Etling = Taysom Hill?

[texaspackerbacker]

They say it's easy to love the 3rd string QB - he gets to play against the scrubs of the other team, etc. It occurs to me, though, that Etling could be the Packers version of Tayson Hill. He had a little bit of experience at WR with New England; He's faster and maybe more athletic than Hill; IMO he could be used as a punt returner; And he's not horrible as a thrower.

LaFleur likes gadget plays. That end around with a guy who can throw is a good one, also just a read option for short yardage.

Whose spot would he take? That's a tough one with the plethora of talent all over the roster.

[HarveyWallbangers]

He’s not nearly as fast or as athletic as Hill. Taysom ran 4.46 40 coming out. Etling ran 4.76.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Did not realize Etling is a 28 year old journeyman. I honestly thought he was some 22 year old undrafted rookie free agent from Southern Kentucky Confederate State A&M.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

They say it's easy to love the 3rd string QB - he gets to play against the scrubs of the other team, etc. It occurs to me, though, that Etling could be the Packers version of Tayson Hill. He had a little bit of experience at WR with New England; He's faster and maybe more athletic than Hill; IMO he could be used as a punt returner; And he's not horrible as a thrower.

LaFleur likes gadget plays. That end around with a guy who can throw is a good one, also just a read option for short yardage.

Whose spot would he take? That's a tough one with the plethora of talent all over the roster.

Probably the spot of the 4th TE, assuming Etling is a poor mans Hill.

[texaspackerbacker]

We really need a 53 man roster prediction thread. If no one else starts one in a few days, maybe I'll get off my ass and start one. By the day after next Thursday's game, it's not even a prediction anymore.

Tonyan, Lewis, DeGuara (who I don't like, but they probably keep), Davis (who's playing his way right off the roster), Cannella (who seems to be decent), a couple others I can't even think of the name of ...... I don't know how big Etling is, but I doubt he's 4th TE material. He sure seems faster than I've ever seen Taysom Hill play. I'd like to see him get a chance as a gadget player/3rd string QB.

[Spaulding]

Etling will at best be a practice squad player. Feel good story so far but Benkert was better and still cut by the Packers. They will carry only two QB's on the regular season roster with the depth elsewhere on the roster.

[run pMc]

Agree ^.
Etling is at best a PS player. They will only keep 2 QBs on the 53.

He is NOT Taysom Hill.
I'd rather see Christian Watson on gadget plays than Etling, unless by "gadget" you mean "trick" plays... in which case why would you want to do that vs. keep the ball in Aaron Rodgers' hands?

[smuggler]

Nobody's going to put in a claim for him, so he's a good QB3. Doesn't need a roster spot.

[texaspackerbacker]

I don't think Etling actually makes the 53 either just because there are so many traffic jams at other positions, but I've never seen Taysom Hill play substantially better than Etling or look faster. And Christian Watson? Yes, he'd be a lot better running end arounds and maybe even from shotgun based on videos from college. What Etling could do that maybe Watson couldn't, though, is be an option to pass out of the end around. And if the comparison is Amari Rodgers instead of Watson, I think Etling would be better even as a runner. Short yardage, do we want Aaron Rodgers running read options? A couple times a season maybe, but not often. Etling as a QB would loosen things up for the RB in addition to being a viable option to carry the ball.

I agree, he's not likely to get picked up if he is cut and would make it to the PS. Is the rule for gameday PS pick ups still the same this season? If so, we could see a lot of Etling even if he only ends up on the PS.

[bobblehead]

I don't think Etling actually makes the 53 either just because there are so many traffic jams at other positions, but I've never seen Taysom Hill play substantially better than Etling or look faster. .

I have. I have actually seen Hill in many NFL regular season games, as opposed to Etling who I have seen in about 2 quarters of mop up preseason duty. Comparing the 2 of them....well, Its the most Tex thing I can imagine.

