Conditioning + Experience = A Better Start!

[Tarlam!]

Is it just me, or was anyone else positively surprised by the team's excellent physcial condition in week 17 last season?

The much ballyhooed change to free weights and personal training agendas seem to have paid dividends in Year 1.

By all acounts, the players have worked their butts off in the off season.

Couple this additional strength with the season of experience our coaches and players from 06/07 have gained and the team is way ahead of where they were a year ago.

I expect to them to be in better shape than maybe at anytime in the last 5 years on opening day. It won't be new to M3, his staff or most of the starters.

Last year, the O'line was starting 2 rooky guards, we had a rookie #2 WR. We had Hawk in his debut, and for all intensive purposes, Poppinga might as well have been a rookie.

Heck, even the punter was whiffing NFL time in his premier!

That will all be different this year. I have high hopes for this team. That's not Kool Aide, those are the facts!

[Tarlam!]

What I guess I am alluding to in this thread is this:

If we can agree that we lost 4 of our first 5 games due to inexperience and poor condition at the beginning of the season and still have the condition towards the end of the seaon that we did last year, we have a chance at winning more than 8 games. Of course skill at each position is important and we had a cupcake schedule (blah blah blah).

What is our record if we improve on 4-8 and STILL win the last 4?

O.K. This post is Kool Aide talkin'.

[MJZiggy]

Yes, it's kool-aid, (and I do think it may be spiked) but you make some valid points. They are likely to be much better this year, That said, there is still really no way to tell until they step out onto the field for game one. It's gonna be a wild ride.

[Patler]

What really makes me look forward to the season is this, half the starters and primary backups will be players that could develop into very, very good NFL players who have very long careers, or could flop, It's such an unknown. The same can be said about the coaching staff.

It will be fun watching the development. Some likely will succeed, some will not. It will be interesting to watch them sort themselves out.

In a lot of ways its not unlike the early 1990s, when you really didn't know what to expect from the team or the coaching staff. Which direction is it headed? Of course, it is always more exciting when part of the unknown is a young, unproven and undisciplined QB with rare physical talents, which is definately not the situation now!

The next couple seasons could be filled with unexpected highs and extremely disappointing lows for the fans, maybe even in successive weeks!

[RashanGary]

This is pretty much where I stand Tarlem. We had a lot of promising young players and it sounds like they (the promising ones and almost EVERYONE esle for a change) worked their tails off. The "culture" does seem to have changed and while I questioned how effective TT/MMs' "culture change" plan could be, esspecialy early, it seems to have worked out exactly as they planned.

[Joemailman]

One think Ron Wolf always believed in was creating competition for starting jobs, and TT has done the same thing. The only guys assured of starting jobs (Favre, Driver, Tauscher, Clifton, Kampman, Hawk, Barnett, Harris, Woodson) are outstanding players. Competition should help push the others to be as good as they can be. Can't say for sure how it will work out, but it is a healthy situation.

[Tarlam!]

I think Jenkins is guaranteed. Maybe Wells, too.

[Patler]

One think Ron Wolf always believed in was creating competition for starting jobs, and TT has done the same thing. The only guys assured of starting jobs (Favre, Driver, Tauscher, Clifton, Kampman, Hawk, Barnett, Harris, Woodson) are outstanding players. Competition should help push the others to be as good as they can be. Can't say for sure how it will work out, but it is a healthy situation.

That is very true. If you look back on the Sherman years, there very few positions for which there really was competition. Too many of the players brought in really did not compete for starting jobs. They were projects. The roster became some what stagnant.

If you are at an elite level, that can be OK. But, the Packers, while winning their division, were never looked at as much of a true contender during that time. They needed competition for roster spots and did not have it.

[Patler]

I think Jenkins is guaranteed. Maybe Wells, too.

Both may be guaranteed because there really isn't anyone to compete with them. Who is the likely backup at center, Spits? Who is available at DE other than Jenkins or KGB?

I'm not down on Jenkins at all, but he still has to prove himself. Four games at DE was not very long.

[pittstang5]

Both may be guaranteed because there really isn't anyone to compete with them. Who is the likely backup at center, Spits?


Not to get off topic, but yeah, who is the second string center? If you go by the roster at Packers.com - Wells and some guy named Pete Bier are the only centers. I remember reading that when Spitz was drafted they thought he was best suited for center. So, who's getting reps as the second string center?

[Joemailman]

There has been some talk that Junius Coston is doing better this year. If he does well at Guard, I suspect TT would be comfortable going into the season with Spitz as the backup Center, figuring that Coston could start at Guard if they need to move Spitz to Center. If that doesn't happen then I think they'll be forced to keep someone else on the roster to backup Wells

[Guiness]

What ever happened to that 'project' White they kept on the roster a few years ago?

edit: would you believe he's on Houston's roster!!!!!

[Patler]

Spitz was the backup center last year, after they released White half-way through the season.

For those interested, Atlas Herrion is also in Houston!

[Guiness]

Spitz was the backup center last year, after they released White half-way through the season.

For those interested, Atlas Herrion is also in Houston!

And Mike Flanagan, and Ben Steele...Brad Bedell there for a while too. Wow.

[Patler]

Spitz was the backup center last year, after they released White half-way through the season.

For those interested, Atlas Herrion is also in Houston!

And Mike Flanagan, and Ben Steele...Brad Bedell there for a while too. Wow.

If you want the entire list, there are 10 former Packers that I know of currently on the roster in Houston:

OL - Flanagan, White, Herion
RB - Green, Gado, Leech
TE - Steele
DL - Earl Cochran
LB - Shantee Orr
DB - Jason Horton

[HarveyWallbangers]

I imagine Moll comes in for any injury. If Clifton gets injured, Colledge moves to LT and Moll goes to OG. If an OG gets injured, Moll replaces them. If Wells gets injured, Spitz goes to OC and Moll replaces him. If Tauscher gets injured, Moll steps in. Now, if there were two injuries, then things get dicier.

LT Clifton, Colledge
LG Colledge, Moll, Coston
C Wells, Spitz
RG Spitz, Moll, Coston
RT Tauscher, Moll

Coston appears to be the 7th OL. The nice thing is that a lot of the guys have shown position flexibility, so they could probably live with 2 good backup OL and 1 or 2 developmental types.

[Joemailman]

I believe that last year when Clifton was sick at Miami, Colledge went to LT, Spitz moved to LG, and Moll was at RG. I think they would like to reduce the movement a bit. Barbre may be able to help. In that situation, I suspect they would move Colledge to LT and put Barbre at LG. That way they can at least leave Spitz at RG. It would be nice if they could just put Barbre at LT, but I believe he's going to mainly be playing LG in training camp.

[run pMc]

I think the relative young squad combined with avoiding injuries at most of the positions (WR was the glaring spot) helped at the end of the season. I wonder if younger players heal a little faster. Sometimes winning football comes down to who is healthier or more quality depth.
With a year in the weight room, I'm interested to see how Moll, Colledge, and Spitz look this year. I know the coaches thought they needed to gain strength. So I'm with Patler on seeing who develops and who doesn't. For that reason, I think the team will play better more consistently this year, even if their final record doesn't show it.