Interesting Article: Clements Takes Over Play-Calling Duties

Change is in the cold air around Green Bay!!!

Read the article - have a read: Clements Takes Over Play-Calling Duties

Let's break it down!!!

First,
Offensively, Tom Clements has been promoted to associate head coach/offense. Edgar Bennett has been promoted to offensive coordinator. Van Pelt handling quarterbacks and receivers. It's a treat to have Mike Solari here, he'll be our assistant offensive line coach. I'm excited about what Jason Simmons brings to the table. Jerry Montgomery will primarily be working hand-in-hand with Dom Capers. I think you know me well enough. Big changes aren't something I do in hast. This is something I feel is my responsibility each and every year. These changes I'm excited about. Enjoyed my time the last two days being with defensive staff meetings. I will split my time equally with offense, defense and special teams. With my past responsibilities, I didn't do that.

What does all this mean?  I think two things!

1 - Mike McCarthy is bringing in new blood.  Adding more coaches to the staff!  New ideas, more ideas, and different coaching styles.  Time will tell!
2 - Mike McCarthy will have his hands (and feet) in the offense, the defense & special teams.  McCarthy has mainly focused on the offense, this is a BIG change!  I'm really glad he will be in the special teams meetings!!

What about play-calling?

On play-calling:

Tom Clements will be the play-caller. Really the biggest change for me personally, I felt the play-calling was something I could still do but the commitment you have to make Monday through Saturday. Tom taking responsibility on offense that I had in the past. Alex has a unique opportunity of working with quarterbacks and receivers. I don't think changes will be too big for players. We think these adjustments will continue to help us grow.

Now, this one I will be excited to watch!!  My only issue the past couple years is to keep attacking in the second half and I would use the Pass to set up the run!  We have Aaron Rogers for 7-10 more good years, let it fly baby!!

And why will McCarthy split his time?

On why it's important to split time:

I think I have a lot more to offer. I enjoyed the last two days going through cut ups with offense. There's a vision you get each and every year. Now I'll be more directly involved with implementation with defense. Special teams needs to improve. It's an area of concern in the past. We have to continue to develop our young players and get more out of our veterans. The standard of play on special teams, our consistency of veteran players wasn't what it needed to be. That will be a focus of mine.

Makes sense for a head coach!  That's what I would do!  Just as a good boss, a boss should know what everyone is doing!  As a retired educator I always thought most of my leaders were hiding some place!

And what does McCarthy think about giving up calling plays?

On giving up play-calling:

I'm going to miss it. I know that. But the way we're structured. The way our quarterbacks are in their development. The way we call the game is a lot different than three years ago. I feel good about where Aaron is, but also our veteran offensive linemen and receivers. We can make adjustments on the sideline. I feel good about mechanics. I think it'll make us all better. We haven't got into the game-day responsibilities, but as we get through spring and summer there will probably be another adjustment made.

Now, I'm sure Mike will have suggestions!  And with Aaron Rogers, I think Aaron could call all his own plays!  And, it would be interesting to see how many he changes!

One thing for sure is the Packers can win division titles & make the playoffs!  But, since the super bowl win, not so much!

2015 NFL Draft & NFL Combine

OK, football fans!  It is that time to do your homework!  Here is the coming schedule:

Feb. 16: First day for clubs to designate franchise or transition players.

Feb. 17-23: NFL Scouting Combine, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis

March 10: 2015 league year and free agency period begin at 4 p.m. ET. All clubs must be under the 2015 salary cap before 4 p.m. ET.

March 22-25: Annual meeting, Phoenix

April 24: Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets

April 29: Deadline for prior club to exercise right of first refusal to restricted free agents.

April 30-May 2: NFL draft, Chicago

May 8-11: First weekend after draft: Clubs may elect to hold their three-day post-draft rookie mini-camp from Friday through Sunday or Saturday through Monday.

May 15-18: Second weekend after draft: Clubs may elect to hold their three-day post-draft rookie mini-camp from Friday through Sunday or Saturday through Monday.

May 18-20: NFL spring league meeting, San Francisco

June 21-27: Rookie Symposium, Aurora, Ohio.


Now, let the fun begin!  Of course, my first focus is the NFL Combine.  My goal, find 5 players per position!  I will try to look at the obvious players, but also try to find the "Diamond in the Rough!"

Here are the numbers for the combine as of today:
1 - Quarterbacks - Total 15
2 - Running Backs - 3 Fullbacks & 33 Running backs - Total 36
3 - Wide Receivers - Total 43
4 - Tight Ends - Total 20
5 - Offensive Line - 4 Centers, 14 Guards & 29 Tackles - Total 52
6 - Defensive Line - 23 Defensive Ends, 21 Defensive Tackles, & 5 Nose Tackles - Total 49
7 - Linebackers - 27 Outside Linebackers & 14 Inside Linebackers - Total 41
8 - Defensive Backs -32 Cornerbacks & 14 Free Safeties, & 8 Strong Safeties - Total 64
9 - Special Teams - 1 Long Snapper, 5 Kickers, & 7 Punters - Total 13

First, I will list the positions by Need, according to me!!!  I will list 7, the number of draft picks, although we should get more because of supplemental picks!

