Packer O not OK

[Rastak]

Flanagan struggled badly in 2005 is certainly true. But Wells did not excel when he replaced Flanagan.

I thought Wells played pretty well(s) when he was at center last year. There were an awful lot of people who thought he should have stayed in at center and Flanagan should have sat. As a guard, I didn't think Wells was much better than Klemm. He was probably somewhat better as a run blocker, but he was not as good as a pass blocker as Klemm. I think he stayed in because the team was desparately trying to improve the running game.

And it seemed to me it did improve as the year went on....

[Bretsky]

Coston was a disappointing selection last year because he was nowhere near ready to contribute.

I don't agree with this. 5th round picks rarely look ready to play.

5th round picks last year:

137 San Francisco Ronald Fields DT Mississippi State
138 Kansas City Boomer Grigsby MLB Illinois State
139 Cleveland David McMillan OLB Kansas
140 Chicago Airese Currie WR Clemson
141 Tampa Bay Donte Nicholson SS Oklahoma
142 Tennessee Damien Nash RB Missouri
143 Green Bay Junius Coston G North Carolina A&T
144 St. Louis Jerome Collins TE Notre Dame
145 Detroit Dan Orlovsky QB Connecticut
146 Philadelphia Trent Cole DE Cincinnati
147 Kansas City Alphonso Hodge CB Miami, O.
148 Indianapolis Jonathan Welsh DE Wisconsin
149 Carolina Adam Seward OLB Nevada-Las Vegas
150 Tennessee Daniel Loper T Texas Tech
151 Houston Drew Hodgdon C Arizona State
152 New Orleans Adrian McPherson QB Florida State
153 Cincinnati Adam Kieft T Central Michigan
154 Washington Robert McCune LB Louisville
155 Tampa Bay Larry Brackins WR Pearl River JC
156 Buffalo Eric King CB Wake Forest
157 Jacksonville Gerald Sensabaugh SS North Carolina
158 Baltimore Justin Green FB Montana
159 Seattle Jeb Huckeba DE Arkansas
160 Atlanta Michael Boley OLB Southern Mississippi
161 N.Y. Jets Andre Maddox DB North Carolina State
162 Miami Anthony Alabi T Texas Christian
163 Atlanta Frank Omiyale T Tennessee Tech
164 San Diego Wesley Britt T Alabama
165 Indianapolis Rob Hunt C North Dakota State
166 Pittsburgh Rian Wallace ILB Temple
167 Green Bay Michael Hawkins CB Oklahoma
168 Arizona Lance Mitchell MLB Oklahoma
169 Carolina Geoff Hangartner C Texas A&M
170 New England Ryan Claridge OLB Nevada-Las Vegas
171 Carolina Ben Emanuel S UCLA
172 Philadelphia Scott Young G Brigham Young
173 Indianapolis Tyjuan Hagler LB Cincinnati
174 San Francisco Rasheed Marshall WR West Virginia

LB Michael Boley was the player that came close to starting for the full year. He replaced Edgerton Hartwell after he went down in about game 5. The rest looked an awful like Coston.

How many of those picks put on a uniform gameday last year ? Special Teams help ? I'd like to see my fifth rounder be more than game day in jeans watching a game. Maybe things will change this year.

[HarveyWallbangers]

