Why does TT keep this team on the BRINK of being great?

[Fritz]

A good example of the way a GM's longer-term priority can conflict with a coach or a fan's perspective might be Andrew Quarless. Here's a guy that very likely cannot contribute nearly what Spencer Havner could this year. In the short term, you'd get more from Havner. But Quarless has shown some flashed of great ability. If you lose him this year to some other team that will claim him, it's no big deal - this year. The guy is probably going to be inactive most of the season, barring injury.

But TT's got to be looking down the road, too. What if Jermichael Finley gets to the end of his contract and wants out of GB? Or wants more money than GB is willing to pay? If you've kept and developed Quarless, you have a potential replacement, at least. The guy has skill. If you let him go a few years ago for Havner, you've got - well, you've got Havner.

[Patler]

A good example of the way a GM's longer-term priority can conflict with a coach or a fan's perspective might be Andrew Quarless. Here's a guy that very likely cannot contribute nearly what Spencer Havner could this year. In the short term, you'd get more from Havner. But Quarless has shown some flashed of great ability. If you lose him this year to some other team that will claim him, it's no big deal - this year. The guy is probably going to be inactive most of the season, barring injury.

But TT's got to be looking down the road, too. What if Jermichael Finley gets to the end of his contract and wants out of GB? Or wants more money than GB is willing to pay? If you've kept and developed Quarless, you have a potential replacement, at least. The guy has skill. If you let him go a few years ago for Havner, you've got - well, you've got Havner.

Take that another step, and look at Jermichael Finley himself. Joey Haynos outperformed Finley in preseason two years ago. Finley was no where near ready to contribute. Yet, just a year later, he was a totally different player. Quarless doesn't have to make similar improvements, but just normal 1st to 2nd year gains, and he will be a decent receiver. With Crabtree as a blocker for a 3rd TE, both Lee and Havner will be quickly forgotten. The position could very well be better next year than this year.

[wist43]

"... a 100% resolution, a 100% determination".

Vince

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtY8x9PoTXc

[imscott72]

We go through this every year. Every year there are obvious issues, and guys out there that could help this team, but TT seems to go on vacation after cut down day. Might as well get used to it if you aren't already.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Lets take a look at the roster.
On offense we have an o-line that I have been the most happy with since 2004. I am really glad we kept Splitz b/c we now have 8 guys that if needed to play for a while I would be fine with. TE, WR, QB, and FB are all very strong and I think everyone will agree with that. Rb is not as strong, but I wouldn't call it a weakest either.

Special team units say more about coaching than the player I think. So hopefully we will be better once the real games start.
LS - Good
K - Crosby played really well this preseason
P - Both guys looked a lot better than the last guy
KR/PR - We had Blackman and he got hurt........What can you do?

Defense:
D-line - How could he have prepared better for the loss of Jolly? I was even questioning why we drafted two guys here and it turns out it was a very good idea. No one seems to give TT credit for this move, but imagine how the line would look without Neal??

ILB - Good. Have Barnett, Hawk, and Chillar, not too shabby.
OLB - Matthews, Jones, and then crap (one probowler and one guy who may be good but should at least be decent)
FS - Good
SS - Burnett and Bibgy
Very good at safety when Bibgy comes back.

That leaves CB. We have the DPOY there to start off. Then we have Williams who I think is a decent number two and a great number three. Now look at it from TT perspective.....During the draft and free agency he thought Harris might be back week 1 and he also knew that his second round pick from only two years ago would be back. Add in the potential he saw in Underwood and he probably thought we would be five deep at corner to start the year. So he went heavy on the d-line and o-line which were the biggest weaknesses last year. No one seems to be talking about how he did a good job of improving those areas of the team.

Who is he really going to go get right now at CB? I don't think its worth trading a draft pick for a corner when we have two good starting corners and a guy at nickel that we really have no idea how he will play. The guy we get now is probably not going to be any better than Shields unless he completely blows. As others have said this is a good team now, its time for the coaches to take this team to the next level and that means getting lesser players to play good and getting your good players to play great. Also like others have said no team doesn’t have weaknesses, but not taking injuries into account only third CB looks weak to me. And we still have hope that it will turn into a strength once Harris comes back.

This is actually the one off-season were I have really agreed with most if not all of TT moves. I only thing I don't really like is that Blackman was cut b/c I think his injury is something he could have come back from in the not too distant future.

[get louder at lambeau]

"I agree. I think he should just stop fucking around make our team invincible right now- because I want him to, and because it's JUST that easy!"


