K-town
05-17-2006, 06:34 PM
If a few young players step up...
Posted: May 16, 2006
Cliff Christl
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Green Bay - As has been the case for the past 14 years, Brett Favre, more than any other player, holds the key to the Green Bay Packers' upcoming season. Having drafted fifth rather than 20th or later, the Packers stand a better chance than in the recent past of getting immediate help from their first draft pick. And they might get a boost from cornerback Charles Woodson and some of their other free agents.
But if the Packers are going to significantly improve on their 4-12 record of last season, it's probably going to depend on whether several of their young, inexperienced players blossom.
It seems that fewer and fewer rookies are making much of a splash across the league these days. And free agency has seldom tipped the scales in the NFL.
When teams make a jump in the standings, it's usually because their young veterans finally come into their own.
That's why the Packers' fortunes in this coming season figure to hinge to a large extent on the likes of Samkon Gado, Nick Collins, Nick Barnett, Corey Williams, Scott Wells, Junius Coston, Ahmad Carroll, Colin Cole, Kenny Peterson, Mike Hawkins and Brady Poppinga, among others.
In looking back at the Packers' off-season developments since 1993, the beginning of the free agent era, the one that might have been the most instructive was 1995.
Here were some of the headlines:
Jan. 11 - It's announced that defensive backfield coach Dick Jauron will leave the Packers to become defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Feb. 3 - Receivers coach Jon Gruden leaves to become offensive coordinator in Philadelphia.
Feb. 17 - Steve Sidwell resigns to become defensive coordinator of the Houston Oilers less than three weeks after he agreed to become linebackers coach of the Packers.
Feb. 27 - Defensive lineman Don Davey, who started four games late in the 1994 season, leaves the Packers to join Jauron in Jacksonville.
Feb. 28 - The Packers waive 29-year-old wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, their most potent offensive weapon, less than a month after he had undergone neck surgery that threatened to end his career.
March 4 - The Packers lose free agent Tim Hauck, their backup safety for the past four seasons, to Denver, which will give him an opportunity to start.
March 8 - Linebacker Bryce Paup, the Packers' only starter in last month's Pro Bowl, signs a three-year, $7.6 million contract with Buffalo that includes a $3.3 million signing bonus. General manager Ron Wolf could have kept Paup, 27, by putting a franchise tag on him and paying him $2.807 million next season, but declined to do so.
March 10 - Tight end Eric Green, one of two free agents at the top of the Packers' shopping list and maybe the most coveted free agent in this year's market, decides to sign with Miami.
March 13 - The Packers lose out on Jay Novacek, another free agent tight end and their fallback option after losing Green. Novacek decided to stay with Dallas, although the Packers offered more money.
March 22 - Free agent wide receiver Andre Rison chooses Cleveland over the Packers. The Packers had courted Rison since the opening hours of free agency. They had twice sent offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis to Atlanta to meet with Rison and also entertained him at a Milwaukee Bucks game. In fact, the Packers probably put more effort into their pursuit of Rison than any free agent since Reggie White. But Rison said he never felt a connection to anyone in Green Bay's front office and didn't like the way the team had treated Sharpe.
March 28 - The Packers lose tight end Ed West, who started 12 games the season before, and running back Darrell Thompson, a former No. 1 draft pick, to free agency.
March 29 - Tight end Keith Jackson tells his agent that he'll retire rather than play for the Packers after they give Miami a second-round draft pick for his rights in a deal with no conditions attached.
March 31 - The Packers lose defensive lineman Matt Brock through free agency.
April 3 - Unable to even find a team that would part with a seventh-round draft pick, the Packers trade cornerback Terrell Buckley to Miami for past considerations or, in essence, nothing. Just three years earlier, the Packers selected Buckley with the fifth pick in the draft. Minicamp also opens with a number of players missing, including Jackson. Unhappy over his contract, running back Edgar Bennett agrees to attend meetings but refuses to practice. Robert Brooks, Mark Chmura and George Koonce are among the Packers' own free agents who don't practice because they remain unsigned. Also, recently signed free agent offensive lineman Jerry Crafts, formerly of Buffalo, reports at close to 400 pounds.
April 11 - Joe Sims, the Packers' starting right offensive tackle, becomes the ninth free agent to leave when he signs with the Philadelphia Eagles.
April 22 - The Packers select cornerback Craig Newsome in the first round of the draft, although they were in desperate need of offensive weapons. "We need to find somebody that can score touchdowns," Wolf had said several weeks before the draft. "Be it a tight end, a running back, a wide receiver, whatever. Somebody that's a touchdown scorer." The Packers drafted Newsome after failing in an effort to trade for franchise wide receiver Rob Moore of the New York Jets. The Packers were reported to have offered the Jets their No. 1 pick and a third, but couldn't agree on an additional player. In turn, the Packers also are forced to settle for third- and fifth-round choices when they trade quarterback Mark Brunell to Jacksonville. The Eagles had agreed to give the Packers a second three days earlier, but couldn't agree with Brunell on a contract.
