Your Predictions for 2022

[RashanGary]

Ill start. Preston Smith looks really lean and fit. At his best he’s been a 10 sack sort of guy. He looks to be at his best.

Gary is priority 1 for offenses. Clark is priority 2. That leaves Preston alone with one guy pretty much all of the time.

I predict Preston Smith has a 10 sack year.


Since Lowry and Reed also benefit from the star treatment that Gary and Clark get, I predict theyll have strong seasons too. 6 sacks a piece.

[bobblehead]

Offenses usually try to target a defenses weakness. To start the season we don't have any discernible soft spots on D. I'll predict that a bunch of "2nd tier" guys look like all pros simply because teams will test them. Others will be exposed for being over rated.

So my biggest prediction is massive disappointment in Savage. He will be picked on and exposed as not what we hoped he would be.

[Joemailman]

Packer fans will have to learn to live without the rhythmic thud-thud sound of Packer punts and kicks being blocked.

[run pMc]

Monster year for AJ Dillon.

Packers run D actually stops people, and their pass D is good enough to be top 10 in turnovers forced.

Rodgers doesn't threepeat as MVP but still has a decent year and gets some votes with young receivers.

Zach Tom is considered one of the "top 5 OL" and a starter by end of year.

APRH

[texaspackerbacker]

Honestly, I don't particularly agree with anything above, except the no blocked punts thing. I'll have to give this some thought and say more later.

[Upnorth]

We beat Minnesota in an 1, Chicago wk 2, Tampa wk 3 and new England wk 4. We are all flying high and think we are superbowl bound. We then some how lose to the Giants and we over react the other way.

[call_me_ishmael]

AJ Dillon is a pro bowler this year with 1200 combined yards.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Honestly, I don't particularly agree with anything above, except the no blocked punts thing. I'll have to give this some thought and say more later.

Doubs will outplay Watson in 2022.

[texaspackerbacker]

Two more posts, and two more I strongly disagree with. Doubs will be great, but Watson will be greater. Mark that down as a prediction. And A.J. Dillon will be damn good, probably better than last year, but Aaron Jones will still be the stud RB. Why? Because his kind of RB - a fast shifty breakaway threat - is the best kind to have as your primary RB. Having a yokozuma of sorts in the backfield is necessary for some situation, short yardage, change of pace, etc., but just not as good as having a burner there.

Starting out with the negative, just so people can't say I'm optimistic all the time, I still think special teams will be a problem, although hopefully less than last year. I think maybe Bisaccia is overrated. If he was all that good, we wouldn't have had such sorry coverage teams in the preseason. Sure, he had scrubs playing, but so did other teams, and they did ok. O'Donnell should be an improvement, Crosby being healthy (if) and having better snapper and holder should be better, but I think coverage and blocking will still suck, and of course, if it's Amari returning punts, I don't expect much. I hope, but don't really expect Doubs to replace him on punts.

Rodgers will have another 4,000+ yard, 33+ TD, 3 or less interception, maybe MVP season as he winds down to his final 5-7 years playing.

Tonyan will be almost as good as his best season; Marcedes will still be good; Tyler Davis will be way better than he played in the preseason but not see much action.

Our Run D will FINALLY be decent, maybe still not super numbers, though, as teams will test that rather than throw at our super Corners. Gary will be excellent and Preston better than last year, but maybe lower sack numbers for the same reason. T.J. Slayton will gradually get more playing time and Lowery less. Reed may play more than Wyatt the first year, but Wyatt will still have a great career. If Savage is injured or just not up to the job, I wouldn't be surprised to see Douglas at Safety a little bit - but I'm NOT negative on Savage like some people.

It should be an all around excellent season - AGAIN, and maybe Super this time, assuming Rodgers stays healthy.

[SudsMcBucky]

Two more posts, and two more I strongly disagree with. Doubs will be great, but Watson will be greater. Mark that down as a prediction. And A.J. Dillon will be damn good, probably better than last year, but Aaron Jones will still be the stud RB. Why? Because his kind of RB - a fast shifty breakaway threat - is the best kind to have as your primary RB. Having a yokozuma of sorts in the backfield is necessary for some situation, short yardage, change of pace, etc., but just not as good as having a burner there.

