Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Breaking Down the Packer Roster by Position

 88 Players, room for TWO more to complete the 90 man NFL limit per team.  This will change. Still out there, 3 big names.  Mercedes Lewis our veteran tight end, Adrian Amos, our starting safety, and Mason Crosby, our veteran kicker an all time leading Packer scorer!!!   I will definitely do a special tribute to Crosby for all he has done in his career for the Packers!

Let's do the obvious first.  The first position to analyze - QUARTERBACK!!!

With, "You Know Who" gone off to New York, we are entering scary days for Packer fans.  We have been blessed to two quarterbacks the past 30 years!  NO other team has had that luxury!

So, what do we have?

Jordan Love            4 Years    6'4"    219 lbs    Utah St

Danny Etling         1 Year    6'3"    220 lbs    LSU

Sean Clifford        Rookie    6'2"    218 lbs    Penn St

Now, for all you Packer fans, this 3 man list is scary!  But, welcome to the NFL!  Where most fans have lived over the past 30 years!  Let's look at our starter first.

Jordan Love - we have not seen much of Jordan the past 4 years.  COVID, canceled out one pre-season & the other pre-seasons are a blur.  I did see Jordan live last year at the Eagles game in Philadelphia.  My son & I caught the crazy 40-33 loss to the Eagles, when Jordan came off the bench.  He looked good!  Had some nice drives, threw a TD pass and looked respectable!  A very small sampling!  What should we think?

1 - He has been a class act as our back up.  With all the drama the past few years, not a peep!  He has had the young receivers visit him this off season (unlike someone else I know) and they have worked out together.  He looks the part, at 6'4" and athletically, he passes the eyeball test.  So, as a person, as a leader, as an athlete, he deserves a shot.  He will get it!

2 - As far as our two young guns, both pass the eyeball test.  Both played for big programs in college.  I have witnessed Clifford, as a Penn State fan, and he had a nice career.  But, a NFL game changer, he is not.  I do think he would be an adequate backup in the NFL.  But, if Love goes down, it could get ugly FAST!

Anyway you look at this season, Jordan Love will get a real chance!  We will know, as Packer Fans, what we have real FAST!  Just as a comparison, first years for Favre & Rodgers:

Favre        1992 started 13 games, 302 for 471 is 64.1%, 18 TD's , 13 interceptions, record 8 & 5

Rodgers    2008 started 16 games, 341 for 536 is 63.6%, 28 TD's, 13 interceptions, record 6 & 10

My goal for Jordan Love is simple, can you get us 8-9 wins in 2023???



Monday, May 1, 2023

Packers Roster Build for 2023

 It is that time of the year in the NFL.  The NFL Draft is over & teams begin to build their 90 man rosters. The Packers will add their 13 draft choices, un-drafted players, a few free agents & returning players on contracts.  Let the build begin!

Where are we now?  According to the Packer website:

63 under contract, 13 draft picks, 12 un-drafted signings = 88 players

What is the latest cap space?

As of May 1, 2023 according to spotrac.com     

          $12,682,360 top 51 players          $3,562,360 all players

So, not a lot of free money to bring in free agents.  Because of all the attempt to keep "you know who" happy, and trying to move $$$ into other years, the salary cap will be tight the next two years.  So, we need to make these 88 players better!!!!

Let us start with the drafted & undrafted 25 players first, then we will look at the players under contract later.

Drafted players                                      Undrafted players

1 - OLB - Lukas Van Ness, Iowa                    1 - TE - Cameron McDonald, Florida St

2 - TE - Luke Musgrave, Oregon St                2 - TE - Henry Pearson, Appalachain St.

3 - WR - Jayden Reed, Michigan St                3 - S - Benny Sapp III, Iowa St

4 - TE - Tucker Kraft, South Dakota St           4 - S - Christian Morga, Baylor

5 - DL - Colby Wooden, Auburn                      5 - WR - Duece Watts, Tulane

6 - QB - Sean Clifford, Penn St                        6 - WR - Malik Heath, Mississippi

7 - WR - Dontayvion Wicks, Virginia              7 - DT - Jason Lewan, Illinois St

8 - DL - Karl Brooks, Bowling Green              8 - OT - Kadeem Telfort, Ala-Birmingham

9 - K - Anders Carlson, Auburn                       9 - LB - Jimmy Phillips, SMU

10 - CB - Carrington Valentine, Kentucky       10 - G - Chuck Filiaga, Minnesota

11 - RB - Lew Nichols, Central Michigan        11 - OLB - Keshawn Banks, San Diego St    

12 - S - Anthony Johnson Jr, Iowa St               12 - LB - Brenton Coc, JR, Florida

13 - WR - Grant DuBose, Charlotte


New faces = 25, 1 Kicker, 11 defense & 13 offense.  Of course, the drafted players will get a close look, but every year we have surprises!!!  And, as of 2022, the practice squads were increased to 16 players.  So, actually, 69 players make up the NFL team.  And of course, injured players will add even more!

What am I looking at as far as position needs?

1 - Tight End - WE NEED BODIES!  And, for Jordan Love's sake, a good one to emerge!

2 - Defense Line - WE NEED BODIES! And, for Kenny Clark's sake, a good one to emerge!

3 - Kicker - will this be Mason Crosby's last hurrah???

4 - Wide Receiver - we are young!  And, we need a few more good ones!!!

5 - Safety - This will be fascinating.  The starter Adrian Amos is a free agent,  Savage is back, but has had issues.  This is a definite concern!!!

Let the competition begin!!!

Breaking Down the Packer Roster by Position

 88 Players, room for TWO more to complete the 90 man NFL limit per team.  This will change. Still out there, 3 big names.  Mercedes Lewis o...