TT and the Packers were pretty much universally praised for their offseason additions. The moves were regarded as the kind of short-term, veteran players that were needed to get the team over the hump and back to the Super Bowl. Halfway through the season, time to catch up with where they stand now.
Martellus Bennett - he was expected to replace Cook's receiving ability while at the same time bringing blocking that hadn't been seen from our TE's in a long time. Wasn't expected to be as dynamic as Cook but projected as a big red zone threat. Many analysts projected him as one of the most important acquisitions BY ANY TEAM this offseason. Has instead been a complete bust. Blocking has been good at times, but has shown next to no ability to stretch the field and apparently had offseason surgery to replace his hands with bricks. May or may not have quit on the team as well. Good riddance MISS
Jahri Evans - always tough to grade the interior OL unless you're really focusing on it. My impression is that he has been pretty solid overall. His durability alone, among all the chaos that has been the OL, is more than enough for me. HIT
Davon House - was expected to come in and be the closest thing to a #1 corner the Packers have. Has missed 3 games this season and has 1 INT on the year. I don't think he's been awful but feel like he's underwhelmed a little bit. EH
Quenton Dial / RJF - grouping these 2 together. RJF had 2 separate appearances and grabbed a cup of coffee but didn't see the field much. INCOMPLETE Dial has been pretty solid as a run stopper but is currently dealing with a chest injury. HIT
Lance Kendricks - hasn't really gotten a ton of playing time, which should change going forward. Does have a couple of long catches on the year though, and I think I remember him drawing a PI downfield as well. INCOMPLETE
Ahmad Brooks - I had high hopes for this guy. Figured he would be the spot pass rusher we needed and make for a pretty good rotation late in the year with Perry/CM3/Biegel. Showed some ability early but has missed the past 3 games with injury. INCOMPLETE
Hard not to notice how many of these guys have missed time with injury. It's most likely just a sign of how this year has gone in general, but the thought did cross my mind as to what the Packers strength and conditioning staff has done wrong compared to other teams. Brooks has been pretty durable in his career - missed 3 games in 2013 and 2 games in 2014 but has played pretty much other game other than that. House played all 16 games in Jacksonville each of the past 2 years. Dial has been pretty durable in his career, missing 1-2 games/season in each of the past 3 years. We'll see how this chest injury effects him going forward.
I also wonder if this experience will effect TT's activity/inactivity in FA next year.