Off-season 2023 Banjo

[run pMc]

After the release of James Wiggins, your current list of safeties on the roster is: Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, Dallin Leavitt, Anthony Johnson Jr., Innis Gaines, Benny Sapp III, Tarvarious Moore, Jonathan Owens. (Tariq Carpenter moved to ILB.)
That's EIGHT safeties for 53 roster spots plus the PS. Not sure they have a legit staring pair from the bunch. I think they'll patch it together and try to figure out who can communicate with the rest of the secondary the best.

I will say Dallin Leavitt should never play a defensive snap. He's ST only.
Ford and Savage both got benched last year for performance and put back on the field because they needed bodies.

Johnson and Sapp are rookies, and R7/UDFA's at that.
Gaines has barely managed to cling to the roster but might be figuring it out.
I think they're banking on getting at least one decent option from Ford, Moore and Owens, and seeing what playing for a second contract does to Savage.

Will be an interesting camp battle.

One last thing: if reports out of training camp are that the defense looks lights out again, I'm going to worry about the offense. Not that I drank it last year, but I'm staying far away from the "this is a top 5 defense" Kool-Aid until Barry is gone or they prove it.
Last year when the D was shutting down the O in camp, it was because the O stunk.

[NewsBruin]

News, what do you think about this Owens guy as a starter instead of, say, re-signing Amos as the stop-gap starter?

Aw, man. I'm the worst to tell you. I've seen no Texans games and only a few Packers games last year. And in general, I have no skills evaluating safety play or even know what their duties are under This Guy's defense.

I'm just trying to see if Christian Morgan is still around here.

[run pMc]

They initially announced Morgan, but he never signed so he's not with GB.

Haven't seen much of Owens, he racked up a lot of tackles as a first time starter for HOU. From what little I've seen, he seems like he's a slight better version of Rudy Ford - fast, aggressive, maybe a little bigger.
Wouldn't want Owens playing single-high but with all the Cover 2, 3 & 4 played these days he can get by. I think he's played ST. Not a horrible pickup, it will be throw a bunch of players into competition and go with the best of what is honestly an uninspiring bunch.

[run pMc]

DL - your top 5 are ostensibly Clark, Wyatt, Slaton, Wooden, Brooks

Ignoring ST snaps,
Last year Jarran Reed played 705 Def snaps, Dean Lowry 482, Devonte Wyatt 224, TJ Slaton 333. (Kenny Clark played 807 - or 78%)

How many snaps can the rookies take? How many can Wyatt and Slaton take? Does Johnathon Ford get on the field and play any snaps? Does Joe Barry just play 2 DL at a time and let teams run on them, essentially dog walking the defense down the field for 7 minutes a pop?

[Fritz]

DL - your top 5 are ostensibly Clark, Wyatt, Slaton, Wooden, Brooks

Ignoring ST snaps,
Last year Jarran Reed played 705 Def snaps, Dean Lowry 482, Devonte Wyatt 224, TJ Slaton 333. (Kenny Clark played 807 - or 78%)

How many snaps can the rookies take? How many can Wyatt and Slaton take? Does Johnathon Ford get on the field and play any snaps? Does Joe Barry just play 2 DL at a time and let teams run on them, essentially dog walking the defense down the field for 7 minutes a pop?

They carried Jonathan Ford all of last year - he was, in terms of last season, a waste of a roster spot. So they must've red-shirted him in the belief he was going to be worthwhile. So he'd damn well better be getting on the field this year, or else they need to cut him as soon as they know that's the case.

[texaspackerbacker]

What they have at D line this year seems like a significant upgrade from a year ago, more so from two years ago. Not having Lowery is addition by subtraction, maybe the same for Reed. Slaton should continue to improve, and Wyatt should be a LOT better.

[Fritz]

They initially announced Morgan, but he never signed so he's not with GB.

Haven't seen much of Owens, he racked up a lot of tackles as a first time starter for HOU. From what little I've seen, he seems like he's a slight better version of Rudy Ford - fast, aggressive, maybe a little bigger.
Wouldn't want Owens playing single-high but with all the Cover 2, 3 & 4 played these days he can get by. I think he's played ST. Not a horrible pickup, it will be throw a bunch of players into competition and go with the best of what is honestly an uninspiring bunch.

They just signed this punter - originally a rugby guy. Looks like a rugby guy. If your punter was your last tackler standing between a returner and the end zone, whom do you want to attempt the tackle?

This guy?



Or this guy?

[smuggler]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but the Leos will be without four players when they first face the Pack, including WR Jameson Williams. They each received 6 game gambling suspensions.

[Fritz]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but the Leos will be without four players when they first face the Pack, including WR Jameson Williams. They each received 6 game gambling suspensions.

I wouldn't bet on that.

BWAHAHAHAHA!

[Joemailman]

Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet

The NFL has passed a new rule instituting all fair catches and touchbacks come out to the 25-yard line on kickoffs, source said. Now the same as the college rule, the thought is that this should make it safer, though special teams coaches around the league oppose the change.

Judy Battista
@judybattista

NFL modeling says kickoff returns should be reduced by 7 percent with fair catch to be spotted at 25 yd line. That, they expect, will lead to 15 percent drop in concussions on the play. NFL will continue to look at it.

Matt Schneidman
@mattschneidman

Packers First Team All-Pro kick returner Keisean Nixon weighs in on the new kickoff rule on Instagram:

“Lol what is a fair catch?”

.

[bobblehead]

Fritz, who is that Bayport High School bench warmer wearing a packer helmet in your picture??

[Joemailman]

Fritz, who is that Bayport High School bench warmer wearing a packer helmet in your picture??

Ah, the memories.

[run pMc]

You know how you read about players where the top half and lower half are well coordinated? Yeah, that isn't it.

[KYPack]

Ah, the memories.

JK Scott. Ranks first on the All time Chickenshit in Packer history.

He works for the Chargers now.

They better not count on him to make any tackles

[Fritz]

I wonder if the "JK" stands for "Just Kidding . . . I ain't really a football player."