April 28 - Disgruntled wide receiver Mark Ingram skips minicamp. He had been acquired by the Packers from Miami for a fourth-round draft pick a little more than a month ago.
May 2 - Sharpe files a $9.6 million lawsuit against the Packers.
July 21 - Jackson and Ingram, the team's two major off-season acquisitions, are missing as the Packers open training camp. In addition, third-year veteran Paul Hutchins, who was being counted on as the Packers' starting right tackle, reports at some 380 pounds. White would say in an interview a few days later that he was so disappointed over the team's off-season developments that it was hard for him to stick with his workout program.
So what happened in 1995 in the wake of all that bad news?
The Packers won their first NFC Central title in 23 years, appeared in the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the Ice Bowl 28 years earlier and emerged confident that they could win next year's Super Bowl.
How did they do it?
Favre, at age 26, had his first MVP season. And although White didn't have one of his more productive years, he still played at a high level.
But almost as important was the development of several young players who hadn't done much to that point.
Brooks soared from 58 to 102 catches in his second year as a starter. Chmura established himself as the starter at tight end in his third season and his reception total jumped from 14 to 54. Earl Dotson, who couldn't get off the bench in 1994 when he was overweight and didn't seem to care, entrenched himself at right tackle and became the team's best run blocker. Bennett rushed for 1,067 yards, up from 623 the previous season, his first as a starter.
Gilbert Brown led the team in tackles for loss in his first season as a starter. Former No. 1 pick Wayne Simmons, in his third season but first as a fulltime starter, improved over the course of the season and dominated in a playoff victory against San Francisco. Cornerback Doug Evans, who had struggled in his first year as a starter in '94, showed steady improvement.
Could history repeat itself this year?
The Packers don't have a rising star at quarterback or anyone on defense to compare to White. And they shorted themselves on draft picks from 2002 through 2004. Therefore, some of their young players might not hold as much promise as some of those from 11 years ago.
But, again, if there's any chance of it, those who are perhaps most likely to play a leading role are the Packers' untapped young veterans, more so than this year's free agents and draft picks.
Posted: May 16, 2006
Cliff Christl
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Green Bay - As has been the case for the past 14 years, Brett Favre, more than any other player, holds the key to the Green Bay Packers' upcoming season. Having drafted fifth rather than 20th or later, the Packers stand a better chance than in the recent past of getting immediate help from their first draft pick. And they might get a boost from cornerback Charles Woodson and some of their other free agents.
But if the Packers are going to significantly improve on their 4-12 record of last season, it's probably going to depend on whether several of their young, inexperienced players blossom.
It seems that fewer and fewer rookies are making much of a splash across the league these days. And free agency has seldom tipped the scales in the NFL.
When teams make a jump in the standings, it's usually because their young veterans finally come into their own.
That's why the Packers' fortunes in this coming season figure to hinge to a large extent on the likes of Samkon Gado, Nick Collins, Nick Barnett, Corey Williams, Scott Wells, Junius Coston, Ahmad Carroll, Colin Cole, Kenny Peterson, Mike Hawkins and Brady Poppinga, among others.
In looking back at the Packers' off-season developments since 1993, the beginning of the free agent era, the one that might have been the most instructive was 1995.
Here were some of the headlines:
Jan. 11 - It's announced that defensive backfield coach Dick Jauron will leave the Packers to become defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Feb. 3 - Receivers coach Jon Gruden leaves to become offensive coordinator in Philadelphia.
Feb. 17 - Steve Sidwell resigns to become defensive coordinator of the Houston Oilers less than three weeks after he agreed to become linebackers coach of the Packers.
Feb. 27 - Defensive lineman Don Davey, who started four games late in the 1994 season, leaves the Packers to join Jauron in Jacksonville.
Feb. 28 - The Packers waive 29-year-old wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, their most potent offensive weapon, less than a month after he had undergone neck surgery that threatened to end his career.
March 4 - The Packers lose free agent Tim Hauck, their backup safety for the past four seasons, to Denver, which will give him an opportunity to start.
March 8 - Linebacker Bryce Paup, the Packers' only starter in last month's Pro Bowl, signs a three-year, $7.6 million contract with Buffalo that includes a $3.3 million signing bonus. General manager Ron Wolf could have kept Paup, 27, by putting a franchise tag on him and paying him $2.807 million next season, but declined to do so.
