What is packerupdate.com?

[Patler]

does anyone know the background of and/or the sources of information for
http://www.packerupdate.com/ ?

They have a lot of articles quoting "scouts" from various teams, also packer "sources", etc. I find myself believing what they write. Some interesting articles from them recently:

Crosby is highly thought of at least by some. Could be great.
TT hated Longwell's whinny attitude.
GB has no intention of keeping Wells as a backup, will be traded or released if not the starter.
TT is very high on Tramon Williams and is working up a multi-year offer.
Jeremy Thompson may be a good fit for the 3-4 (no great insight in that)
Rouse could be on his way out.

They don't update daily, but I like their format, which is short and to the point. I would like to know who or what is behind it.

[MJZiggy]

Isn't that the one that Andrew Brandt started after he left the team?

[Fritz]

I don't know, Patler - is this the site referred to on another thread which the JSO refers to but pretends to have no ties to?

I did read it, and it was interesting and appeared to my amateur eyes as insightful - with the benefit of hindsight you can see they got the Bush story right. And it doesn't seem to have the anti-Thompson bias of the jso. So I don't know, but thanks for linking it. I enjoyed it and have it bookmarked now.

[Patler]

Isn't that the one that Andrew Brandt started after he left the team?

The one Brandt is involved in, and writes one of the columns for, is The National Football Post. They have an interesting collection of columnists:

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/

[Packnut]

No surprise on Rouse. Just another waisted 3rd pick down the drain. The "turtle" approach will NEVER work when you keep blowing picks.

I guess in Teddy's brain Rouse was the "best player available". :lol: :lol:

[Patler]

No surprise on Rouse. Just another waisted 3rd pick down the drain. The "turtle" approach will NEVER work when you keep blowing picks.

I guess in Teddy's brain Rouse was the "best player available". :lol: :lol:

To stay on topic - Do you know anything about the website? Who runs or backs it? How it obtains its information?

It's obviously more than just a fan's site as the information posted seems of original creation; not copying or summarizing information from other sources.

[Partial]

I like the way the site gets to the point. Good find Patler!

[AV David]

I kind of like the site. I get the impression it is a guy whose uncle or best friend is a former scout who has some contacts in the industry. When he needs a story, he just calls him up. I am not knocking him for that. I like the site myself, but it cannot be a mega media creation. It generally has only one advertiser and maybe two stories a week during the football busy season. I guess I always assumed it was a guy trying to make a few bucks in the blog/website business.

I hope he does.

[Patler]

I don't know, Patler - is this the site referred to on another thread which the JSO refers to but pretends to have no ties to?


Could be Fritz. I may have been referred to it originally from a link on Bedard's "Packers Daily Briefing". I don't really remember how I came across it. I've been following it for a couple months now, but haven't been able to figure out who or what is behind it.

[texaspackerbacker]

It sounds to me like some know-nothing just taking shots in the dark. A couple of the items sounded reasonable; Some others did not.

I highly doubt that Rouse is on the way out.

Wells may be done if he doesn't start, but I really don't see Thompson or anybody in the organization saying that before hand.

The rest could pretty much be summarized by saying "Duh".

[Patler]

I kind of like the site. I get the impression it is a guy whose uncle or best friend is a former scout who has some contacts in the industry. When he needs a story, he just calls him up. I am not knocking him for that. I like the site myself, but it cannot be a mega media creation. It generally has only one advertiser and maybe two stories a week during the football busy season. I guess I always assumed it was a guy trying to make a few bucks in the blog/website business.

I hope he does.

I spent some time looking through their archive, which goes back to 2006. They have nothing during the season. Their last post is in August or September each year, then they start up again in December and go through the off-season. It does rely heavily on opinions and information from a "former scout with 20 years experience" who seems to attend practices and have some Packer sources.

[Patler]

It sounds to me like some know-nothing just taking shots in the dark. A couple of the items sounded reasonable; Some others did not.

I highly doubt that Rouse is on the way out.

Wells may be done if he doesn't start, but I really don't see Thompson or anybody in the organization saying that before hand.