Starting out with the negative, just so people can't say I'm optimistic all the time, I still think special teams will be a problem, although hopefully less than last year. I think maybe Bisaccia is overrated. If he was all that good, we wouldn't have had such sorry coverage teams in the preseason. Sure, he had scrubs playing, but so did other teams, and they did ok. O'Donnell should be an improvement, Crosby being healthy (if) and having better snapper and holder should be better, but I think coverage and blocking will still suck, and of course, if it's Amari returning punts, I don't expect much. I hope, but don't really expect Doubs to replace him on punts.

Rodgers will have another 4,000+ yard, 33+ TD, 3 or less interception, maybe MVP season as he winds down to his final 5-7 years playing.

Tonyan will be almost as good as his best season; Marcedes will still be good; Tyler Davis will be way better than he played in the preseason but not see much action.

Our Run D will FINALLY be decent, maybe still not super numbers, though, as teams will test that rather than throw at our super Corners. Gary will be excellent and Preston better than last year, but maybe lower sack numbers for the same reason. T.J. Slayton will gradually get more playing time and Lowery less. Reed may play more than Wyatt the first year, but Wyatt will still have a great career. If Savage is injured or just not up to the job, I wouldn't be surprised to see Douglas at Safety a little bit - but I'm NOT negative on Savage like some people.

It should be an all around excellent season - AGAIN, and maybe Super this time, assuming Rodgers stays healthy.

The only thing wrong about the above is that Dillon actually ran FASTER than Jones at the combine. Now, he's a little shiftier but flat out FASTER? Not so fast, my friend.

[Sparkey]

Here is an ugly prediction:

Rodgers gets caught from behind on a scramble and dislocates his throwing shoulder while throwing the ball away.

[Joemailman]

Here is an ugly prediction:

Rodgers gets caught from behind on a scramble and dislocates his throwing shoulder while throwing the ball away.

You should be Barr-ed from making any more posts like this.

[SudsMcBucky]

Here is an ugly prediction:

Rodgers gets caught from behind on a scramble and dislocates his throwing shoulder while throwing the ball away.

:smack::smack::smack:

[Sparkey]

You should be Barr-ed from making any more posts like this.

I don't want it to happen, but every year he is losing some of that quickness that he uses to shift around in the pocket.

[jklowan]

1st time in a long time the Packer D will outperform the O, Doubs is the leading reciever and both Dillon & Jones have over 50 catches each

[pittstang5]

Pack lose big time against the Vikings in week 1, similar to the first game last year (Embarrassing). Everyone bitches about not playing players during the preseason.

Packers come back big time in Week 2 with a blow out win, only for all of us, again, to scratch our heads as they get pounded in Week 3.

Special Teams still suck.

Sorry, mostly negative -I'm not as hyped up about this season as most are.

[texaspackerbacker]

The Vikings may not suck quite as much as the Bears, but they're nothing special either. LaFleur, good coach that he is, will be hammering it into the team about last season and making damn sure it doesn't happen again - the old "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" thing.

This team literally never should lose, as they are better all around than any other team, although they probably will lose a time or two.

[Fosco33]

The rookie receivers will show flashes but have heavy drops. Unlike pre psych ARod - post psych 12 will show some empathy and leadership.

I expect Sammy, Lazard, Bobby and Cobb to get >50% of the season passing TDs.

I predict Mason passes the torch mid season (before cold games).

Gary will dominate but Jaire and others will struggle early season to return to form.

STs will be improved but not better than 20th overall.

Unfortunately I don’t see Bak returning to pre injury all pro status and his time w/ the Pack will come to an end.

And last but not least - we’ll make the Superb owl

[Bretsky]

HeartBreakingPlayoffLoss again

[call_me_ishmael]

I suspect the Packers will stay healthy at the important spots where as last year they lost a lot of star power to health.

I believe that AJ Dillon is the star of the Packers offense and they use AJO predominantly as a receiver.

Sammy Watson will get hurt like he always does. Doubs will catch a lotta balls.

The Packers will win the Super Bowl.

