Studs and Duds, Vikings Part Two:

[George Cumby]

Stud:

O Line.

Dud:

I got nothin'.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

The punter pooped a punt and mishandled a kick. Mini-butterfly (unicorns are winners; butterflies, losers).

[call_me_ishmael]

Gooter put together a very deep OL. They are down to a single (rookie) OG starter. 3rd LT!!

[Upnorth]

This wasn't a good team. Don't know what to make of anything.

[esoxx]

This wasn't a good team. Don't know what to make of anything.

What do you think of having the #1 seed in the NFC?

[Upnorth]

What do you think of having the #1 seed in the NFC?

Means we have an extra week to heal and integrate returning players (if we have any). I'm am all for it.

[esoxx]

Means we have an extra week to heal and integrate returning players (if we have any). I'm am all for it.

Dominating a rival is pretty special whenever it happens or under any circumstances.

[Guiness]

The punter pooped a punt and mishandled a kick. Mini-butterfly (unicorns are winners; butterflies, losers).

Bojorquez had a rough night to be sure. He also put the punt from the 45 into the endzone.

[Joemailman]

Studs

Adams
Lazard
Jones & Dillon
Rodgers
Gary

Dud

Bojo - Shanked a punt and messed up a hold.

[Freak Out]

Stud was the producer that kept putting the camera on a disgusted Cook. Ha ha ha!

[texaspackerbacker]

The O Line was decent tonight. It said on the screen just 2 pressures on Rodgers in the first half; I don't believe that hahahaha. I'm gonna try to remember to count them when I watch the replay.

Our D pretty much returned to the form of earlier in the season tonight. If Cook was healthy (I suspect he wasn't), that's big, even against their backup QB.

The kick returner - who I didn't even know we picked up - was a stud, considering the low bar others have set.

I don't know if he will even make the team next season, but I like this Tyler Davis at TE - better than either Deguara or Daffney. He just looks smooth.

Rodgers, Adams, Jones, and Dillon are pretty much permanent studs, and Lazard is getting that way too.

On defense, Kenny Clark was his normal great self. Campbell was pretty good. Barnes had a good game, better than usual for him. Amos was good. Stokes was good. The rest of the D wasn't bad either. Crosby was back to his old efficient self also.

LaFleur obviously is a stud of a coach, but I still don't like it when we run too much on early downs.

[HarveyWallbangers]

If Cook was healthy (I suspect he wasn't), that's big, even against their backup QB.

Why would you think Cook wasn't healthy? He had over 200 yards rushing two weeks ago and 28 carries against the Bears last week.

[kcpackman]

Why would you think Cook wasn't healthy? He had over 200 yards rushing two weeks ago and 28 carries against the Bears last week.



Because last week he had COVID- ask Kenny Clark what that can do to you.

[texaspackerbacker]

I counted at least 8 that I would call "pressures" on Rodgers in the first half where they said just 2. And I didn't even count 8 or 10 others where Rodgers threw it so quick you couldn't really tell if the O Line did its job or not. It was maybe 50/50 or a little less of decent blocking on runs too - which is better than usual for our O Line, but not what I'd call studdish.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Because last week he had COVID- ask Kenny Clark what that can do to you.

A lot of people are asymptomatic from COVID.

[SudsMcBucky]

I'm going to go off the grid, and this may be a stud for more than just this 1 game, but for the entire season. I'm going with Stenavich. When he was initially hired, my thought was "really, that's the best we can do?" But this guy has been keeping our line together and getting decent results despite the loss of MANY key pieces from last year. IMHO, he's working a minor miracle.

[King Friday]

Drayton is still a dud. Moore shows up last second, and in a handful of returns shows what can happen when you rely on the coaching of a different special teams coach. Catch the ball, make one move, go up the field. The fact Drayton's returners have never done that once all season, and Moore does it immediately last night, tells me Drayton is a dumbass. I'm guessing Drayton will get Moore coached up, and that will be the last we see of his ability to properly return a punt.

[smuggler]

Damn, Friday. You put it so brutally, but I can't deny the truth of your take.

[Joemailman]

Drayton is still a dud. Moore shows up last second, and in a handful of returns shows what can happen when you rely on the coaching of a different special teams coach. Catch the ball, make one move, go up the field. The fact Drayton's returners have never done that once all season, and Moore does it immediately last night, tells me Drayton is a dumbass. I'm guessing Drayton will get Moore coached up, and that will be the last we see of his ability to properly return a punt.

Maybe. Or maybe Moore is just better than the other guys Drayton has had available to return punts. Time will tell.

