The Five

[Sparkey]

Let's discuss who we think will be the main five and what personnel grouping(s) will be used.

By the five, I refer to the combination of WR, TE and RB that will join Rodgers and the O-line.

So, for example;
I envision a 2TE, 2WR 1RB grouping consisting of Adams, Lazard, Sterndrive, Tonyan and Jones being very versatile as far running or passing out of identical formations.

I look forward to everyone's thoughts. Let's try and keep this thread focused on what they have to work with...

[pbmax]

Adams, Funchess, Stormbringer First of His Name, Jones and Williams/Dillon

They might fall in love with Daguerrotype a an H back. He will be mostly receiving and his blocking will be limited to cutoffs, so it could be done as a rookie, but its a big unknown if he is ready. The two backs give LaFleur much the same flexibility.

Second most common five:

Adams, Funchess, ESB/MVS, Stormbringer and Jones.

That is your pass group.

[Zool]

Funchess is damned near big enough to play in-line and chip.


Bunch formation
MVS Funchess ----------- Studebaker ESB
Adams

[RashanGary]

Adams
Lazard
Sternberger
Jones
J Williams

With the RB depth I think we're gonna see more 2 back sets. Williams. Could block from the FB position or H-back. He could run and he can catch. Plus pass block.

I think that's best 5 on first and 10.

[RashanGary]

I think we have more of a top 4 than top 5 tough.

That 5th spot could be MVS, Jamaal Williams, Mercedes, Funchess or Deguara. I just went Jamaal because his versatility, experience and ability a adjust to AR

[run pMc]

If somebody has the % snaps by personnel grouping last season, you could make a reasonable guess based on that.
If we assume it's 21 (2RB, 1TE) then I'd bet it's Adams, Lazard, Sternberger, Deguara, Jones in week 1.
Lazard and Deguara could get swapped out for Funchess and Jamaal, but Jamaal is NOT a FB, so you'd likely end up with Jace in the backfield and Jamaal or Jones lined up out wide.

[texaspackerbacker]

Spread 'em out - Adams alone on the left, Lazard, Valdez-Scantling, and St. Brown on the right. Then bust Aaron Jones on a quick opener over Jenkins and Linsley for a big gain. Oh yeah, we could also pass out of that formation hahahaha.

Change it up with MVS the loner and Adams in the bunch also. You could also motion Jones to either side and have a nifty little swing pass or WR screen behind the bunch.

This, of course, is mostly pie-in-the-sky wishing. I expect with LaFleur to mostly see 2 TE stuff or 1 TE - it doesn't make much difference, I don't have that much confidence in any of them as receivers - with Adams and Lazard out wide, usually fighting double coverage.

[RashanGary]

Jones and Williams were really successful on the field togerher last year. Rodgers does much better with veteran players who adjust well to defenses .

Deguara long term, but I think Williams and Jones could see quite a bit of time together with Dillon now in the fold to allieve some of the injury worry of depleting the RB core.

[RashanGary]

Williams has always had great hands, always been a savvy blocker, always had a feel for screens.... He's just a crafty football player. He functions well with Rodgers. In an ideal world he'd be 10 pounds heavier to really be able to move a linebacker, but I think I'd take Williams experience and savvy over Deguaras natural body type for the moment.

I like Williams more than Funchess and MVS too, to fit into a chain moving, run oriented offense with a lot of back field confusion for the defense.

EQ has a shot to really mess up my guessing. Deguara could shut me up and prove he's a quick study.

But I like Williams as part of our best 5 right now. I think he could be used as a FB, HBack, WR combo guy..... In the long run I'd rather it be Deguara, but I don't have confidence in rookies so I'm sort of ruling him out.

[RashanGary]

Williams 6' 215
Juzcezk 6'1" 235

Not ideal to have Williams in that role, but I think better than a rookie even if he is bigger.

I just don't feel great about any of the ho hum players in the 5th slot. Rookies just annoy me.

[pbmax]

Damn. Forgot about Lazard. He's definitely gonna see snaps.

[Joemailman]

If somebody has the % snaps by personnel grouping last season, you could make a reasonable guess based on that.
If we assume it's 21 (2RB, 1TE) then I'd bet it's Adams, Lazard, Sternberger, Deguara, Jones in week 1.
Lazard and Deguara could get swapped out for Funchess and Jamaal, but Jamaal is NOT a FB, so you'd likely end up with Jace in the backfield and Jamaal or Jones lined up out wide.

Snap counts. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/gnb/2019-snap-counts.htm

[Guiness]

Funchess is damned near big enough to play in-line and chip.