[bobblehead]

The rookie receivers will show flashes but have heavy drops. Unlike pre psych ARod - post psych 12 will show some empathy and leadership.

I expect Sammy, Lazard, Bobby and Cobb to get >50% of the season passing TDs.

I predict Mason passes the torch mid season (before cold games).

Gary will dominate but Jaire and others will struggle early season to return to form.

STs will be improved but not better than 20th overall.

Unfortunately I don’t see Bak returning to pre injury all pro status and his time w/ the Pack will come to an end.

And last but not least - we’ll make the Superb owl

Yea, I forgot to predict that Bak has fluid on his knee after 2nd game and we never see him in live action again. But savage being at the brunt of packers fans rage is still my #1 prediction. Hope I'm horribly wrong on both.

[Teamcheez1]

The following veteran players will wear the green and gold for the last time this season:

Cobb
Crosby
Watkins
Lewis
Bakhtiari
Rodgers - not the QB

[texaspackerbacker]

I say again, Dillon good, A. Jones better, Doubs good, Watson better.

[MadScientist]

Receivers are underwhelming this year. Packers offense struggles until they promote Caleb Jones and resurrect the old U-bacon game plan.

[Fritz]

Receivers are underwhelming this year. Packers offense struggles until they promote Caleb Jones and resurrect the old U-bacon game plan.

I liked that formation from Sherman. Got that team a lot of first downs in short yardage situations.

[bobblehead]

Maybe that is why they haven't named tom a starter yet. Put him in the old kevin barry role. Run it 60% of the time. True old school. 6 OL plus a mercedes. Run rough shod all over the NFL

[MadScientist]

I liked that formation from Sherman. Got that team a lot of first downs in short yardage situations.
IIRC, they used it somewhat regularly in non short yardage situations. They just said we're going to run it down your throat and you can't stop us.


Maybe that is why they haven't named tom a starter yet. Put him in the old kevin barry role. Run it 60% of the time. True old school. 6 OL plus a mercedes. Run rough shod all over the NFL
This is the year for it, extra OL that look good, two very good backs to pound it, and unproven receivers. And when the defense goes heavy to stop it, send Doubs and Watson deep.

[Fritz]

Yes Shermy liked that formation. And it would've worked in Philly if one of the O-lineman hadn't gotten pushed back and Green hadn't tripped on that leg. Damn.

Then Sherman went chicken at the end of the game and didn't go for it on fourth down.

[bobblehead]

Yea, I forgot to predict that Bak has fluid on his knee after 2nd game and we never see him in live action again. But savage being at the brunt of packers fans rage is still my #1 prediction. Hope I'm horribly wrong on both.

I like revisiting threads like this. Sadly I seem to be pretty spot on except that Bak hasn't even been healthy enough to play and get fluid on his knee. His career is over I think. Fortunately Yosh has taken another step forward and is a legit NFL left tackle.

Savage has been suspect at best. I would say he isn't the only reason our D has been a tad disappointing so far, but he hasn't been good by any stretch.

[Fosco33]

I was against the Bak extension when it happened and hope he can return. But that doesn’t seem like a probable outcome.

[call_me_ishmael]

It is even worse because they pushed money out for Bak to next year when they ultimately didn't need to since they didn't resign Adams, so he is a burden next year too. It is quite problematic.

Here's an interesting question. Let's say Bak is done - is Big Elg the LT next year, or Yosh? Man, I don't see how Big Elg wouldn't want that bag and demand to play the spot or pursue FA given his track record of success.

[texaspackerbacker]

It's well known that I've never much cared for Bakhtiari and always considered him overrated in quality and even more so in importance to the team. Just the same, though, if you think he is good, even special, you had to spend the money needed to keep him. Sure it was horrible luck with the injury and the after effects - that comes under the heading of "shit happens".

The YouTube bloggers or whatever you call them, though, were saying he practiced yesterday and looked good. I STILL don't have a high opinion of the guy, but I do think there's a strong chance he will get back to at least near the quality level he was before the injury, and it will happen sooner rather than later.