[Harlan Huckleby]

The tight ends are duds. I mean, it seems like other teams have two tall, athletic guys who can jump >12 inches and catch the ball over DBs. A few can even run fast.

[HarveyWallbangers]

The tight ends are duds. I mean, it seems like other teams have two tall, athletic guys who can jump >12 inches and catch the ball over DBs. A few can even run fast.

To be fair: our #1 TE (Tonyan) is out for the year. Our #2 TE (Lewis) barely played last night. It's unfortunate that Deguara dropped the TD, but he's been playing pretty well. Outten has been praising him a lot the last couple of weeks and A.J. Dillon called him the most underrated player on the offense in his podcast on Cheesehead TV last week. He's still more of an H-Back/FB type, but I don't think he's been playing poorly. I think they may have found something in the Davis kid. He can run. Dafney seems to have taken a step back this year.

[texaspackerbacker]

Maybe. Or maybe Moore is just better than the other guys Drayton has had available to return punts. Time will tell.

I'll go with this choice. There really wasn't anything to complain about special teams-wise last night.

St. Brown has been a welcome addition to special teams, and last night, for better or worse, Stokes was a gunner.

As for the TEs, I sort of agree with Harlan, Deguara and Dafney are definitely squatty plodders. Davis, though, seems a little more like what most other teams have at TE, and he blocks all right too. Tonyan was a UDFA, as I recall, and it took a while before they settled on using him a lot.

[Joemailman]

To be fair: our #1 TE (Tonyan) is out for the year. Our #2 TE (Lewis) barely played last night. It's unfortunate that Deguara dropped the TD, but he's been playing pretty well. Outten has been praising him a lot the last couple of weeks and A.J. Dillon called him the most underrated player on the offense in his podcast on Cheesehead TV last week. He's still more of an H-Back/FB type, but I don't think he's been playing poorly. I think they may have found something in the Davis kid. He can run. Dafney seems to have taken a step back this year.

Davis' RAS isn't as good as Tonyan's, but not bad. Tonyan has a better 40 time, but their 20 yard splits are the same. Tonyan had better explosion grades. Keep in mind that Davis weighed 16 pounds more than Tonyan at this point.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6Y6Ha_WkAAfAYW?format=png&name=smallhttps://i0.wp.com/ras.football/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Tyler-Davis-RAS-19138.png?fit=806%2C522&ssl=1&w=640

[Fritz]

I'll go with this choice. There really wasn't anything to complain about special teams-wise last night.

St. Brown has been a welcome addition to special teams, and last night, for better or worse, Stokes was a gunner.

As for the TEs, I sort of agree with Harlan, Deguara and Dafney are definitely squatty plodders. Davis, though, seems a little more like what most other teams have at TE, and he blocks all right too. Tonyan was a UDFA, as I recall, and it took a while before they settled on using him a lot.

I have always rooted for Encyclopedia (St.) Brown, so I am glad when he makes a catch or does something on ST. I do think he's playing better on ST now - he shows up, you notice him around the ball. I have a feeling he'll be gone after the year, maybe move on to Detroit to be with his brother and try to get more opportunities.

Lazard is a mystery to me. He's a good blocker, for sure, and at times he makes some pretty impressive catches in traffic - but then he drops a lot, it seems. Yet he seems to have surpassed MVS in recent weeks. MVS - the deep threat who seemed so important - seems to have disappeared. He's rarely getting targeted by Rodgers any more.

Speaking of Moore, that was impressive. He did what I've read returners should do - make the first guy miss, and get upfield, then cut. So much better than Amari Rodgers. I wouldn't mind seeing them keep Moore just to return punts, though that's a roster spot for a very specialized job.

I agree with Harv's take on the TE situation. Davis looks like a find - the closest thing we have to Tonyan - and Deguara is slowly improving, though that drop was an "ouch" moment. Dafney does not seem as effective as a blocker this year.

[Harlan Huckleby]

The Packers have best roster in NFL (maybe) but I pick on the TEs so I can stay in practice for the coming Jordan Love era of mediocrity

[Harlan Huckleby]

I have a related deep thought to share. Its my sense that the quality of backup TEs and O-linemen has steadily risen the past 20 years. A lot of the backup TEs are good pass catchers. Also, it used to be painfully obvious when a second-tier O-lineman was pass blocking. A lot of teams are playing with makeshift O-lines this year, not just Packers, and I'm not seeing so many matadors like we were treated to in the 1990s.

My theory on O-lineman is that there is a larger pool of big guys now, and they are much better physically trained than before.

Any chance this is right?

[smuggler]

I was actually thinking the same thing, thinking about Dennis Kelly being unwanted in the offseason.