Bunch formation
MVS Funchess ----------- Studebaker ESB
Adams

I was thinking that about Funchess - does he have a history of being a willing blocker?
He's listed at 3cm shorter and 6kg lighter than Tonyan, not a terribly big difference! Of course, Mercedes is quite a lot bigger

[Zool]

I was thinking that about Funchess - does he have a history of being a willing blocker?
He's listed at 3cm shorter and 6kg lighter than Tonyan, not a terribly big difference! Of course, Mercedes is quite a lot bigger

Funchess was an All BigTen guy at TE before moving to WR. I’m getting cautiously optimistic about the WR corps. Adams, Lazarus, Funzone, Horseman St Brown..........and MVS I suppose. If Jenn Sterger turns out to be something at TE, we’ll shit they might actually have something cooking.

[Bretsky]

Where is da Plodder ? He might help

[Zool]

Where is da Plodder ? He might help

Detroit I think

[run pMc]

Lost the link, but there was a post on PackersWire that said G-Mo and Jimmy accounted for about 21% of Rodgers' targets last year. Those throws have to go to someone else now.
Addition by subtraction could be MLF/Gute's line of thinking.

[Joemailman]

Lost the link, but there was a post on PackersWire that said G-Mo and Jimmy accounted for about 21% of Rodgers' targets last year. Those throws have to go to someone else now.
Addition by subtraction could be MLF/Gute's line of thinking.

Yes. Especially in the case of Allison. He averaged only 8.4 yards per reception. Lazard, who should get more snaps averaged 13.6. ESB in 2018 average 15.6. Funchess in his career has averaged 13.8.

[texaspackerbacker]

Far be it from me to defend Allison, but the patterns he was asked to run just might have something to do with it. With him gone, somebody else is gonna be running those safe routes.

[Joemailman]

Far be it from me to defend Allison, but the patterns he was asked to run just might have something to do with it. With him gone, somebody else is gonna be running those safe routes.

Something to do with it but not everything. He wasn't the only one running those routes. But 8.4 for a wide receiver is really unheard of. His lack of speed really became a factor last year. And he had the highest drop percentage of any Packer receiver. It won't be difficult to improve on his performance, no matter which receiver is getting the snaps. Again. addition by subtraction.

[pbmax]

He was slated to be the big slot. You aren't going to be running corner and post routes there.

His job would be to attack the midfield and then make yardage.

My second biggest complaint about Gute the lack of success of the big WR approach.

[RashanGary]

Something to do with it but not everything. He wasn't the only one running those routes. But 8.4 for a wide receiver is really unheard of. His lack of speed really became a factor last year. And he had the highest drop percentage of any Packer receiver. It won't be difficult to improve on his performance, no matter which receiver is getting the snaps. Again. addition by subtraction.

The new Patler.

[mraynrand]

Funchess was an All BigTen guy at TE before moving to WR. I’m getting cautiously optimistic about the WR corps. Adams, Lazarus, Funzone, Horseman St Brown..........and MVS I suppose. If Jenn Sterger turns out to be something at TE, we’ll shit they might actually have something cooking.

This is The Flower Power offense. I think you'll see guys coming from all sorts of spots to catch passes. It's gonna be all about disguise, mismatch and misdirection. The TE who became a WR, but blocks and runs from TE. Stoneburner the TE who runs WR patterns. Same for the rookie - the "FB" or halfback who runs WR and TE routes. Large tall WRs Rodgers trusts to catch all the sideline comebacks - and the risky middle of the field stuff he normally hates to throw, etc.

[RashanGary]

This is The Flower Power offense.

Pretty much.

At 6' 215lbs, Jamaal Williams is stout to play WR and slight to play FB. But he's a savvy guy who runs good routes and executes good blocks.

We saw success with Jones and Williams on the field together last year. Williams injury and concerns about RB depth ended that package early last year.

But this year, especially since we don't have a dynamite #3 WR or ready to play #2 TE/FB

With the depth at RB making injury less a concern and the lack of ready to play skill players, I expect that two running back set to be used quite a bit. Especially since Williams has those blocking/receiving qualities that you look for from the second running back in that package.

Flower Power!

[RashanGary]

I think it's easy to create a closed mental box where guys who look like this, can't do that.

But then you have your Phillip Lindsleys who play bigger than the closed mind ever expected. Or kittle, or Aaron Donald, or Nick Collins, or James Harrison...... The list could never end.

Williams is a skilled pass catcher and route runner.

Williams is a savvy, effective blocker.

Take the mental box of ideal body type away and just look at skillset, and the two back set makes a lot of sense. It was wildly effective in the couple games we saw it in last year.

[RashanGary]

I know smart defenders like to process the personnel , down and distance, team tendencies and game situation quickly. They take note of what the offense needs on the situation and what the soft spots in their own defensive play call are.

By quickly processing all of that information, a defender is able to almost read the offenses mind.

Flower has players do a little bit of everything. Hard to get a read on whether Jones is gonna run a wheel route or be a pass blocker on a given 3rd and long. It strains a defense to make them cover the whole field.

New England has done this for a really long time and had a lot of success with it.