Well whatever man. If you wanna be a smart ass about, go ahead. Like i said before, Im not bashing the man. But he does have his flaws. Why don't we have a decent punter? Why dont we have a decent returner? He's had plenty of time to fill these positions. And it can be JUST that easy. But you have to go out and GET what you want. A team this good is just a piece or two away. It would be nice to see TT go out and get the final couple pieces of the puzzle. That's all.

I know you're not bashing Thompson, but you are whining that he didn't just grab some easy fix that magically would have made the team "special".

It's not even "If it's that easy, then why doesn't everyone do it?" as much as it is "If it's that easy, why doesn't ANYONE do it?" Where are these "special" teams that don't have obvious holes similar to the Packers on their roster? There are NO teams in the NFL that stand out as clearly head and shoulders above the Packers roster-wise- maybe arguably slightly better, but not "special".

If you want a quantification of where teams stand, the most objective is probably Vegas odds. Current Vegas odds give the Packers a 9% chance of winning the Super Bowl this year. The team with the best odds is the Colts, with a 13% chance, followed by the current champs at 11%. The average and median is about 3% odds. We are right up top with the best teams out there.

[mmmdk]

My only true beef with TED is special teams. Not enough emphasis on ST from TT, actually it's been neglecTED. This season is no exception.

Pretty happy with TT otherwise - YUP

[Patler]

We go through this every year. Every year there are obvious issues, and guys out there that could help this team, but TT seems to go on vacation after cut down day. Might as well get used to it if you aren't already.

Players released by other teams and signed by TT at final cutdown or within two weeks thereafter (not including PS signings)
Donald Lee
Jarrett Bush
Tony Palmer
Charlie Peprah
Koren Robinson
Shaun Bodford
KE Cochrane
John Kuhn
Derrick Frost
Brett Goode



Trades made by TT at or shortly after final cutdown:
Ryan Grant for a draft choice
Robert Thomas for Chris Johnson
Draft pick for Steve Morley
Samkon Gado for Vernand Morency
Derrick Martin for Tony Moll

15 such transactions in five years. An average of 3/year.

[vince]

All together now.....

Patlerized.

[gbpackfan]

A lot of green and gold glasses on in here. But that's cool. :P

[imscott72]

We go through this every year. Every year there are obvious issues, and guys out there that could help this team, but TT seems to go on vacation after cut down day. Might as well get used to it if you aren't already.

Players released by other teams and signed by TT at final cutdown or within two weeks thereafter (not including PS signings)
Donald Lee
Jarrett Bush
Tony Palmer
Charlie Peprah
Koren Robinson
Shaun Bodford
KE Cochrane
John Kuhn
Derrick Frost
Brett Goode



Trades made by TT at or shortly after final cutdown:
Ryan Grant for a draft choice
Robert Thomas for Chris Johnson
Draft pick for Steve Morley
Samkon Gado for Vernand Morency
Derrick Martin for Tony Moll

15 such transactions in five years. An average of 3/year.

Well thanks for making me look bad Patler. Seriously, though I didn't realize he had made all those moves post cut down. I stand corrected.

[Pugger]

I'm never going to endorse a football team I cheer for going "all-in" because no matter how good you are, odds are you're not going to win the championship (and finishing 2nd, 3rd, or 4th isn't really that great). If you bet a significant margin (say in terms of future draft picks) on winning the championship, and it doesn't work out then you've screwed up your team down the line.

Better to have a good chance every year and hope to get hot at the right time than to try to simply outclass everybody else on paper two out of every ten years.

Remember, as poor as Zombo and Poppinga looked in the preseason, when the real games start they're not going to be playing; Matthews and Jones are. You hold guys out during the preseason for minor injuries, because preseason games don't matter. If one of those guys gets hurt and will miss serious time, then we might be in trouble but every team has issues like that, players they just can't afford to get hurt (Just imagine the Colts if Peyton Manning breaks his leg). If one of those guys gets hurt, well... that's just bad luck. You can't build a team of 53 alll-pros.

In terms of the secondary, things might be dicey initially, but remember that we should get Al Harris and Atari Bigby back and into week 6. I'd much rather have those guys at the end of the season, and into the playoffs than at the beginning. If you think our secondary is weak, take a look at the Cowboys... they only have 3 CBs on their roster...

+1

[packerbacker1234]

Every team has flaws, and if you're asking any GM to make a team without flaws, you're looking at the 72 dolphins.

Point is, making the perfect team is not so easy, and he has put together what many analysts feel is a super bowl contendor. That is all we can realistically ask for.

[gbpackfan]

How about a KR/PR? Is that really too much to ask? Really?

[imscott72]

How about a KR/PR? Is that really too much to ask? Really?

Apparently yes it is..