1 - Linebackers -  specifically Inside Linebacker!
2 - Defensive Line - Defensive Tackle or Nose Guard
3 - Tight Ends
4 - Defensive Line - Defensive End
5 - Defensive Backs - Cornerbacks
6 - Offensive Line - Tackles
7 - The BEST player left!

OK, let the breakdown begin!!

CBS Sports

NFL Website

Packer Special Teams - 2015

Three Main Guys:

Kicker - Mason Crosby - Year 8

Punter - Tim Masthay - Year 5

Long Snapper - Brett Goode - Year 7

Our Kicker had a nice year - 27 for 33,
50 yards or more - 4 of 7
40-49 yards - 5 of 7
30-39 yards - 11 of 12
20-29 yards - 7 of 7
No attempts under 20

I would bring someone in for competition.  That seems to keep kickers focused!

Our Punter - Tim Masthay - 49 punts - 14 inside the 20, & 2 blocked!  Not his fault!
The Pack already brought in some competition - Cody Mandell.
Let the competition begin!!!

Lon Snapper - Brett Goode.  If you read my block, I DO NOT LIKE long snappers!  It just
seems like a waste of a roster spot & any lineman should be able to do it!  But, Goode
did a good job this year & I do not remember any bad snaps!

Found a sight dedicated to Long Snappers!

Letroy Guion - Uh Oh! NFL players Love The Off Season!

Packers roster decisions may have been started earlier than expected!

Letroy Guion had nearly $200,000 in cash on him, plus weed, gun

Wow!  Love some of the details!

Yeah, this overnight arrest of Packers defensive tackleLetroy Guion keeps looking worse and worse.

The report from the Starke (Fla.) Police Department is out, and it appears that Guion had more than just a little weed and a handgun on him last night.

Via Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette,police found 357 grams of marijuana (.787 pounds, or as some of my old college roommates tell me, a lot), a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and $190,028.81 in cash.

He’d have probably been all right, but the pile of change at the lower right of the picture totalling 81 cents is going to push this one right over the top.

Guion was pulled over at 11:03 p.m. last night for failing to maintain a single lane, which is probably harder with all that weed and money rattling around in the floorboards.

Now, we need to wait & see, BUT, it does not look good!  I would give BJ Raji a quick call!

Packer Defensive Line - Defensive Tackles 2015

As I mentioned in yesterdays blog, the Packers defensive tackles & ends is a blurred "line"!  One thing all good defensive lines need are run stoppers!  And usually, these players are just BIGGER!  The magic on good defenses is your line cannot be moved, but your line needs some speed!

Packer Defensive Tackles:
Josh Boyd
Mike Daniels
Bruce Gaston
Letroy Guion
Mike Pennel
BJ Raji
Luther Robinson
Khyri Thorton

So, as mentioned, 3 of these players Mike Daniels, Josh Boyd, & Bruce Gaston were also considered defensive ends and discussed.  The Packer defensive theme is versatility! The same goes for our linemen!  For years I complained that our d-line was too fat!  Now we have gone the other way!  Here our our height and weights:

Josh Boyd - 6'3" - 310
Mike Daniels - 6'0" - 305
Bruce Gaston - 6'2" - 310
Letroy Guion - 6'4" - 315
Mike Pennel - 6'4" - 332
BJ Raji - 6'2" - 337
Luther Robinson - 6'3" - 301
Khyri Thorton - 6'3" - 304

By todays standards, not a lot of beef!
According to the NFL website:

A 3-4 nose tackle is asked to command double teams and prevent guards and centers from getting to second-tier blocking at the linebacker level. A 4-3 nose tackle is required to penetrate the inside "A" gap and often loop around and be responsible for containing the "C" gap. Then there are 3-4 defensive ends who really aren't ends, but instead work down into the "B" gap to defending power running plays. Then there is the hard-to-find, 4-3 three-technique tackle who is asked to penetrate and be disruptive.

Do we have that person?  Close.

Letroy Guion - After a slow start, Guion came on strong.  For the price & ability, Letroy was a pleasant surprise!  Also, he fit in well with the team and brought a great attitude to blend in with Mike Daniels leadership!  At the right price, we should resign him!

BJ Raji - Wow!  A tough decision!  The BJ we had the first 2-3 years YES!  The BJ the last few years - NO!  I would only bring him back at the right price!

Khyri Thorton - a rookie who missed the entire year!  We need another look!  Let's see what he has next pre-season!

Luther Robinson & Mike Pennel - not much to go on, mostly practice squad guys, so we need another look!!

This is a need!  Free Agent or draft.  We need a run stopper & someone to protect our linebackers!

