D J Smith waived

[pittstang5]

They might have some ideas about taking a kid at ILB in the draft, also.

Yes, A.J. Klein. He needs to be a Packer.

[Joemailman]

Manning is someone who could really open some eyes in training camp. Wasn't healthy last year due to a virus, but showed some real physicality late in the year on special teams.

[smuggler]

I'm a bit disappointed. I wonder if things might have been different for him if Duane Brown hadn't cheapshotted him in the knee last season..... I also wonder if this means anything with regard to Arthur Brown. They play similar game style-wise.

[smuggler]

Another thought is that both players are coming back from injury and will not be making FA trips..... Not anytime soon. Could this be mere cap gamesmanship? A long shot in myriad rationale.

[Carolina_Packer]

Well, I trust there was an acceptable reason why the team did this. If they thought it was for the best to keep him on the team, he would have stayed. They need all the good football players they can get, and they aren't in the habit of just cutting talent for no reason.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I liked Smith's potential, so this is disappointing to me.

[Bretsky]

I liked Smith's potential, so this is disappointing to me.

Just a year ago we were debating if Smith has the upside to take Hawk's spot and perhaps even let Hawk go after he did. Either we overrated him....or the injury is really bad

We kept Hacks around like Frank Waldo when they were hurt. There must be more to this than we know

[HarveyWallbangers]

Just a year ago we were debating if Smith has the upside to take Hawk's spot and perhaps even let Hawk go after he did. Either we overrated him....or the injury is really bad

We kept Hacks around like Frank Waldo when they were hurt. There must be more to this than we know

Looking back at the injuries we've had at ILB (Barnett, Bishop, Smith), it does make you appreciate Hawk's availability, if nothing else.

[woodbuck27]

He was a plugger, Red. But he had big time cover issues. They must want Manning and Lattimore getting reps (along with Frenchy).

They might have some ideas about taking a kid at ILB in the draft, also.

SS ILB is a T-5th priority after 3-4 DE; Safety (SS); OLB and OL ie Tackle. I think that TT will try to go ** SILB in this draft.

He might add OLB as well.

It won't be **Kevin Minter, as he has other priorities early, like DL. The word is that TT always goes BPA.

Other good choices later in the draft are: Trevardo Williams, Conneticut; Jonathan Bostic,Florida (I like this guy); Kiko Alonso, Oregon; and maybe Brandon Jenkins, Florida State or AJ Klein, Iowa State.

Trevardo Williams, Connecticut plays every down (he's 6' - 1" - 241 lbs.), with a motor that never stops. He's always thinking SACK. I have him in my Mock. The Mock I'll never present, as it's gotten to too late.

GO PACK GO !

[Fritz]

The recent narrative coming out of the JSO, which they claim is coming out of Lombardi Drive, is that the team is nearly paranoid about injuries now. So in that story, Smith and Saine will take too long to rehab and no one will really know how they'll do, so the team is cutting ties in order to bring in more untested but healthier talent. An article this morning in the JSO suggested that now the team will be hyper-vigilant about taking any players in the draft with an injury history. The slightly odd part about that is that neither Smith nor Saine had a college injury history.

I don't know if McGinn has a better inside source these days and we're getting the real scoop (they admit they're too soft, they're paranoid about injury now), or if he's just whipping the readership into a frenzy. Check out these three paragraphs from one of his pieces this morning:

"Ryan Pickett, 33, and entering his 13th season, is nearing the end. He reported two weeks ago overweight and out of shape.

"B.J. Raji will be entering his contract year, but you sure wouldn't have known it by his conditioning. He has looked as sloppy as Pickett, and at this juncture his employment beyond this season is uncertain.

"The coaches have seen Johnny Jolly, too, and he's every bit as beefy as the others. For Jolly to have any chance to contribute after three silent seasons, he needed to report in tiptop shape so he could focus on football. That didn't happen, not by a long shot."

[Smeefers]

It's exactly what happened with Abdul Hodge and Brandon Chiller. The guys were going to be out for too long. Second stringers do not get afforded the same opportunity starters and potential starters do. We may have been kicking around the idea that Smith could snatch up the starting role, but as long as Hawk was there, you had to know it wasn't going to happen.

[pbmax]

It's exactly what happened with Abdul Hodge and Brandon Chiller. The guys were going to be out for too long. Second stringers do not get afforded the same opportunity starters and potential starters do. We may have been kicking around the idea that Smith could snatch up the starting role, but as long as Hawk was there, you had to know it wasn't going to happen.

It might explain why near starters Sherrod, Zombo, Green and Quarless stuck around and these guys didn't. But Bishop isn't a certain recovery and while Jones played admirable for a 3rd stringer (and covered better) he is no lock to start either. So Smith is really in the same spot as Zombo and Quarless.

Timing might play a part as all four above were expected to take part in some part of this years camp (though Quarless wasn't last year).

