TT has quietly put together a very strong off season

[Joemailman]

The German dude the Vikes took will be a better player than Ted's latest WR bust.

You can no more proclaim he had a strong off season any more than others can that he didn't. We are in wait and see mode. Although I am cautiously optimistic.

You can no more claim that the German dude will be a better player than Davis than others including me can say Davis will be better. We are in wait and see mode. Although I an cautiously optimistic.

[Patler]

You can no more proclaim he had a strong off season any more than others can that he didn't. We are in wait and see mode. Although I am cautiously optimistic.

You are completely wrong in saying that I can't, and my proof is that I already have!

Too many of you are hung up on results at this time. Evaluating the off season in May is a matter of assessing the efforts made; and in that regard he has had a great off season so far. As I said in my original post, it remains to be seen if he was successful, but I think you will agree that the effort has been made.

[NewsBruin]

Raji was a good nose. He struggled when they tried to put him out on the end.

I should write this in a BJ Raji career post-mortem thread, instead of here.

I thought the story on him was that we got a stocky, short-armed, athletic one-gapper and plugged him into being a doubled-every-snap two-gapper. The move outside was supposed to make him disruptive, but tackles held off his t-rex arms with their yardsticks. Is that remotely right?

[woodbuck27]

I tend to agree with you Patler, especially Re Guion and the TE.
One other comment I'm going home leave is I have changed my opinion on Clark. He had no one around him and he still amped up his production when given the opportunity. If he played out his last year I believe he would have moved into the top half or even top 10 of the draft. He will likely be an improvement on Raji.

BJ Raji looked done to me. It might be after his Rookie season but Clark will be a strong addition.

[woodbuck27]

That's well summed up Patler.

TT has covered a lot.

[Bretsky]

I agree TT has did a stellar job in the offseason. Kudos for locking up Cook as well as finding fair values in the draft to fit out needs.

I still view one weakness but I've been asking for this for a couple yrs so apparently TT and MM do not agree

I still want a scat back who can create mismatches in the passing game. Darren Sproles/James White....etc...kind of guy. NE always has 1 or 2 of them. We have never had one so my assumption is we don't value that

[SMBASS]

I agree that I'd like to have a back like that as well Bretsky. I may be off but didn't we try to find someone along those lines with Alex Green, Jonathon Franklin, and maybe a couple of other lesser guys. (Dujuan Harris?) It seems as though it's not a big priority for TT/MM for whatever reason but I think we've given it a casual try in the past and just failed with our choices. It would be nice to have someone coming out of the backfield who could create mismatches with linebackers. It seems like the only time we utilize backs in the passing game is on designed screen pass plays since AR rarely dumps passes off to the backs when he's in trouble anyway.

[Fritz]

Tex;
The strength of this off season performance is from the fact that he addressed each and every concern with a legitimate POTENTIAL solution. Ultimately success matters, but Jared Cook was an exceptional response to the TE problem. Maybe it will work, maybe not, but the attempt was very good.

It's funny, before free agency opened, there seemed to be a very strong sentiment on here for TT to go out and spend a ton of money on getting Jared Cook signed. Then, when TT plays conservatively and gets Cook relatively cheaply, now everyone is unimpressed. Everyone seemed to want Cook,....until they actually got him. Now, suddenly, it was no big deal to get him.

This just proves we're typical guys. We want the hot chick until she says "yes."

[texaspackerbacker]

I should write this in a BJ Raji career post-mortem thread, instead of here.

I thought the story on him was that we got a stocky, short-armed, athletic one-gapper and plugged him into being a doubled-every-snap two-gapper. The move outside was supposed to make him disruptive, but tackles held off his t-rex arms with their yardsticks. Is that remotely right?

That's exactly right - that and he didn't show the strength not to get pushed around when he played NT - or anywhere else. You just expect way more from somebody drafted as high in the first round as he was.

Clark is a different kind of player altogether - thankfully. I'm not saying he's J.J. Watt, but with all the outside rushing the Packers do, it will be nice to have some length and athleticism and "swat" ability in the middle, and at the same time, he hopefully is big and tough enough to stop the run when needed to do so.

Regarding scatback 3rd down RBs, I think the reason the Packers tend to stay away from them is preference for ability to pass block, and given the porousness of our O Line, that's probably for the best.

[mraynrand]

You can no more proclaim he had a strong off season any more than others can that he didn't. We are in wait and see mode. Although I am cautiously optimistic.

would you feel differently had TT drafted 6 wide receivers?

[Fritz]

I agree TT has did a stellar job in the offseason. Kudos for locking up Cook as well as finding fair values in the draft to fit out needs.

I still view one weakness but I've been asking for this for a couple yrs so apparently TT and MM do not agree

I still want a scat back who can create mismatches in the passing game. Darren Sproles/James White....etc...kind of guy. NE always has 1 or 2 of them. We have never had one so my assumption is we don't value that

Bretsky, I thought of you yesterday when I read about an UDFA the Packers signed - Broderick something-or-other. Holds the school record (Georgia Tech or someplace like that, I think) for the 60 yard dash - weighs about 190, I think he goes 5' 11" or so. That might be your guy. Had injuries the past two years - broken wrist, maybe, then broken leg - but he could be that third down scat back.

What do you think?

[KYPack]

Bretsky, I thought of you yesterday when I read about an UDFA the Packers signed - Broderick something-or-other. Holds the school record (Georgia Tech or someplace like that, I think) for the 60 yard dash - weighs about 190, I think he goes 5' 11" or so. That might be your guy. Had injuries the past two years - broken wrist, maybe, then broken leg - but he could be that third down scat back.

What do you think?

B & Fritz, I agree. Love me a scatback who can run swing routes, screens etc. I think that was the idea with that kid Johnathan Franklin they drafted out of UCLA a few years back. He had a good game vs the Bengals, had some fugly fumbles and bad pass pro. He suffered a career ending injury. I think Stub and TT will look at a scatback, but they are scared of the exposure one of those guys give you in pass pro.

I just wish we'd sign Darren Sproles. The guy come up available every few years for anybody to sign, but he always catches on with somebody else.

Can't we have him just once?

[Zool]

B & Fritz, I agree. Love me a scatback who can run swing routes, screens etc. I think that was the idea with that kid Johnathan Franklin they drafted out of UCLA a few years back. He had a good game vs the Bengals, had some fugly fumbles and bad pass pro. He suffered a career ending injury. I think Stub and TT will look at a scatback, but they are scared of the exposure one of those guys give you in pass pro.

I just wish we'd sign Darren Sproles. The guy come up available every few years for anybody to sign, but he always catches on with somebody else.

Can't we have him just once?

Isn't this what they do with Cobb and Monty out of the backfield?

[vince]

Limited exposure obviously, but Don Jackson (#6 in the video) flashes a bit of scat-back ability... Aggressive runner at minimum...