[run pMc]

I've seen Taysom Hill play regular season games, and he's better than Etling.
Remember, Etling is QB3 and playing late in preseason games for a reason. He's a 28 year old who has bounced around the league and had several position switches. He's not even 'Tebow good' or RGIII or VY talented.

I still don't think you put in some kind of gadget package for him. The minute you sub him in everyone knows what's up.
You're better off running your scheme with the 2 time defending MVP at QB and Jones/Dillon running the ball. It should be what you're best at, and in fact a separate obvious gadget package runs counter to MLF/Shanahan concept of deception via multiple plays from same formation. I just don't think it's in the DNA of the scheme, and I don't think Etling is who you'd want running it.

It's an amusing thought experiment when sitting around a bar, but it's not really anything to take seriously.

[texaspackerbacker]

Of course you're better off running the regular LaFleur offense with Rodgers, Jones, etc. - run that about 90-95% of the time. But you line up occasionally with Etling split out and run an inside zone play, no difference. Fake an end around to him and pass it or run the ball, and same as if Watson or anybody else is split out. Hand it to Etling on the end around, I'd say he can run it as good as anybody other than maybe Watson - better than Amari. Maybe it's more effective because the D has to honor the chance of a pass. Or rarely, you do the WR pass play - probably with a better chance of success than with any WR we have.

4th and short, are we better off with Rodgers handing it to Jones or Dillon than with Etling? Threat of play action pass with him or threat of read option with Etling? About equal.
faking the hand off and read option QB run? Probably equal or better chance with Rodgers running due to the element of surprise, but do we want Rodgers running that play very often? Not really.

I've seen Hill play too, and 40 time not withstanding, I've never seen him show the football speed that Etling showed. Can Etling pass as good as Hill? I doubt he's significantly worse.

Doing the numbers, we can keep 3 RBs, 7 WRs, 4 TEs, 9 OL, 6 DL, 5 OLB, 4 ILB, 5 Corners, 4 Safetys, and 3 Snapper/Holder/Punter/Kicker, and still have room for a third QB - Etling. Which of those would ya'all want an extra guy over the third QB?

[Joemailman]

9 total DB's is not enough. There is no reason to carry 3 QB's. Etling can be stashed on the practice squad.

[texaspackerbacker]

Maybe. When are we gonna have that 53 roster prediction thread?

I can barely see two Safetys beyond Savage and Amos. I can barely see two decent Corners beyond the big three.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Maybe. When are we gonna have that 53 roster prediction thread?

I can barely see two Safetys beyond Savage and Amos. I can barely see two decent Corners beyond the big three.

You know how to start a thread, right, Tex? lol. This thread is proof. Get off your lazy ass and start the 53-men prediction thread already, yo!

Previous two summers, we witnessed a pissed Mailman. Dude took his wrath AWOL. Consequently, I had to pick up his slack with the Win-Loss prediction threads.

Kinda hoping Mailman skips the Win-Loss thread again this summer. Said thread is also about Coldplay. Yall know much I love Coldplay.

[run pMc]

Agree with mailman you're more likely to need the secondary players - they get hurt a lot, plus they play ST. I doubt Bisaccia is going to play the 3rd QB on ST.
One of your 9 OL is Sean Rhyan; from what I've seen he's not ready to play meaningful snaps. You might need to carry 10 OL to start the season.

Etling is not a threat to get scooped up by another team, he can play scout team on the PS.

[texaspackerbacker]

Sheeeesh. I'm not even predicting they keep Etling on the 53, just that they could and might be better off if they did. Yeah, probably he ends up on the PS - as I said a couple posts back, and assuming the rules aren't muc different than last year (does anybody know for sure one way or the other about that?), he gets brought up on game day sometimes and they do like I said.

The third QB isn't gonna be on special teams? Duh to that too, although Etling might be as good or better returning punts than Amari or anybody we've used back there. I suppose the 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th O Lineman is gonna be blocking for punt and kick returns? Those guys are basically useless except for the main part of their job, and arguably some of them aren't much good even at that - but with Rodgers at QB, they don't even need to be anything special.