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Thompson can't run from backfield problems
Posted: Aug. 27, 2007
Tom Silverstein
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One could hardly characterize Ted Thompson as a gambler.
The stoic, even-tempered Green Bay Packers general manager would be the last person you'd expect to see at the Mirage casino going all in on a pair of deuces.
But the way he has handled the Packers' running back situation leads one to believe he has a little bit of Johnny Chan inside him. Cool, confident and never ruffled, Thompson decided to stand pat with a backfield only the most cold-blooded of gamblers would hold onto.
Things aren't looking very promising for Thompson right now.
Not with Vernand Morency indefinitely sidelined with a knee injury and hardly in football shape should he be available for the season-opener against Philadelphia Sept. 9. Not with rookie Brandon Jackson, who before thumping his noggin Sunday afternoon, hardly looked like the second-coming of Ahman Green. Not with rookie DeShawn Wynn, who finally made it onto the football field the same day Jackson exited it, rusty as an old gate after missing 18 days with a thigh injury.
These three are the Packers' best hope for having a successful running game, which doesn't bode well for the season. It's very possible coach Mike McCarthy will have to turn to veteran Noah Herron, a reliable but less-athletic option, to be his workhorse, which would hardly be ideal.
Before Thompson reports for his lashings, it is noteworthy to point out that his options during the off-season were limited, especially where free agency and trades were concerned. There were a lot of backs who were on the market, but only a few who were worth paying a significant amount of money.
Jamal Lewis? Bad knees and doesn't fit the system.
Dominic Rhodes? Way too much baggage; suspended for the first four games this year.
Kevan Barlow? Washed up.
Corey Dillon? Ditto.
Travis Henry? An intriguing prospect who has the potential to be very productive in a zone-blocking system. But that's only if his financial worries over allegedly fathering nine children with nine different women don't distract him.
Thomas Jones? The Bears would have never traded him to Green Bay.
Willis McGahee? More of a power back who wouldn't be a great fit for the system.
As you can see, the options for replacing Ahman Green were limited, just as they were when Thompson sought to replace departed guards Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle. You can argue all day whether Thompson should have paid to keep Green, or Rivera and Wahle, for that matter, but the reality is he made what he thought were sound fiscal decisions in both cases.
So, does that let him off the hook for not filling those positions?
Absolutely not. The distressing part for Packers fans is that the running back position is shaping up to be to the 2007 Packers what the guard position was to the 2005 Packers: a total mess.
It is Thompson's responsibility to fill open positions, regardless of the circumstances. It is his job to recognize that Morency has a durability problem, that he probably won't get a shot at drafting California's Marshawn Lynch in the first round and that the options after Lynch weren't all that good.
It's his job to make sure the Packers don't fall into the same hole they did in '05 when they couldn't get anything done because their guards were so bad.
At this point, signing Tennessee free agent Chris Brown wouldn't have been such a bad option. Brown, an unrestricted free agent, was interested in signing with the Packers during the off-season, but talks never got off the ground and he wound up going back to the Titans for very little money.
Through three games, Brown is averaging 5.1 yards per carry and is in a heated race with LenDale White for the starting halfback job. Brown has a reputation for running too high and getting hurt, but at this point he'd look like a pretty good option for the Packers.
Jacksonville's LaBrandon Toefield was available, too. And he'll probably be available after the cutdown to 53. At this point, he'd be a viable option. He's not much of a breakaway threat and he's not going to make anyone forget Green, but he can pound it between the tackles.
Then there's San Diego's Michael Turner. The Chargers took him off the market after they were unable to get the first- and third-round picks they were demanding in a trade and planned on having him back up LaDainian Tomlinson for one more year.
However, had a team such as the Packers kept pounding on the door to try to free Turner - who will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season - who knows how far they could have knocked down the price? Now it appears to be a moot point because Turner suffered a high ankle sprain this past weekend and could be out for awhile.
The point is there are always options, even if some of them aren't that great. Thompson chose to stand pat in March and April knowing Morency was his leading candidate to start and the best he could hope for out of the draft was a second-round pick. He did nothing dramatic to change the situation and probably won't do anything from now until the start of the regular season.
As a disciple of former general manager Ron Wolf, the one thing he should have learned is that there are always options.
Before Edgar Bennett became the Packers' workhorse during the Mike Holmgren years, Wolf took shots with John Stephens and Reggie Cobb. When Bennett got hurt and then left in free agency, he got as much as he could out of Aaron Hayden and Darick Holmes. And when Dorsey Levens started to fade, he traded for a fumbler named Ahman Green.
It's possible that Morency will get over his knee injury and be a reliable runner, Jackson will develop into a crafty runner and Wynn will be the power back that complements the others. But the situation hardly looks that promising right now and the running game stands to be as weak as the guard position was two years ago.
This is a bet that Thompson looks like he's going to lose again.