I also have said repeatedly, I wish they'd play Jenkins at Guard, not Tackle. Guard IMO is the more important position in the Packers offensive scheme, and Jenkins thrived there. He didn't and IMO won't at OT.

There shouldn't be any reason Yosh can't play RT - even though he didn't look good there. A good O Line coach ought to be able to coach him up. If not, consider Bakhtiari moving to RT and leaving Yosh at LT.

[bobblehead]

Tex, some people can throw a baseball with both hands, some look.....challenged. There are a lot of reasons yosh might be inadequate on the right side.

[texaspackerbacker]

Has anybody ever even suggested that being righthanded or lefthanded makes a difference in playing left or right tackle? I don't think so. I'm with you on having a high opinion of Nijman which is why I'd rather see him in the lineup than Newman or Hansen. or Tom. And conveniently, that fits right in with wanting to see Jenkins at Guard, not Tackle once we have both Bakhtiari and Jenkins back ready to play.

[call_me_ishmael]

Jenkins is going to hold out if he gets moved to guard IMO. He is going to get paid top 5 OL money in the league next year if he succeeds at tackle.

[Bretsky]

I've always like Bach; maybe partly because he goes to community events and slams beers at the Fiserv forum to fire the fans up.

I was disappointed to find out they made him the highest Tackle in the NFL at the time, and when Bach said he always wanted to say he was the highest paid OT I didn't like that much either. Bach is very good; but when I think about the elite LT"s that I would want to make the highest paid in the NFL, I just don't think he's there. At the time to me it seemed like they overpaid for him; now I just feel bad about the whole situation

Listening to reporters, it really seems like he had another setback.

When Wilde asked Nijman if anybody really expected Bach to play last week.......Wilde noted he was clearly uncomfortable answering the question, hesitated, and then stepped back and said you'd have to check with Coach Lafleur on that one

Others noted he was limping in practice/took a day off....after he was seeming to improve.

It would not surprise me if he's not back this season. And I don't think he's the Back of old.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Nonsense. He had just turned 28, had been All-Pro for most of the previous five years, and didn’t have a history of injuries. You don’t let guys like that walk at LT. I’m confident he would have continued to play well. The torn ACL and poor recovery was just bad luck.

[bobblehead]

Has anybody ever even suggested that being righthanded or lefthanded makes a difference in playing left or right tackle? I don't think so. I'm with you on having a high opinion of Nijman which is why I'd rather see him in the lineup than Newman or Hansen. or Tom. And conveniently, that fits right in with wanting to see Jenkins at Guard, not Tackle once we have both Bakhtiari and Jenkins back ready to play.

Nor did i suggest that. I suggested that footwork, body placement and hand usage is reversed and LIKE throwing a ball, some are less adept at it than others.

[bobblehead]

Nonsense. He had just turned 28, had been All-Pro for most of the previous five years, and didn’t have a history of injuries. You don’t let guys like that walk at LT. I’m confident he would have continued to play well. The torn ACL and poor recovery was just bad luck.

Harvey, we are trying to re write hstory and pretend gutes had a crystal ball and fucked this up. Don't contradict the narrative!

[RashanGary]

Twitter rumors that Bakh is back. I doubt he’ll be himself until next year at soonest though.

[Joemailman]

Twitter rumors that Bakh is back. I doubt he’ll be himself until next year at soonest though.

If that's the case, is an 80-90% Bakhtiari better than Nijman?

[RashanGary]

If that's the case, is an 80-90% Bakhtiari better than Nijman?

I doubt it, to be honest. Nijman is an average left tackle. I’d lean toward cutting Bakh and extending Nijman next year.

[run pMc]

He looked pretty good vs. Detroit last year. I think he'll be rusty for a few games but still pretty good.
Trent Williams is the best LT in the game, but Bahk was a top 5 if not top 3 LT pre-injury. I think he can at least be a top 10 LT. Those guys don't grow on trees...Harvey is right.