The rest could pretty much be summarized by saying "Duh".

That is really no different than the well-healed sources of the primary newspapers that cover the Packers. A hit and miss collection of predictions about players, and a lot of "Duh" analysis. For example, they predicted big things for Hodge in June 2006, that he would eventually start in the middle; but they also noted in the June 2006 camp a lack of improvement in Mike Hawkins from 2005. He was eventually released in August

The funny thing is, they seem to have more nuts and bolts, down to the basics information and discussion than I find on either JSO or GBPG, and they are no less accurate than either of the papers. Just a lot of one and two sentence comments about various players. I like that.

[SkinBasket]

If that site had a forum it would be perfect!

[packers04]

one of my favorite sites, a vast majority of their analysis is right on the money.

[bobblehead]

No surprise on Rouse. Just another waisted 3rd pick down the drain. The "turtle" approach will NEVER work when you keep blowing picks.

I guess in Teddy's brain Rouse was the "best player available". :lol: :lol:

To stay on topic - Do you know anything about the website? Who runs or backs it? How it obtains its information?

It's obviously more than just a fan's site as the information posted seems of original creation; not copying or summarizing information from other sources.

Patler, this is one of the best single posts I ever read. Well done.

[RashanGary]

No surprise on Rouse. Just another waisted 3rd pick down the drain. The "turtle" approach will NEVER work when you keep blowing picks.

I guess in Teddy's brain Rouse was the "best player available". :lol: :lol:

To stay on topic - Do you know anything about the website? Who runs or backs it? How it obtains its information?

It's obviously more than just a fan's site as the information posted seems of original creation; not copying or summarizing information from other sources.

Patler, this is one of the best single posts I ever read. Well done.

2nd

[SkinBasket]

No surprise on Rouse. Just another waisted 3rd pick down the drain. The "turtle" approach will NEVER work when you keep blowing picks.

I guess in Teddy's brain Rouse was the "best player available". :lol: :lol:

To stay on topic - Do you know anything about the website? Who runs or backs it? How it obtains its information?

It's obviously more than just a fan's site as the information posted seems of original creation; not copying or summarizing information from other sources.

Patler, this is one of the best single posts I ever read. Well done.

2nd

I thought it was pretty average actually. No offense Patler.

[PlantPage55]

one of my favorite sites, a vast majority of their analysis is right on the money.

Except for the thing that said it was all but a certainty that Jarrett Bush would no longer be a Packer...

[Patler]

one of my favorite sites, a vast majority of their analysis is right on the money.

Except for the thing that said it was all but a certainty that Jarrett Bush would no longer be a Packer...

Yes, but they did correctly assess that he would receive a lot of interest from other teams.

[Gunakor]

No surprise on Rouse. Just another waisted 3rd pick down the drain. The "turtle" approach will NEVER work when you keep blowing picks.

I guess in Teddy's brain Rouse was the "best player available". :lol: :lol:

He kinda had a pretty good year a couple years ago filling in for Nick Collins. And he had that 99 yard INT return for a TD against the Colts - the play that was voted best play of 2008 by fans at Packers.com. He'll be picked up by another team and will be successful somewhere in this league.

He just doesn't fit the roles our safeties will have in the new scheme is what I'm guessing. Probably just isn't an in-the-box run supporting SS, and isn't able to cover the entire deep field in single high coverage as a FS. Maybe he's strictly a cover 2 safety, and we don't do that here anymore. But he isn't a bad football player at all. I'm sure if he's released we'll see him again sooner or later wearing another uniform.

[Gunakor]

I highly doubt that Rouse is on the way out.

Why? If he was drafted to be a cover 2 safety, it makes sense he'd be released now.

[Partial]

What? Rouse is the sort of big body guy that you draft to be a versatile rover, not necessarily a cover two safety.

[Freak Out]

I follow them on twitter and then updates are pretty regular and informative.

[Gunakor]

What? Rouse is the sort of big body guy that you draft to be a versatile rover, not necessarily a cover two safety.

