp of not giving up on him yet. He had a long way to go, and his development as a rookie was interrupted by a case of shingles that kept him out of the off season and the start of training camp. Then this year he lost all of camp and the preseason games due to the broken hand. He clearly needs work, and has missed out on a lot of it. He has shown a lot of raw potential as a receiver, return man and ST coverage guy, but clearly needs consistency.

It took Donald Driver until his 4th season before he contributed much on offense. I'm willing to give Janis this year and the next training camp.

The good thing is he's a good enough ST guy to justify a roster spot. That gives the Packers the chance to keep him around without totally wasting a roster spot and hope the light goes on eventually.

[gbgary]

That was why he signed Cook. But the injury has prevented that from having the desired effect.

we settled for cook. should have got bennett or whoever was the best te coming out of fa. should have got the best fa wr too.

also glad to see allison brought up from the ps. imo he actually showed something in the preseason.

[Fritz]

I think people here were pretty pumped when they signed Cook, and he did show a couple meager flashes before he got hurt. If he can come back and play at the speed at which he's capable, he can add a badly missing dimension to this offense. Imagine Montgomery coming out of the backfield and Cook going over the middle. Tough to cover that.