[pbmax]

The recent narrative coming out of the JSO, which they claim is coming out of Lombardi Drive, is that the team is nearly paranoid about injuries now. So in that story, Smith and Saine will take too long to rehab and no one will really know how they'll do, so the team is cutting ties in order to bring in more untested but healthier talent. An article this morning in the JSO suggested that now the team will be hyper-vigilant about taking any players in the draft with an injury history. The slightly odd part about that is that neither Smith nor Saine had a college injury history.

I don't know if McGinn has a better inside source these days and we're getting the real scoop (they admit they're too soft, they're paranoid about injury now), or if he's just whipping the readership into a frenzy. Check out these three paragraphs from one of his pieces this morning:

"Ryan Pickett, 33, and entering his 13th season, is nearing the end. He reported two weeks ago overweight and out of shape.

"B.J. Raji will be entering his contract year, but you sure wouldn't have known it by his conditioning. He has looked as sloppy as Pickett, and at this juncture his employment beyond this season is uncertain.

"The coaches have seen Johnny Jolly, too, and he's every bit as beefy as the others. For Jolly to have any chance to contribute after three silent seasons, he needed to report in tiptop shape so he could focus on football. That didn't happen, not by a long shot."

I think some of the new guys at Lombardi Avenue are friendlier to McGinn than the old guard. Highsmith is on Twitter a decent bit and they already have had to gag Eliot Wolf once for things he was talking about on his Twitter account.

We'll see if the new source is accurate as the last big prediction, Finley not being retained, failed to materialize.

[rbaloha1]

The recent narrative coming out of the JSO, which they claim is coming out of Lombardi Drive, is that the team is nearly paranoid about injuries now. So in that story, Smith and Saine will take too long to rehab and no one will really know how they'll do, so the team is cutting ties in order to bring in more untested but healthier talent. An article this morning in the JSO suggested that now the team will be hyper-vigilant about taking any players in the draft with an injury history. The slightly odd part about that is that neither Smith nor Saine had a college injury history.

I don't know if McGinn has a better inside source these days and we're getting the real scoop (they admit they're too soft, they're paranoid about injury now), or if he's just whipping the readership into a frenzy. Check out these three paragraphs from one of his pieces this morning:

"Ryan Pickett, 33, and entering his 13th season, is nearing the end. He reported two weeks ago overweight and out of shape.

"B.J. Raji will be entering his contract year, but you sure wouldn't have known it by his conditioning. He has looked as sloppy as Pickett, and at this juncture his employment beyond this season is uncertain.

"The coaches have seen Johnny Jolly, too, and he's every bit as beefy as the others. For Jolly to have any chance to contribute after three silent seasons, he needed to report in tiptop shape so he could focus on football. That didn't happen, not by a long shot."

Nah other posters think we need a couple of tweaks along with magic fairy dust and the d-line morphs into a dominant line.

Remember it was due Perry and Bishop being out and lack of prep work for getting overwhelmed at line of scrimmage.

Guru Capers will fix it all.

KEEP THE FAITH

[pittstang5]

The recent narrative coming out of the JSO, which they claim is coming out of Lombardi Drive, is that the team is nearly paranoid about injuries now. So in that story, Smith and Saine will take too long to rehab and no one will really know how they'll do, so the team is cutting ties in order to bring in more untested but healthier talent. An article this morning in the JSO suggested that now the team will be hyper-vigilant about taking any players in the draft with an injury history. The slightly odd part about that is that neither Smith nor Saine had a college injury history.

I don't know if McGinn has a better inside source these days and we're getting the real scoop (they admit they're too soft, they're paranoid about injury now), or if he's just whipping the readership into a frenzy. Check out these three paragraphs from one of his pieces this morning:

"Ryan Pickett, 33, and entering his 13th season, is nearing the end. He reported two weeks ago overweight and out of shape.

"B.J. Raji will be entering his contract year, but you sure wouldn't have known it by his conditioning. He has looked as sloppy as Pickett, and at this juncture his employment beyond this season is uncertain.

"The coaches have seen Johnny Jolly, too, and he's every bit as beefy as the others. For Jolly to have any chance to contribute after three silent seasons, he needed to report in tiptop shape so he could focus on football. That didn't happen, not by a long shot."

Wow - not good. I had a feeling Jolly would be out of shape. When you're removed from the type of conditioning the the NFL requires and have a history like Jolly does, you can't expect him to be doing the "right thing" and then just pick up where he left off. I'm not as optimsitc as some that Jolly would be able to contribute this year or ever again. I'll be surprised if he makes the team. Even with that said, as a Packer Fan, I hope I'm wrong.

As for Pickett and Raji - Again, I'm not too surprised, but dissappointed. But it's early and they have time to get into shape. I guess you could say the same for Jolly too, I but I have my doubts in his case.

Even before this, I was expecting TT to focus on Defense again in this draft, specifically the D-line. Looks like he might not have a choice.