If you still don't think that's valuable, look at Game 1 vs. Minny and what happens when you trot out a subpar right side of the line. OL matters.
The run game was better with Bahk and Jenkins on the left than Njiman and Runyan. I think Jenkins is the RT now and in the future, and they keep Bahk. His contract is a mess, but if he can play you keep him. You don't cut a top 5 LT to save $6M. Most GMs are going to consider LT the 2nd most important position on offense after QB.
He had his knee drained over a dozen times last year and has had non-ACL related knee surgeries. He's been trying to get back on the field; I don't think he'd be going thru all the rehab if it was a "sit on your ass and collect a paycheck" scenario. You can't trade him, and it's not like he's preventing Travis Fulghum from being a rockstar. (that would be Amari, or maybe Johnathon Ford lol)

As for Njiman, he's ok. He still needs help against top rushers, and has occasional brain farts. I think he played RT at VA Tech a bit, but looked pretty raw/rough doing it. Before that he played LT but didn't start, and he actually was initially a DT, so he's still a work in progress.
He's had a lot of reps at LT for GB and it sounds like they've tried him back at RT and he doesn't look good compared to their other options. You'd probably need the offseason to get his technique sorted out to play RT. Not everyone can make the switch on a moment's notice. I think he's a very good backup and an adequate starter, but Bahk at 90% is better than Njiman. To be clear: I like Njiman, but he's not a finished product yet, and I wonder if he signs to start for another team next year since he'll be a UFA. If Bahk's knee is a no-go it will make things iffy for them.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

They should extend bahktari and resign Jenkins. Move Jenkins back to guard and sign Bulaga to and two year deal.

Bahktari Jenkins Myera Runyan Bulaga

[Joemailman]

They should extend bahktari and resign Jenkins. Move Jenkins back to guard and sign Bulaga to and two year deal.

Bahktari Jenkins Myera Runyan Bulaga

Bakhtiari is signed through 2024. Jenkins will be a free agent and will sign with someone willing to pay him to be a tackle. Bulaga missed 2/3 of games last 2 years. He is likely done.

[bobblehead]

Offenses usually try to target a defenses weakness. To start the season we don't have any discernible soft spots on D. I'll predict that a bunch of "2nd tier" guys look like all pros simply because teams will test them. Others will be exposed for being over rated.

So my biggest prediction is massive disappointment in Savage. He will be picked on and exposed as not what we hoped he would be.

I feel sort of spot on here. I think Savage has sucked big time. Sadly not enough 2nd tier guys stepping up though.

[bobblehead]

Packer fans will have to learn to live without the rhythmic thud-thud sound of Packer punts and kicks being blocked.

You had it for 5 weeks.

[bobblehead]

We beat Minnesota in an 1, Chicago wk 2, Tampa wk 3 and new England wk 4. We are all flying high and think we are superbowl bound. We then some how lose to the Giants and we over react the other way.

Not bad, but Minny ate our lunch.

[bobblehead]

AJ Dillon is a pro bowler this year with 1200 combined yards.

OOF!!

[Joemailman]

You had it for 5 weeks.

It was glorious.

[bobblehead]

So my biggest prediction is massive disappointment in Savage. He will be picked on and exposed as not what we hoped he would be.

Sooo.....

[RashanGary]

Sooo.....

Nice call, narcissist :wink:

[bobblehead]

Nice call, narcissist :wink:

Thank you. Both compliments accepted. :P

[call_me_ishmael]

AJ Dillon went soft and is gonna end up closer to 120 yards than 1200. That is probably the biggest surprise of the season to me.

[Joemailman]

HeartBreakingPlayoffLoss again

Kool-aid drinker.

[run pMc]

HeartBreakingPlayoffLoss again

Almost.

[Bretsky]

Almost.

HA; everybody considered the game versue the frickin LIONS a playoff game

I was kinda right

[run pMc]

Well, they've gone from
ugly loss to SF (the Mostert game) in the NFCCG
to a frustrating loss to TB at home (the Kevin King/Pettine game) in the NFCCG
to a horrible loss to SF at home (the Drayton fiasco) in the Divisional round
to a loss to DET at home in a win-and-in week 18 game

they are not trending in the right direction. The DET was as close to a playoff loss as they'll get. They were unlikely to beat the SF Brock Purdies on the road, but still... losing a must-win January game at Lambeau against the LIONS is tough.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Edited

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Edited