Current Players versus Previous (modern era) Players

[Smidgeon]

How about this (and this one is probably really easy to answer): Is there any player on the current team who is better than or equivalent enough to the best the position has had since BF took over? Or let me ask it another way: is there any player on the current team the SB team (for example) would have preferred over who was on the team at that point?

[Fritz]

The obvious answer would be Charles Woodson over Craig Newsome or Doug Evans.

Maybe Nick Collins over Eugene Robinson.

[Sparkey]

Cullen Jenkins over Gabe Wilkens at DE

[Sparkey]

Look at the receivers from the 97 team that lost to the Bronco's

Wide Receivers

* 18 Ronnie Anderson
* 18 Don Beebe
* 18 Robert Brooks (IR)
* 86 Antonio Freeman
* 81 Qadry Ismail
* 2 Eric Matthews
* 80 Derrick Mayes
* 85 Terry Mickens
* 88 Chris Miller
* 84 Bill Schroeder
* 20 Ryan Yarborough


What a pile of shit that was. Freeman and a bunch of rags. Driver & Jennings would have been a big improvment over anyone cept 'Free

[get louder at lambeau]

Look at the receivers from the 97 team that lost to the Bronco's

Wide Receivers

* 18 Ronnie Anderson
* 18 Don Beebe
* 18 Robert Brooks (IR)
* 86 Antonio Freeman
* 81 Qadry Ismail
* 2 Eric Matthews
* 80 Derrick Mayes
* 85 Terry Mickens
* 88 Chris Miller
* 84 Bill Schroeder
* 20 Ryan Yarborough


What a pile of shit that was. Freeman and a bunch of rags. Driver & Jennings would have been a big improvment over anyone cept 'Free

Don Beebe was one of the fastest players in league history. Robert Brooks was amazing before he got hurt.

[Fritz]

I thought Sean Jones & Reggie White were the ends on that team.

[hoosier]

At this point I would say the 2009 LBs are on a par with or better than the '96 group:

Simmons > Jones
Koonce/Cox < Barnett or Hawk
Williams < Matthews

I would also take Ryan Grant over Edgar Bennett (who was the de facto starter) but not over Dorsey Levens (who was then emerging as the #1 guy).

[Fritz]

I think Ryan Grant may have been a better runner than Bennett, but for the kind of offense they ran, Bennett would have been better, I think - better hands.

[gbgary]

I thought Sean Jones & Reggie White were the ends on that team.

they were. robinson was a very good safety too. one of the guys that put us over the top that season along with offensive mercenaries rison and jackson. man that was a great defense. one of the best in history...top 5 maybe? freeman was our jennings of today and brooks our driver. too bad we didn't have sterling then. he deserved a ring. our running game then was a two-headed monster so maybe grant or a green (of 5 or 6 or six years ago) would have been an improvement although levens was a great receiver of the ball.

[Sparkey]

I thought Sean Jones & Reggie White were the ends on that team.

they were. robinson was a very good safety too. one of the guys that put us over the top that season along with offensive mercenaries rison and jackson. man that was a great defense. one of the best in history...top 5 maybe? freeman was our jennings of today and brooks our driver. too bad we didn't have sterling then. he deserved a ring. our running game then was a two-headed monster so maybe grant or a green (of 5 or 6 or six years ago) would have been an improvement although levens was a great receiver of the ball.

Wilkens & White were the ends and Brown and Dotson were the tackles.

[cheesner]

CMIII, Finley, Jenkins (over jones not White), Pickett or Raji over S. Dotson, - dang that would be a heck of a line - White Brown Pickett Jenkins. Rotate Raji, Dotson and Jones and you would have one dominant DL.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Wilkens & White were the ends and Brown and Dotson were the tackles.

Jones and White were the DEs on the championship team. Jones retired the next offseason, and Wilkins was the starter on the team that lost the Super Bowl. What a line that was: Jones, Dotson, Brown, and White.

[gbgary]

I thought Sean Jones & Reggie White were the ends on that team.

they were. robinson was a very good safety too. one of the guys that put us over the top that season along with offensive mercenaries rison and jackson. man that was a great defense. one of the best in history...top 5 maybe? freeman was our jennings of today and brooks our driver. too bad we didn't have sterling then. he deserved a ring. our running game then was a two-headed monster so maybe grant or a green (of 5 or 6 or six years ago) would have been an improvement although levens was a great receiver of the ball.

Wilkens & White were the ends and Brown and Dotson were the tackles.

nooo. i'm talking about '96...the year we won.

[hoosier]

I think Ryan Grant may have been a better runner than Bennett, but for the kind of offense they ran, Bennett would have been better, I think - better hands.

I have been watching some old Packer dvds from the 90s lately while riding the bike trainer (talk about boredom!) and I am continually surprised at how productive that offense was given the lack of a consistent running game. When the Packers opponents were paying any attention to the run, Bennett was absolutely putrid: he was slow, not especially quick or shifty and went down on first contact way more often than not. I have yet to see him run though a tackle or run over anyone. The vast majority of his first down runs go for 2 yards or less.

Yes, he was a far better receiver than Grant and a better blocker too; he rarely came out on 3rd down. But it is amazing to see how the Packers were able to sustain drives without a strong ground attack. That is something they seem unable to do today; when McCarthy abandons the run, ARod ends up taking sacks or throwing incompletions. Is that because defenses have figured out how to stop the WCO use of the short passing game as substitute for a running game?

In any case, with Grant vs. Bennett we may be talking about incomparables: Bennett would be almost completely useless in today's NFL (where the flats are better defended than a decade ago), and Grant would fit very poorly with the well oiled machine of '96.

[MOBB DEEP]

Is there any player on the current team who is better than or equivalent enough to the best the position has had since BF took over?

NO