Who is Ben Taylor?

[red]

Only 20 players in the league had more tackles than Taylor last year. That shows steadiness and reliability.

Well, sometimes tackle stats are deceiving, but it sounds like he was better than steady last year, he was a good starter.

So how come they start Poppinga in the season opener? Pop was obviously rusty, why not wait a few weeks?

To my mind, one of two things must be true:
1) Coaches did not like the looks of Taylor this summer
2) McCarthy screwed-up by starting Pop so soon

i think its option 3

TT wants his young rookies that he drafted to have every chance in the world to see if they can succeed, even if that means starting a rookie over a vet that might be a better player, but has less upside

[The Leaper]

Perhaps red...but the season is 16 games long. It isn't like Poppinga is Cinderella and has only until October to prove himself.

I don't like option 3. You need to put the best team on the field to start the season. There is plenty of time later on to review "potential" if your season goes in the crapper.

[green_bowl_packer]

I have to agree with the Leaper on this one. Considering he had one start last year when he got injured, I don't know if that counts as not losing your starting position to injury, but I dont' think he did anything special to earn the job. His strength last year was being a situational pass rusher and blitzer, and they are not playing to his strengths the way they are using him. I see him lined up out wide, covering a linebacker or running back and know he's done for.

[Partial]

The truth is this:

TT has yet to hit one out of the park with his draft picks that he values more than signing free agents. He knows the team is going to be bad this year, so rather than starting the better player in Taylor, he is hoping Poppinga can start and develop into a player he can finally claim as a "steal" in the draft and reassure us all of his "profound" ability to draft.

[Scott Campbell]

The truth is this:

TT has yet to hit one out of the park with his draft picks that he values more than signing free agents. He knows the team is going to be bad this year, so rather than starting the better player in Taylor, he is hoping Poppinga can start and develop into a player he can finally claim as a "steal" in the draft and reassure us all of his "profound" ability to draft.

I hope to hell he's not picking the starters.

[Partial]

The truth is this:

TT has yet to hit one out of the park with his draft picks that he values more than signing free agents. He knows the team is going to be bad this year, so rather than starting the better player in Taylor, he is hoping Poppinga can start and develop into a player he can finally claim as a "steal" in the draft and reassure us all of his "profound" ability to draft.

I hope to hell he's not picking the starters.

Guarantee you this is 100% TTs act. McCarthy said Taylor was one of the primary playmakers on TC, and McCarthy also said that TT picked the starters.

[Scott Campbell]

The truth is this:

TT has yet to hit one out of the park with his draft picks that he values more than signing free agents. He knows the team is going to be bad this year, so rather than starting the better player in Taylor, he is hoping Poppinga can start and develop into a player he can finally claim as a "steal" in the draft and reassure us all of his "profound" ability to draft.

I hope to hell he's not picking the starters.

Guarantee you this is 100% TTs act. McCarthy said Taylor was one of the primary playmakers on TC, and McCarthy also said that TT picked the starters.

Well that sucks if true. I'm not in favor of hiring yes men to parrot my ideas.

[OS PA]

Whatever happened to Abdul Hodge?

[Bretsky]

The truth is this:

TT has yet to hit one out of the park with his draft picks that he values more than signing free agents. He knows the team is going to be bad this year, so rather than starting the better player in Taylor, he is hoping Poppinga can start and develop into a player he can finally claim as a "steal" in the draft and reassure us all of his "profound" ability to draft.

I hope to hell he's not picking the starters.

Guarantee you this is 100% TTs act. McCarthy said Taylor was one of the primary playmakers on TC, and McCarthy also said that TT picked the starters.

WAIT WAIT WAIT; I think we are misrepresenting information by saying TT picked the starters. I believe it was Jags commenting that they were going to get one of the young guys a start in the "preseason" because they wanted to see how he reacts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't ever remember anybody saying TT picks the starters in the regular season and in all honesty, he shouldn't. And as you guys know I'll be the first to throw darts at TT, but I don't think he determines who plays and doesn't play in the regular season.

B

[Harlan Huckleby]

i think its option 3

TT wants his young rookies that he drafted to have every chance in the world to see if they can succeed, even if that means starting a rookie over a vet that might be a better player, but has less upside

The GM's priority is player development, putting a roster together that balances both short and long term needs.
The head coach is primarily focused on winning the next game.

The coach decides who starts. The coach is going to put the guys on the field each week that he thinks give him the best chance to win THAT game.

McCarthy evidently thinks Poppinga is better than Taylor. And given that Pop is fresh off injury and could benefit from a few weeks easing into the lineup, McCarthy must think Pop is significantly better.

Unless Poppinga gets injured, I don't see a change happening.

[Scott Campbell]

WAIT WAIT WAIT; I think we are misrepresenting information by saying TT picked the starters. I believe it was Jags commenting that they were going to get one of the young guys a start in the "preseason" because they wanted to see how he reacts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't ever remember anybody saying TT picks the starters in the regular season and in all honesty, he shouldn't. And as you guys know I'll be the first to throw darts at TT, but I don't think he determines who plays and doesn't play in the regular season.

B

I sure hope you're right.

[Partial]

The truth is this:

TT has yet to hit one out of the park with his draft picks that he values more than signing free agents. He knows the team is going to be bad this year, so rather than starting the better player in Taylor, he is hoping Poppinga can start and develop into a player he can finally claim as a "steal" in the draft and reassure us all of his "profound" ability to draft.

I hope to hell he's not picking the starters.

Guarantee you this is 100% TTs act. McCarthy said Taylor was one of the primary playmakers on TC, and McCarthy also said that TT picked the starters.

WAIT WAIT WAIT; I think we are misrepresenting information by saying TT picked the starters. I believe it was Jags commenting that they were going to get one of the young guys a start in the "preseason" because they wanted to see how he reacts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't ever remember anybody saying TT picks the starters in the regular season and in all honesty, he shouldn't. And as you guys know I'll be the first to throw darts at TT, but I don't think he determines who plays and doesn't play in the regular season.

B

I disagree with you. Ben Taylor is the type of guy the Packers won a super bowl with. Solid, but not spectacular. I really think of any reason that Poppinga is starting other than TT wants to claim A. he drafted more of the starters, B. to show he has a knack for adding starters (albeit shitty ones) through the draft. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Ain't NO WAY in hell that Thompson is telling McCarthy who to start at this point of the season. That's just plain ludicrous.

"Who is Ben Taylor?"

I'm guessing he's your starting SLB for the Green Bay Packers in week 3.

Maybe not. Maybe they will give Brady Pop a few more weeks to straighten things out.