Starting Running Back

[Zool]

Saine could get it just because they can NOT afford to let Rodgers get killed by a missed blitz pickup, and Starks can't or won't do it.

With only 1 FB, they might keep all 4.

[Smidgeon]

Don't remember that name. Do remember a #28 named Grabby McSmurf.

Ah yes. Grabby. Forgot about him.

[Brandon494]

With only 1 FB, they might keep all 4.

Also with DJ Williams looking good catching the ball they might only go with 5 receivers and let Gurley and Borel walk. Sign Boykin to the PS and let him takeover for Driver next season, hes just as good if not better then Gurley and Borel IMO.

[Freak Out]

What the Pack needs are more TEs and less RBs. Stick em in the backfield when needed for blocking and let it fucking fly.

[BobDobbs]

What the Pack needs are more TEs and less RBs. Stick em in the backfield when needed for blocking and let it fucking fly.

Totally agree. We've only got seven Tight Ends on the roster. With 90 man limits we should be able to carry at least 15. I'm sure Ted will be scouring the waiver wire at cutdowns.

[denverYooper]

Totally agree. We've only got seven Tight Ends on the roster. With 90 man limits we should be able to carry at least 15. I'm sure Ted will be scouring the waiver wire at cutdowns.

Hell yes. I smell the makings of an Onion Article.

[Deputy Nutz]

Outside of Finley, and the emerging Williams the Packer don't have a lot of depth at tight end. I have never been impressed with Crabtree, and Taylor hasn't impressed this preseason.

[Packers4Glory]

I think Taylor's attractiveness is he's suppose to be some sort of ST monster....on a team that needs all the ST you can get on coverage.

I like Crabtree. He's nothing special but gets the job done. IIRC he's probably our best blocking TE by far on a team w/ TE's who are not very good at blocking.

[Joemailman]

I voted for Saine. Starks will be cut, I predict, Benson won't know enough of the playbook, and Green will still be recovering/learning.

Benson is doing all he can to learn quickly:

http://espnmilwaukee.com/page.php?page_id=278

So eager, in fact, that Benson is attending extra meetings in order to learn the Packers scheme – and not just with running backs coach Alex Van Pelt.

“For the first time ever we’ve had a running back sitting in on some quarterback meetings, so he’s going to extra meeting times trying to learn the offense, trying to learn checkdowns,” Rodgers explained. “He’s sitting next to me in meetings, so he wants to learn and it’s fun to have a veteran guy who’s really hungry. It’s going to be fun to get out there and see what he adds to the offense.”

However, it is true that MM will have to be satisfied that he knows his blitz pickups before making him the starter.

[swede]

...it is true that MM will have to be satisfied that he knows his blitz pickups before making him the starter.

Is a blitz pickup a pre-snap read of the defense or is it coded into the offensive plays?

The reason I ask is that it would seem that a veteran such as CB would already be familiar with reading the defenses pre-snap. I still think things would come quickly to a veteran like Cedric if the Packers' line has a finite number of blocking patterns that depend more upon what the defense is doing than what the offense is doing. Things would get murky if the responsibilities for picking up extra defensive rushers are unique to each passing play.

[Smidgeon]

Is a blitz pickup a pre-snap read of the defense or is it coded into the offensive plays?

The reason I ask is that it would seem that a veteran such as CB would already be familiar with reading the defenses pre-snap. I still think things would come quickly to a veteran like Cedric if the Packers' line has a finite number of blocking patterns that depend more upon what the defense is doing than what the offense is doing. Things would get murky if the responsibilities for picking up extra defensive rushers are unique to each passing play.

I would imagine the pass protection part of reading defenses changes from team to team. It's why Saturday was pretty vocal about how different the schemes were. He couldn't just line up, read the defense, and do his job. He needed to study like crazy to understand how the Packers protect against defenses.

[RashanGary]

Thompson pays less attention to backs than he does the interior offensive line.

Your posts are like 80% really insightful, 15% fucking around with Packer fan and 5%, I wonder what the hell you're thinking.

You taken a look at our interior line lately? I probably completely missed the sarcasm, but seriously, TT has drafted 3 of the top 12 paid guards in the league at the moment. Two of them play (and are paid well) for our team. The other one, while we couldn't stand him, is being paid in Arizona for a very experienced OL coach (Wisenhunt -spelling sucks.) We might not like him, at all, but apparently he has some value in the NFL.

[RashanGary]

And you have to give TT credit for the Newhouse/Bulaga tackle tandem. Newhouse appears to really be taking that next step to quality starter and Bulaga is on the verge of being a probowl RT. That group is very young, has experience, and very good. Outside of WR and AR, the OL might be Ted's greatest accomplishment. I doubt there is another team in the league with as solid of an OL group as we have for the next 4 years.

And MM said Lang could play center. If an OG or a C pans out for our team in the coming year or two, we're looking at a fantastic line for years to come.

[Lurker64]

I like Crabtree. He's nothing special but gets the job done. IIRC he's probably our best blocking TE by far on a team w/ TE's who are not very good at blocking.

I think when talking about "blocking TEs" people think about a guy laying a pancake block or walking his man into the secondary, and they conclude that since they don't see Crabtree doing that, he's overrated as a blocking TE. His job in the run game, however, is usually "seal the edge" something that he's actually very effective at. Most of his game is made up of "nasty" because he's not that physically gifted, and I'm not sure you extend him after this year, but he definitely has a role to play on this team this year.

Lest we forget, "Tom Crabtree is a pain in the ass" is why we won the Superbowl two years ago. He's the guy who got Kieran Fox mad enough on the final kickoff of the game that he committed an unsportsmanlike penalty which backed the Steelers way up.

[Tony Oday]

Benson will start if he can block and still run in the 4 WR sets.

I still think Edgar Bennett will strap on the pads and done the #34 shirt and show these kids how its done!