Preseason thoughts so far...

Defense has looked good though We seem very thin (depth wise) on the DL. With the promise of some of the young DBs and our apparent depth at OLB, I'd think TT might look to package something to maybe bolster the DL. Say an OLB (Elliot) and S (Hyde) for DT? I know I know- TT would never do that, but it is fun to speculate.

Really, the DBs look very good. I still think Randall will end up at Safety with Burnett playing a hybrid S/LB in dime. Some great competition for the last CB/S spots. Pulling for Josh Hawkins and Kentrell Brice.

Offense? Eddie looks ok, not as slim as we were led to believe, but committed. Cook looks promising. Adams made a couple of nice catches from a #2 QB against a #1 defense. When he's #3 he might have more success. He was very young when we drafted him and WRs (with a few exceptions) usually step up in the 3rd year. Just saying.
We'll know a lot more by halftime next week.
 
Dubz41 said:
Defense has looked good though We seem very thin (depth wise) on the DL. With the promise of some of the young DBs and our apparent depth at OLB, I'd think TT might look to package something to maybe bolster the DL. Say an OLB (Elliot) and S (Hyde) for DT? I know I know- TT would never do that, but it is fun to speculate.

Really, the DBs look very good. I still think Randall will end up at Safety with Burnett playing a hybrid S/LB in dime. Some great competition for the last CB/S spots. Pulling for Josh Hawkins and Kentrell Brice.

Offense? Eddie looks ok, not as slim as we were led to believe, but committed. Cook looks promising. Adams made a couple of nice catches from a #2 QB against a #1 defense. When he's #3 he might have more success. He was very young when we drafted him and WRs (with a few exceptions) usually step up in the 3rd year. Just saying.
We'll know a lot more by halftime next week.
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I don't think Hyde is trade as he's to verstiale to trade as he can play CB or safety. Could he move a extra LB for a DT perhaps.

Brice has had a solid showing in camp. He could push for a spot on the 53 man roster.
 
Masthay will stay because he's a known product, and is Crosby's holder. For Mortell to beat him out, he'd need to do 55+ yards per kick with a 50+ net for the next two games, and prove to be a better holder and threat to throw the ball, in practice. Then, and only then, would they look at him as replacing Masthay.

It's a difficult position to change, especially when the Packers coaching staff believes they have one of the better punters in the league.

Me? I'd go with Mortell in a heartbeat because I don't believe Masthay is nearly as good as the Packers organization does. I think he shanks too many of them at crucial times, and it may have cost us games over the last couple of years.

The things I keep hearing is how Masthay has a stronger leg. I'm a bit puzzled by that considering that we're seeing the opposite on the field. Mortell banged three huge punts out of his five. 62, 58, 56. Four of five inside the 20. If he's being judged on one short punt the first time he did it in a preseason game, that's kind of far fetched. I honestly believe this kid could be something special in the league. I hope it isn't somewhere where he can come back and haunt us a couple times a year. I keep hearing things like, "Masthay is better in practice." I could care less about practice. A lot of great football players stink in practice, and let it all out on Sunday afternoon. It's a question of them letting the competitor inside out when it matters.
 
I read this morning in jsonline that McGinn graded Barclay pretty well. I guess sometimes I don't know if I'm seeing the same things he is or if I focus on the bad plays. I remember a series in the first half where Barclay just got pushed back into the backfield pretty much from the snap on consecutive plays such that the plays were disrupted. I suppose it's just too small a sample size. After that I just sort of wrote him off and did not pay attention anymore. I guess we'll see how it shakes out. I suppose Barclay's versatility helps him out because on game day you typically only have 7 active and guys like Spriggs and Murphy who only play one position right now might not be the best game day choices.
 
TW said:
Masthay will stay because he's a known product, and is Crosby's holder. For Mortell to beat him out, he'd need to do 55+ yards per kick with a 50+ net for the next two games, and prove to be a better holder and threat to throw the ball, in practice. Then, and only then, would they look at him as replacing Masthay.

It's a difficult position to change, especially when the Packers coaching staff believes they have one of the better punters in the league.

Me? I'd go with Mortell in a heartbeat because I don't believe Masthay is nearly as good as the Packers organization does. I think he shanks too many of them at crucial times, and it may have cost us games over the last couple of years.

The things I keep hearing is how Masthay has a stronger leg. I'm a bit puzzled by that considering that we're seeing the opposite on the field. Mortell banged three huge punts out of his five. 62, 58, 56. Four of five inside the 20. If he's being judged on one short punt the first time he did it in a preseason game, that's kind of far fetched. I honestly believe this kid could be something special in the league. I hope it isn't somewhere where he can come back and haunt us a couple times a year. I keep hearing things like, "Masthay is better in practice." I could care less about practice. A lot of great football players stink in practice, and let it all out on Sunday afternoon. It's a question of them letting the competitor inside out when it matters.
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I'd agree and say that Mortell would have to be considered a long shot to beat Masthay out of his starting position. It was a good idea to bring in competition but things should stay the same.
 
IMO, this is the key with punters: What is their percentage of getting inside the 20 when they have the ability to do so and can they boom one when we are backed up inside our own 20 yard line.

Mortell has 4 inside the 20 and Masthay has 1. This is based on the Mortell having 5 punts and Masthay having 6 punts.
So far (and the key is so far) Mortell is beating Masthay on average (49.2 to 42.7) and punts inside the 20. He has also held for Crosby without any issues so far this preseason.

If these stats stayed the same by the end of cuts, what would you do?
 
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The problem is, they rarely look at an unknown quantity over what exists. That said, I remember them kicking both our punter and kicker loose the week before the season started. It proves there's no sure thing.
 
Remember the Packers hoofed out Canadian Punter Jon Ryan in 2007 who has been with the Seahawks organization ever since.
What I recall about Ryan was he had a huge leg but little accuracy - at least that's what the Pack thought.

I can tell you that first hand I sat on the 50 yard line, row 13 at Lambeau one game and was amazed at the strength of Ryan's boot. When the Packers cut him I couldn't believe it.
The rest is history cuz the Seahawks have loved him since.
 
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I remember a comment made about Ryan's punting was to do with consistency. He often booted it real long with a lower trajectory, and was too returnable.

To be honest, I think a lot of the real problems we had in those days was the guys we had coaching special teams. If I recall, it was Slocum. We then ended up with is assistant when Slocum retired. Everything was blamed on players.

I still remember Nolan Cromwell. The guy asked for, and got, any player on the roster to play on special teams, and they pressed to be the best. Hopefully Zook can reach that level with the players. He seems to be getting there.
 
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