DOUGHERTY---PACKERS RECENT DRAFTS MISSING THE MARK

[pbmax]

Hey pbmax...are you OK !?

I just noticed that your Pro Pickem picks for Sunday 27 Nov. early games are not in.

Bad week for fantasy. Been traveling. So I have handicapped myself this week by being late both days with picks.

And Joe is cleaning my clock in FF. He's going to have 4 wins and 2 of them against me

[pbmax]

yeah, i think i counted 14 for them, but then theres a huge drop off to second year players, they have 4 second year players on the active roster and 6 or 7, 3rd year players

its funny looking at the 2 rosters

we have 5 guys on IR and are making injury excuses, they have 11 on IR

our practice squad consists of all rookies, and 2 second year guys

they only have 3 rookies on their PS, 5-second year guys, 1-third year guy, and 1-4th year guy

And Seattle started slow, their young OL got Wilson hurt and they looked oddly human until he was healthy.

Lets see what some more players back on D does for the Packers.

[pbmax]

If you call amassing good run defense statistics against all the worst rushing teams in the NFL smoke and mirrors, sure. I also saw a healthy Randall and Rollins get roasted by Stegon Diggs and Marvin Jones Jr. And then Dallas had their way with us, both running and throwing.
These are the games you are hanging your hat on?

Vikings game was brutal, but as Patler mentioned the DBs looked better in other games. While Diggs torched them, the D put Peterson out of the game and kept the Packers in a game that had the offense was running around in circles with a bucket on their head.

All that torching resulted in 17 points allowed. I would love to be that terrible now with a much more functional offense.

[Patler]

its funny looking at the 2 rosters

we have 5 guys on IR and are making injury excuses, they have 11 on IR

One thing the Packers have done more this year than I recall them doing in past years, is signing injury settlements. Abrederris, Banjo, Walker, Henry, Backman and a bunch of rookies were all IR'dnthen released with injury settlements. It makes the size of their IR a lot smaller. In the past GB used IR to stockpile players like a lot of other teams do.

Packer injuries this year have been odd though. Three key players on offense, defense and special teams have been lost to IR. Perhaps even more significant have been the piling on of injuries causing players to miss a lot of games, but not be put on IR. Cook and Randall have virtually missed the season so far. Then Rollins goes out forcing them to start their #4 & 5 CBs while using a #3 or #4 safety or #6 CB in nickel. That's quite devastating to pass coverage. They even lost their #2 & 3 options at RB. Both starting ILBs and Lang, and Tretter just added to the chaos.

[red]

And Seattle started slow, their young OL got Wilson hurt and they looked oddly human until he was healthy.

Lets see what some more players back on D does for the Packers.

i'm guessing they;re gonna be shit, just like they've been for a few years now

remember years back when i think it was patler found the article talking about how capers needs vets?

capers also needs playmakers, his defense is dependent on turnovers. i don't think we have a single defensive playmaker on the team. clay's not that player anymore, peppers sure as hell isn't, haha hasn't turned into that player. the two young ILBs sure as hell aren't. we know burnett isn't. randall was last year, but not early this year

i think getting guys healthy on d will get them back to mediocre

[pbmax]

i'm guessing they;re gonna be shit, just like they've been for a few years now

remember years back when i think it was patler found the article talking about how capers needs vets?

capers also needs playmakers, his defense is dependent on turnovers. i don't think we have a single defensive playmaker on the team. clay's not that player anymore, peppers sure as hell isn't, haha hasn't turned into that player. the two young ILBs sure as hell aren't. we know burnett isn't. randall was last year, but not early this year

i think getting guys healthy on d will get them back to mediocre

Healthy, I think Dix, Randall and Rollins all can get him picks. Burnett can too when he is deep. Shields used to be able to do that but he's done.

[red]

Healthy, I think Dix, Randall and Rollins all can get him picks. Burnett can too when he is deep. Shields used to be able to do that but he's done.

looking it up, we are tied for 10th in sacks, tied for 17th in ints, and tied for 29th for fumbles caused (the only team worse is tenn who hasn't gotten one yet)

shields averages 3 per year (i didn't count this year), the most he had in a year is 4, casey hayward already has 6 this year for reference. so i wouldn't exactly call him a playmaker, good cb yes, but not a playmaker

haha has 5 in 3 years

burnett has 8 ints in 7 years

rollins had 2 last year, none this year

randall had 3 last year and 1 in his 3+ games this year

[hoosier]

Defense doesn't take the ball away anymore, that is the big difference between this year and previous.