San Francisco - DT Ronald Fields - 7 tackles
Kansas City - LB Boomer Grigsby - 16 tackles
Cleveland - LB David McMillan - 0 tackles
Chicago - WR Airese Currie - 0 receptions
Tampa Bay - S Donte Nicholson - 5 tackles
Tennessee - RB Damien Nash - 32 yards rushing, 3 receptions
Green Bay - OG Junius Coston - 2 games/0 starts
St. Louis - TE Jerome Collins - 0 receptions
Detroit - QB Dan Orlovsky - 7 of 17 for 63 yards
Philadelphia - DE Trent Cole - 46 tackles, 5 sacks
Kansas City - CB Alphonso Hodge - 0 tackles
Indianapolis - DE Jonathan Welsh - 4 tackles, 0 sacks
Carolina - LB Adam Seward - 5 tackles
Tennessee - OT Daniel Loper - 0 games/0 starts
Houston - OC Drew Hodgdon - 4 games/3 starts
New Orleans - QB Adrian McPherson - 0 pass attempts
Cincinnati - OT Adam Kieft - 0 games/0 starts
Washington - LB Robert McCune - 4 tackles
Tampa Bay - WR Larry Brackins - 0 receptions
Buffalo - CB Eric King - 29 tackles, 0 interceptions
Jacksonville - S Gerald Sensabaugh - 24 tackles, 0 interceptions
Baltimore - FB Justin Green - 4 rushing yards, 7 receptions
Seattle - DE Jeb Huckeba - 0 tackles
Atlanta - LB Michael Boley - 64 tackles
N.Y. Jets - S Andre Maddox - 0 tackles
Miami - OT Anthony Alabi - 0 games/0 starts
Atlanta - OT Frank Omiyale - 0 games/0 starts
San Diego - OT Wesley Britt - 0 games/0 starts
Indianapolis - OC Rob Hunt - 0 games/0 starts
Pittsburgh - LB Rian Wallace - 1 tackle
Green Bay - CB Michael Hawkins - 14 tackles
Arizona - LB Lance Mitchell - 8 tackles
Carolina - OC Geoff Hangartner - 6 games/0 starts
New England - LB Ryan Claridge - 0 tackles
Carolina - S Ben Emanuel - 39 tackles, 1 interception
Philadelphia - OG Scott Young - 0 games/0 starts
Indianapolis - LB Tyjuan Hagler - 0 tackles
San Francisco - WR Rasheed Marshall - 1 reception

Of the 31 other players drafted in the 5th round in 2005, only 3 contributed at all outside of special teams. Boley started about 1/2 the year and did pretty well for Atlanta. Emanuel played in some subpackages on a terrible San Fran team--after being cut by Carolina. Trent Cole was a pass rush specialist for Philadelphia.

Not one other 5th round pick contributed significantly. The 9 other OL drafted in the 5th round contributed a TOTAL of 10 games played and 3 starts.

[The Leaper]

I disagree heartily with the notion that there won't be new faces making an impact on this team. To me, Rod Gardner is still a new face. Sure, he was on the roster at year end last year...but he didn't have the first notion about what was really going on. He is more or less a new addition for 2006 in my book. And comparing him to Walker is ridiculous...was Walker playing last season, the period in time the article is actually referencing?? Gardner is a hell of an upgrade over who the #2 WR was during most of last season.

Donald Lee and Samkon Gado also fall into that category a little. Any guy picked up during the season is going to be playing catch up in regard to understanding the schemes and philosophy carried out on a weekly basis. You can't just label these guys "seasoned vets" in the Packer system who are status quo.

I agree that EVERYTHING hinges on the guards. Favre has proven in the past that he can elevate average talent to Pro Bowl level statistics. That may not quite be the case anymore...but he can still get above average production out of the talent on the Packer roster if the guards pan out.

[Green Bud Packer]

my gut says favre is going to bounce back and have a great year.the t.e. position should be a weapon after years of neglect and i'm looking for the fullbacks to catch more balls this year.favre said the smiles were back at the first mini-camp. after years of having the joy of football sucked from his existence brett will perform better than he has in years.the "o" will be alright and the pack will be in contention for the north title come dec. i'm a fan. i gotta beleive

[Murphy37]

Well the article was not exactly a pleasant read, but it mentioned the concerns that many of us have had all off season. OG and receiver. It is unfair to predict that there will not be an upgrade at those positions, but there is reason for concern. Mainly at OG. How can anyone be comfortable with the fact that Coston and Colledge are in the starting spots? They are fresh off the teet! Look, I hope they turn into super stars, but right now it's a crap shoot. Kinda like when you mix beer and Mexican food, a crap shoot.