Posted: Aug. 27, 2007
Tom Silverstein
One could hardly characterize Ted Thompson as a gambler.
The stoic, even-tempered Green Bay Packers general manager would be the last person you'd expect to see at the Mirage casino going all in on a pair of deuces.
But the way he has handled the Packers' running back situation leads one to believe he has a little bit of Johnny Chan inside him. Cool, confident and never ruffled, Thompson decided to stand pat with a backfield only the most cold-blooded of gamblers would hold onto.
Things aren't looking very promising for Thompson right now.
Not with Vernand Morency indefinitely sidelined with a knee injury and hardly in football shape should he be available for the season-opener against Philadelphia Sept. 9. Not with rookie Brandon Jackson, who before thumping his noggin Sunday afternoon, hardly looked like the second-coming of Ahman Green. Not with rookie DeShawn Wynn, who finally made it onto the football field the same day Jackson exited it, rusty as an old gate after missing 18 days with a thigh injury.
These three are the Packers' best hope for having a successful running game, which doesn't bode well for the season. It's very possible coach Mike McCarthy will have to turn to veteran Noah Herron, a reliable but less-athletic option, to be his workhorse, which would hardly be ideal.
Before Thompson reports for his lashings, it is noteworthy to point out that his options during the off-season were limited, especially where free agency and trades were concerned. There were a lot of backs who were on the market, but only a few who were worth paying a significant amount of money.
Jamal Lewis? Bad knees and doesn't fit the system.
Dominic Rhodes? Way too much baggage; suspended for the first four games this year.
Kevan Barlow? Washed up.
Corey Dillon? Ditto.
Travis Henry? An intriguing prospect who has the potential to be very productive in a zone-blocking system. But that's only if his financial worries over allegedly fathering nine children with nine different women don't distract him.
Thomas Jones? The Bears would have never traded him to Green Bay.
Willis McGahee? More of a power back who wouldn't be a great fit for the system.
As you can see, the options for replacing Ahman Green were limited, just as they were when Thompson sought to replace departed guards Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle. You can argue all day whether Thompson should have paid to keep Green, or Rivera and Wahle, for that matter, but the reality is he made what he thought were sound fiscal decisions in both cases.
So, does that let him off the hook for not filling those positions?
Absolutely not. The distressing part for Packers fans is that the running back position is shaping up to be to the 2007 Packers what the guard position was to the 2005 Packers: a total mess.
It is Thompson's responsibility to fill open positions, regardless of the circumstances. It is his job to recognize that Morency has a durability problem, that he probably won't get a shot at drafting California's Marshawn Lynch in the first round and that the options after Lynch weren't all that good.
It's his job to make sure the Packers don't fall into the same hole they did in '05 when they couldn't get anything done because their guards were so bad.
At this point, signing Tennessee free agent Chris Brown wouldn't have been such a bad option. Brown, an unrestricted free agent, was interested in signing with the Packers during the off-season, but talks never got off the ground and he wound up going back to the Titans for very little money.
Through three games, Brown is averaging 5.1 yards per carry and is in a heated race with LenDale White for the starting halfback job. Brown has a reputation for running too high and getting hurt, but at this point he'd look like a pretty good option for the Packers.
Jacksonville's LaBrandon Toefield was available, too. And he'll probably be available after the cutdown to 53. At this point, he'd be a viable option. He's not much of a breakaway threat and he's not going to make anyone forget Green, but he can pound it between the tackles.
Then there's San Diego's Michael Turner. The Chargers took him off the market after they were unable to get the first- and third-round picks they were demanding in a trade and planned on having him back up LaDainian Tomlinson for one more year.
However, had a team such as the Packers kept pounding on the door to try to free Turner - who will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season - who knows how far they could have knocked down the price? Now it appears to be a moot point because Turner suffered a high ankle sprain this past weekend and could be out for awhile.
The point is there are always options, even if some of them aren't that great. Thompson chose to stand pat in March and April knowing Morency was his leading candidate to start and the best he could hope for out of the draft was a second-round pick. He did nothing dramatic to change the situation and probably won't do anything from now until the start of the regular season.
As a disciple of former general manager Ron Wolf, the one thing he should have learned is that there are always options.
Before Edgar Bennett became the Packers' workhorse during the Mike Holmgren years, Wolf took shots with John Stephens and Reggie Cobb. When Bennett got hurt and then left in free agency, he got as much as he could out of Aaron Hayden and Darick Holmes. And when Dorsey Levens started to fade, he traded for a fumbler named Ahman Green.
It's possible that Morency will get over his knee injury and be a reliable runner, Jackson will develop into a crafty runner and Wynn will be the power back that complements the others. But the situation hardly looks that promising right now and the running game stands to be as weak as the guard position was two years ago.
This is a bet that Thompson looks like he's going to lose again.
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