Official "Jump to Conclusions Based on the First Preseason Game Thread"

[Lurker64]

Random observations extrapolated further than they should be taken.

- Ellmore, Guy, and Schlauderaff get cut. Only Guy is moved to the PS if he clears waivers. Elmore was outplayed by undrafted Lattimore and So'Oto, and Schlauderaff was a hot mess. So'Oto is probably the one of those you don't want to get away, though if Lattimore can add 20 lbs without losing his speed and learn the position, he could play for this team.

- Quinn Johnson is cut, but we keep 5 TEs. That's a net gain of one roster spot from last year's 3 FB, 4 TE.

- We have three receivers who won't make the roster, but you hope to get through waivers: West, Gurley, and Borel. West is the most likely to get claimed, since he's closest to playing but Gurley and Borel have tools that you want to develop. All of the other WRs, other than the core 5, you can cut.

- Pat Lee is done with this team. Thankfully we have five CBs (Williams, Woodson, Shields, House, Bush) better than him. There's a room for a sixth CB, but any of those undrafted guys (Ross, Gordy) have a better shot at it than Lee.

- Cobb should be returning kickoffs. I don't care if Slocum wants an RB back there, that job should go to Cobb.

- I don't think Smithson's game translates to the pros at all. He was a player in college who was more productive than his skillset would suggest. The question was always "will it carry over to the pros" to which I say "nope."

- The competition for "fourth safety" is actually one of the more interesting ones in camp. Both Levine and Dr. Jennings played pretty well. Underwood is probably gone, but we should at least give him a chance to play before we sign his pink slip.

- The backup center is McDonald, EDS doesn't make the roster.

- No matter who wins the LG spot between Sherrod and Lang, we'll be at least okay there.

- If Bulaga gets hurt, RT could be an issue. Newhouse really struggled reversing the footwork, which I think is probably reasonable since he's never played on the right side before. Maybe Tauscher will stay in football shape in case we need him.

Anybody else want to overreact based on limited data?

[mission]

Nice post. Agree with just about everything. I did my version in the game thread... I'm sure a lot will change after the next game but it's fun to follow even this early.

Cobb is the man.

[gbpackfan]

We can't afford to trade Flynn. Harrell was a mess. Ball security was brutal.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

I did my vision in the game day thread as well. Here is my thoughts.....

I kind of like Lang over Sherrod at guard. If something happens to Clifton during the season I would rather have Sherrod take his spot.

Still, the offense has a couple question marks:

- Will Clifton hold up for the whole year?
- Who is going to start at FB? Johnson looked bad tonight.
- Who is going to handle third down pass blocking?
- How will the offense function with Finley back?
- Who else can we rely on as a back up on the oline other than Lang/Sherrod (who ever loses)?

Defense:

- I love Woodson, Williams, and Shields, but after that I don't like the CB's. Bush hasn't got better and Lee looked bad. I really hope House comes out and suprises us.
- I like what I saw in Burnett. I feel good with Peprah as the back-up. That Levine guy didn't look to bad either.
- Like Hawk and Bishop starting. I think Jones could be a decent backup ILB. I didn't like Jones at OLB. I would rather see Zombo or Walden starting.
- Dline: the weakest area of the team. Raji is a great player. Pickett is a great run defender, but can't rush the passer. Neal flashed a couple times, but can he stay healthy? I don't really like anyone else. Wish we had another decent player we could count on in there. I honestly believe TT will suprise people and make a trade in a couple weeks.

Sp. teams:

- Look much improved.
- Cobb is just a natural return man. Looks like a player already.
- Masthay is the most UNDER rated player on the whole team. I honestly believe he is a pro bowler.
- New rule plus Crosby's leg will help the kick return unit significantly. And Masthay will help the punt return unit.

[Lurker64]

We can't afford to trade Flynn. Harrell was a mess. Ball security was brutal.

You can't really get anything for Flynn right now anyway. No team is going to be trading for a QB after a preseason game has already been played for anything other than a backup, and who's going to give up a lot for a backup QB. What would be so valuable that we'd give up our backup QB to go be a backup QB for someone else? You can trade other positions at roster cutdown time, just not QBs. QBs very much are not "plug and play."

I also thought I should make it clear when I say "5 TEs make the roster" I mean "Finley, Quarless, Crabtree, Williams, Taylor". Havner, though all he does is catch touchdowns, doesn't make the cut. We have other people that catch touchdowns and also do other things.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Agreed, we don't trade Flynn. I really liked how he came out and played. The front seven of the defense did not impress me at all. We may need to add a player there. TT has shown that he is willing to consider trades (ala Grant) when a position looks weak. The Lbs are the same as last year, but the dline looks weak.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Oh and Starks is going to start.....beaaaast. I think I like Kuhn taking over Jackson's role on third downs.

[gbpackfan]

The pass rush looked pretty bad. Do we only have one true pass rusher now? Yikes.

[Lurker64]

The pass rush looked pretty bad. Do we only have one true pass rusher now? Yikes.

That's something I'm not prepared to overreact on, honestly. I think Dom was calling a pretty vanilla game and didn't scheme specifically for the Browns, but the other candidates to start at OLB certainly didn't impress. Also, the Browns pass protect pretty well to begin with.

[gbpackfan]

I'm trying to get into the spirit of the thread Lurker! JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS!

[Bretsky]

I don't take much out of the first game

Cobb is going to be good though

I hope DD goes out peacefully. We resign Nelson next year and don't really need Driver but my gut tells me he will want to play for a few years

[Lurker64]

I don't take much out of the first game

You're not getting into the spirit of jumping to conclusions.

There wasn't anything you saw in the first preseason game that allows you to irresponsibly project the entirety of a player's season or career?

[Bretsky]

yes, Cobb is going to be good

[imscott72]

I don't take much out of the first game

Cobb is going to be good though

I hope DD goes out peacefully. We resign Nelson next year and don't really need Driver but my gut tells me he will want to play for a few years

Love Cobb. Our version of Percy Harvin. I think DD is still going to be serviceable for this year. Good review Bretsky, I agree with most everything. Can't wait for Friday already.

[vince]

In the spirit of jumping to conclusions...
- If it's possible to have a weapon at the punter position, the Packers have one. He seems to have the Australian pooch punt perfected along with a very big leg.
- Starks looks better than Grant.
- Newhouse has to be able to play on the right side or he's in trouble, although I'm not sure there's anyone else either. Behind the top 7 or so, there remains a lot of work to do on the o-line.
- Lee and Bush did nothing to encourage optimism. I hope House's hammy heals quickly because he's the #4 guy there.
- Burnett laying the wood was encouraging.
- It was good to see the no-huddle work well.
- Cobb is going to learn how to separate a bit better at receiver, and he's going to be a serious weapon. Driver still looks pretty good too though.
- With the king of ball security Edgar Bennett at receivers coach, Jones will demonstrate greater reliability catching and hanging onto the ball after the catch or his opportunities will diminish.
- Saine showed promise, but there isn't room for him on the roster.
- Flynn looked good. Harrell flashed good and bad. He's not ready for primetime yet.
- That Rodgers guy could be good this year.
- I'm pulling for Shaky because of what he's overcome, but he doesn't look like he's fast enough to make it.
- D.J. Williams, Quarless and Taylor all had decent games catching the ball. Did Crabtree even play?