March 10 - Tight end Eric Green, one of two free agents at the top of the Packers' shopping list and maybe the most coveted free agent in this year's market, decides to sign with Miami.
March 13 - The Packers lose out on Jay Novacek, another free agent tight end and their fallback option after losing Green. Novacek decided to stay with Dallas, although the Packers offered more money.
March 22 - Free agent wide receiver Andre Rison chooses Cleveland over the Packers. The Packers had courted Rison since the opening hours of free agency. They had twice sent offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis to Atlanta to meet with Rison and also entertained him at a Milwaukee Bucks game. In fact, the Packers probably put more effort into their pursuit of Rison than any free agent since Reggie White. But Rison said he never felt a connection to anyone in Green Bay's front office and didn't like the way the team had treated Sharpe.
March 28 - The Packers lose tight end Ed West, who started 12 games the season before, and running back Darrell Thompson, a former No. 1 draft pick, to free agency.
March 29 - Tight end Keith Jackson tells his agent that he'll retire rather than play for the Packers after they give Miami a second-round draft pick for his rights in a deal with no conditions attached.
March 31 - The Packers lose defensive lineman Matt Brock through free agency.
April 3 - Unable to even find a team that would part with a seventh-round draft pick, the Packers trade cornerback Terrell Buckley to Miami for past considerations or, in essence, nothing. Just three years earlier, the Packers selected Buckley with the fifth pick in the draft. Minicamp also opens with a number of players missing, including Jackson. Unhappy over his contract, running back Edgar Bennett agrees to attend meetings but refuses to practice. Robert Brooks, Mark Chmura and George Koonce are among the Packers' own free agents who don't practice because they remain unsigned. Also, recently signed free agent offensive lineman Jerry Crafts, formerly of Buffalo, reports at close to 400 pounds.
April 11 - Joe Sims, the Packers' starting right offensive tackle, becomes the ninth free agent to leave when he signs with the Philadelphia Eagles.
April 22 - The Packers select cornerback Craig Newsome in the first round of the draft, although they were in desperate need of offensive weapons. "We need to find somebody that can score touchdowns," Wolf had said several weeks before the draft. "Be it a tight end, a running back, a wide receiver, whatever. Somebody that's a touchdown scorer." The Packers drafted Newsome after failing in an effort to trade for franchise wide receiver Rob Moore of the New York Jets. The Packers were reported to have offered the Jets their No. 1 pick and a third, but couldn't agree on an additional player. In turn, the Packers also are forced to settle for third- and fifth-round choices when they trade quarterback Mark Brunell to Jacksonville. The Eagles had agreed to give the Packers a second three days earlier, but couldn't agree with Brunell on a contract.
April 28 - Disgruntled wide receiver Mark Ingram skips minicamp. He had been acquired by the Packers from Miami for a fourth-round draft pick a little more than a month ago.
May 2 - Sharpe files a $9.6 million lawsuit against the Packers.
July 21 - Jackson and Ingram, the team's two major off-season acquisitions, are missing as the Packers open training camp. In addition, third-year veteran Paul Hutchins, who was being counted on as the Packers' starting right tackle, reports at some 380 pounds. White would say in an interview a few days later that he was so disappointed over the team's off-season developments that it was hard for him to stick with his workout program.
So what happened in 1995 in the wake of all that bad news?
The Packers won their first NFC Central title in 23 years, appeared in the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the Ice Bowl 28 years earlier and emerged confident that they could win next year's Super Bowl.
How did they do it?
Favre, at age 26, had his first MVP season. And although White didn't have one of his more productive years, he still played at a high level.
But almost as important was the development of several young players who hadn't done much to that point.
Brooks soared from 58 to 102 catches in his second year as a starter. Chmura established himself as the starter at tight end in his third season and his reception total jumped from 14 to 54. Earl Dotson, who couldn't get off the bench in 1994 when he was overweight and didn't seem to care, entrenched himself at right tackle and became the team's best run blocker. Bennett rushed for 1,067 yards, up from 623 the previous season, his first as a starter.
Gilbert Brown led the team in tackles for loss in his first season as a starter. Former No. 1 pick Wayne Simmons, in his third season but first as a fulltime starter, improved over the course of the season and dominated in a playoff victory against San Francisco. Cornerback Doug Evans, who had struggled in his first year as a starter in '94, showed steady improvement.
Could history repeat itself this year?
The Packers don't have a rising star at quarterback or anyone on defense to compare to White. And they shorted themselves on draft picks from 2002 through 2004. Therefore, some of their young players might not hold as much promise as some of those from 11 years ago.
But, again, if there's any chance of it, those who are perhaps most likely to play a leading role are the Packers' untapped young veterans, more so than this year's free agents and draft picks.