If you were Dom Capers, would you trust Aaron Rouse to cover the entire field on a full time basis if Nick Collins were to get hurt? He's not the quickest guy, and doesn't take the best angles to the ball.

Or, would you trust Rouse to be that 8th man in the box in run support on a full time basis if both Bigby and Smith got hurt? He's not the surest tackler, and might not be strong enough to play in the box with the big boys (I admit I'm not sure about that one, because I've never seen him up in the box.)

The roles for our safeties have changed dramatically this year. The role Rouse was drafted for 3 years ago isn't the one he'd be asked to perform this year. Do you think he was drafted in the 3rd round 3 years ago to be anything but a cover 2 safety? That's all we did here for his first 2 years in the league. Why would they have used a day 1 pick on a guy who doesn't fit the system they run?

I'm not entirely sure that he isn't capable of performing his new tasks, but I'm not entirely sure he is either. If he were being considered for a starting job I might give him the benefit of the doubt, but since he's not I feel as though a more proven backup for our new scheme could be had for about the same price. I mean, if they thought Rouse to be more the bigger bodied SS type, and they went and signed Smith in FA, that could be it right there.

[Partial]

Just because Rouse fit the scheme the Packers previously run doesn't mean he's limited to only that..

Personally, I think they should use him off the edge as a rusher in specific situations. Dude is a pretty good blitzer from what I understand.

[pbmax]

Packer Update got a lot of play on here during the D coordinator search, a post about how McCarthy was established enough now that he could attract serious coaching candidates.

The site that Bedard has been flacking in his blog is Cheesehead TV. And JSO sends their minions to SportBubbler.

And 3irty1, that was some fine detective work. Do you charge a daily retainer or is it just expenses? :lol:

[Gunakor]

Just because Rouse fit the scheme the Packers previously run doesn't mean he's limited to only that..

Agreed 100%. But we aren't talking about a starter here. I'd be more willing to give him a chance if he were the starter, but since we are talking about a backup safety I'd rather take my chances with someone who is more experienced in the role he's asked to play this year. That's why I brought up Anthony Smith.

I assume Bigby is still the starter, and Smith is his backup at SS - his experience in Pittsburgh's 3-4 being the deciding factor there. If Rouse isn't retained as the backup at FS then he'll be 3rd on the depth chart. Now I hadn't heard that he's a good blitzer, but I'll concede that he might be. However, if that's his strength, he's much more suited to SS than FS. Which means he won't see the field very much at all playing behind both Bigby and Smith.

I guess I could still see him being retained at that position if they feel his salary justifies his role as a #3 SS (Think Charlie Peprah from last year). But I don't think he's nearly as needed nor as valuable to this team as some do.

[Waldo]

Rouse is an enigma. As a junior he dominated on the field at times, and his frame and measurables suggest elite talent, he was pegged as a first round pick heading into his senior year. His senior year was a disappointment, he made a lot of mistakes and just wasn't very good. If he came out a year early he would have been a low 1/high 2 pick. His disappointing senior season killed his draft stock sending him into the 3rd.

TT took a chance on the frame and measurables of a high first round pick at S that had done it before, hoping that he just had a down year. Clearly that wasn't the case. Rouse just isn't a good football player. He's a very talented athlete, but his instincts are terrible and he isn't a very good tackler, a bad combination at SS. He can be salvaged as a backup safety net FS, but last year showed that he's never going to push for a starting role at SS, and with a better FS on the roster with more upside, he has little starting chance there as well.

Once it has been determined that a player has little chance of becoming a starter, their job is constantly in jeopardy. If a good FS is sitting there at one of our picks and he's the highest rated guy on TT's board, I have little doubt that TT will pull the trigger to try to put more upside on the roster. When Smith was signed Rouse lost any chance that he had left at SS.

When Rouse was drafted he was not a project/low upside roster filler guy. He was a very physically talented and experienced rover SS. If he was going to break out, he'd have done it by now. If you put Bigby's heart, skills and instincts in Rouse's body you'd have the ultimate SS. As is, even though he's a limited athlete, Bigby is a much better SS because of his instincts, skills, and heart.