[pbmax]

Defense doesn't take the ball away anymore, that is the big difference between this year and previous.

Big plays surrendered are way up too.

[bobblehead]

Everyone complaining about the talent outside of TE and ILB prior to this year is simply constructing a fantasy land where there are a number of teams with a better track record than the Packers, have more talent at each and every position, don't suffer waves of injuries and have no weak spots on the roster.

The logic goes something like this. We suck at drafting cuz we got Blake Martinez and the Patriots got Jamie Collins. We got DickRod and the Lions got Ebron. We got Lacy who got hurt and the Cowboys got Elliot. We got Randall and Carolina had Josh Norman. We should be better at every position than ANY other team.

Truth is this is a good team devastated by injuries. It lacks elite talent because we have drafted outside the top 15 for how many years? One of the few top 10 picks we had got hurt and retired young. Clay is overrated and they insist on making him happy playing him outside instead of where his talents lie...inside and stunting.

MM's system is getting a bit stale and he doesn't seem to have the fire to change it up. He constantly mismanages situations by coaching as if his team has far superior talent. Playing uber cautious to the point that it backfires. You can't be comfortable with a 17 point lead late cuz you know we will play prevent, allow 2 TD's, run the ball 6-9 times and rely on an injury plagued D to hold on a final drive. Now he has lost the team best I can tell. Its impossible for us to be sure though, we can only gather the evidence and guess at it.

All that said, if I were GM I would trade clay if he doesn't want to play ILB, use Peppers money to grab a new elite Pass Rusher if I could and pray for health like every other team does. its no coincidence that in todays age of parity that the healthiest teams seem to have the best record.

[yetisnowman]

On the subject of takeaways......

Turnover differential +/-

2014 +16 Ranked first in the NFL
2015 +5 Tied for 10th in the NFL
2016 -6 Tied for 26th in the NFL

Disturbing trend to say the least.

[texaspackerbacker]

If they win, maybe the shitty players aren't really all that shitty compared to the rest of the league.

It's all about Aaron Rodgers. We did win - within limitations - with shitty players. We had Capers compensating for mediocre personnel on defense, and we had Rodgers working magic on offense. Until Nelson got hurt, though, our WRs were at least tolerable. Now they have been exposed as something even Aaron Rodgers can't win with consistently. And now, injuries have piled up to where even Capers' scheming can't always save things. (Thanks, Ted)

[3irty1]

You do expect to hit on pro-bowl studs every so often. Since our superbowl win that just hasn't happened. Cobb, Burnett, Perry, Daniels, Bulaga, Lacy, Bach, Randall... Some good NFL starters in there but no blue chippers so to speak. A few are close.

I'd say the primary function of the draft is to get productive first contracts. And in that we've been successful. Rookie contracts are the obvious way in the NFL to get more than you pay for. But when you're not getting your share of new blue chippers and your old blue chippers are getting extinction-level injuries, career-wrecking girlfriends, or just plain old.... you're going to feel the decline.

Hate to ever fuel Bretsky but I think the top end of our roster, the 2nd and 3rd contract guys, could use some turnover this off season and there's really only one way to do that.

[pbmax]

On the subject of takeaways......

Turnover differential +/-

2014 +16 Ranked first in the NFL
2015 +5 Tied for 10th in the NFL
2016 -6 Tied for 26th in the NFL

Disturbing trend to say the least.

Agreed.

[Joemailman]

Truth is this is a good team devastated by injuries. It lacks elite talent because we have drafted outside the top 15 for how many years? One of the few top 10 picks we had got hurt and retired young. Clay is overrated and they insist on making him happy playing him outside instead of where his talents lie...inside and stunting.

I do wonder though if TT has lost hos touch a bit. For a while, he excelled at drafting impact players in the late 1st/2nd round:

2005: Aaron Rodgers (24)
2005: Nick Collins (51)
2006: Greg Jennings (52)
2008: Jordy Nelson (36)
2009: Clay Matthews (26)
2010: Bryan Bulaga (23)
2011: Randall Cobb (64)

Since then, only Eddie Lacy has been a pick that produced an impact player. And that was only for 2 years.