Packer Defensive Line - Defensive Ends for 2015

Running a 3-4 defense kind of blurs the vision of what a defensive end looks like!  Basically, every defense must account for "gaps" on the offense line!

Checkout the article:

Football 101: Defensive line gap techniques

Now a picture:

So, no matter if you run a 3-4 or 4-3 defense, you MUST account for each gap!!  A-B-C!!

As the year went on, the Packer Defense started to stop the run & improve against the pass!

The Packer defensive ends:

Datone Jones
Mike Daniels
Josh Boyd
Bruce Gaston

It looks pretty thin!!!  And it is!  But, remember, in our Packer 3-5 Peppers, Matthews, Neal, Perry as outside linebackers take on some of the responsibilities of defensive ends.  That list makes it look better!

Mike Daniels - (a starter), if one player decided at the beginning of the year to try to make the Packer Defense meaner, tougher, nastier, and have an "attitude" it was Daniels!  THANK GOODNESS!  Any great defense has a little intimidation factor!  To me, that has been missing!  Play hard, play on the edge, hit with an attitude!!!  Thank you Mike Daniels.  And overall Daniels backed it up!  He was not all-pro caliber, but was a playmaker inside!
41 tackles - 29 solo - 5.5 sacks

Datone Jones - (a starter), another #1 draft choice that made some strides & stayed fairly healthy!!!  Along with Daniels, Datone brought more of an attitude to the line of scrimmage!  Hope Jones can continue to improve!  Needs to add to the sack total!
22 tackles - 17 solo - 1.5 sacks

Josh Boyd - our first man in in the rotation, Boyd played a lot of football!  Was a good replacement, but not spectacular!!  the "0" sacks shoes that!  May be in trouble sticking next year if draft choices & free agents come on!
19 tacles - 9 solo - 0 sacks

Bruce Gaston - mostly a practice squad member, Gaston did not get much playing time.  Will have troubles sticking next year!

So, we need help!  Free Agent or Draft!

Mike Daniels - hitting Brady!!!  :)  :)

Packers 2015 Outside Linebackers

Clay Matthews, inside or outside linebacker?  The word is, on Matthews exit interview, he will play both next year.  I think that is good, for three reasons.

1 - Clay is our most athletic line backer, let him cause issues all over the field from the middle!!

2 - Rushing the passer is flashy, exciting, but Clay also gets beat up by 300 pound lineman!  Let him cover tight ends, tackle running backs running from side to side!

3 - Other teams MUST account for Clay!  When preparing for the Pack - Where is Clay?  Make other teams worry about that!!!

Other Outside Libebackers:

Julius Peppers
Mike Neal
Jayronne Elliot
Nick Perry
Carl Bradford
Adrian Hubbard
Andy Mulumba

First Clay Matthews.  Clay still flies around the field.  He still creates match up problems for opposing offenses.  But, it seems that impact plays are down.  The big sack & fumble.  The interception for a TD.  Hopefully, there are more big plays left in the tank as he begins year 7.  I really like what Capers is doing using Clay as a "Wild Card".  With a positive attitude going into 2015, with Capers dreaming of new ways to use Clay, I expect a BIG year for Matthews!!!

Julius Peppers - Nice pick up!  First, I really believe in the "draft & develop" Packer theme, BUT every year, one or two free agents are still a great idea!  Peppers is proof of that!  Entering year 14, does Peppers still have enough to help?  My answer - YES!  First, the young players seem to respect Julius & just by his interviews this year, fans should also!!  He is humble & focused.  And I still think he wants that Super Bowl ring & deserves one!!  Second, he seemed to play better when his snaps were monitored, for Peppers, less is better!  Rotating Neal & Perry seemed to allow Julius to provide quality plays!  Nice season Julius Peppers & great leadership!

Mike Neal & Nick Perry - it seems from this humble fan, Perry & Neal had a good season & made some strides.  That is good news for Packer fans!  Especially Perry, a former #1 pick!  Neal will enter year 6 & Perry year 4!  This defense should benefit from their maturity!!!  I expect a good season from Neal & Perry in 2015!

Jayrone Elliot - A definite surprise in 2014!  Signed as a rookie un-drafted player, Elliot had a great pre-season & helped on special teams, while making the 53 man roster!  Could he develop even more in 2015 & become more of a surprise?  We hope so!  Could be a sleeper that makes a difference!!

Andy Mulumba - one of those pleasant surprises a few years back!  Has provided special team help and also, was on the field to back up the starters!  But, 2015 it may be a difficult year for Mulumba.  Competition may bring out more ability!

Carl Bradford & Adrian Hubbard - Here you go, draft & develop!  These linebackers should have a chance to be that player!  Both players have a chance, the size of Hubbard is interesting - 6'7" & 257 lbs!  Hope is, at least one of these players will take that BIG step in 2015!!

There they are, I think a Packer strength!  The need is improvement!  The hope is, some of the young players will make that next step.  I think, there is no real need to use a high draft pick or free agent money, unless it is a "no brainer!"