BACK TO BUSINESS

As the dog days of summer set in, the familiar whack of shoulder pads can be heard at Ray Nitschke Field, the practice facility for the Green bay Packers that is an Aaron Rodgers throw from Lambeau Field.

Hallelujah, the NFL is back!
With the NFLPA in its 2^nd year of a deal signed last off season, the Packers and their NFL brethren will have the full off season of OTA’s and practice to prepare for the 2012/13 season. In the wake of the Packers stunning loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants it was obvious to even the most casual of observers it was time to seriously address the issues on the defensive side of the ball.
During the Packers Super Bowl run the Pack was the 5^th ranked defense. Last year that defense turned in a regrettable, forgettable and truly putrid performance in a 15 win season by clocking in dead ass last at 32 overall.

Ouch.



All Pro S Nick Collins

There is no way to soft sell or whitewash that ugly eyesore. The laundry list was pretty evident – lack of a pass rush, Tramon Williams nagging shoulder injury, paucity in the depth charts at CB, the loss of Cullen Jenkins, Nick Collins career-ending neck injury , no complement to Clay Matthews on the opposite OLB slot and the failure of Mike Neal to develop into his full time replacement, and the lack of up front pressure.

Every Packer fan of a casual nature already knows this fact. Packer GM Ted Thompson is loath to dip into the free agency pool.  He will NEVER sign a free agent. He holds his draft picks like a miser holds his gold. He will NEVER deal a draft pick. The refrain from this beating drum has been a familiar one since Ted’s arrival.

Ted Thompon's
bold intiative

But then Ted did the unthinkable.

After All Pro C Scott Wells went shopping for a $10 million dollar deal and found no takers in Green Bay he packed his bags for the always amusing St. Louis Rams. No sooner had Wells blown town did Thompson sign Payton Manning’s personal valet Jeff Saturday to anchor the OLine. While long in the tooth Saturday has been a rock in the middle and should be able to squeeze a couple more years out. While Saturday is not the long term answer he certainly looms large as the Pack reloads in an attempt to get back to the big dance. The message has been sent – the future is now.

New DE Anthony Hargrove

Then TT went shopping. DE’s Anthony Hargrove from Seattle and Philip Merling from Miami came in as free agents. Hmmmmm. For a man who delves into free agency as frequently as NASA lands a car on Mars this was nothing short of earth shattering news. While neither Hargrove nor Merling are the sexy nuggets that say, a Mario Williams (FA from Texas to Buffalo) is, neither comes at a cap busting salary and are considered very safe picks with relatively little downside if they flame out in the green and gold. Hargrove will begin his career in Green Bay on the sidelines; Hargrove was part of the New Orleans Saints’ bounty-gate scandal that has seen multiple suspensions to both players past and present and coaches of the Saints that included season long banishments of one time Packer head coaching prospect Sean Payton and MLB Jonathon Vilma (both drew 1 year bans) from Roger Goddell. Hargrove’s trip to the principal’s office resulted in an 8 game whack to start his career in GB.

FA DE Philip Merling

Merling is a former 1^st round pick of the Dolphins who found his services expendable under new coach and former Packer Offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin. Merling has been a disappointment in that he never lived up to his lofty draft status, and is hoping to kick start his career in Green Bay. Hargrove brings a non-stop motor and high intensity and will be a huge breath of fresh air come November and is almost like having an investment come due right before the holidays. As the grind of training camp wears on Hargrove has been very animated and can be heard on the practice field.

In addition to Wells gone from this year’s edition is QB Matt Flynn, who signed for a reported $26 million ($10 million guaranteed/ $26m including bonuses) with Seattle. The bigger loss is at safety where Nick Collins has retired from the severe neck injury he sustained last season. Collins leaves an enormous hole in his wake. His loss was both unexpected and will have a tremendous impact on this years’ defense. But Collins’ loss also means an acceleration of the plan to move future Hall of Famer Charles Woodson from CB into the S slot. Woodson, while listed as a CB, does, in fact, play a far more open position yet undefined. He drops into coverages, plays man, covers over the top, and blitzes frequently from both sides. His actual position depends largely on which scheme DC Dom Capers rolls out. Moving to the safety slot may help to extend his career.

Packer Tradition - Riding the
kids' bikes to practice.
RB Alex Green and a young fan

Another old face on the outside is RB Ryan Grant. Grant went into free agency and found no takers on a 30 year old RB with injury questions, not even the Packers who must now rely on RB’s James Starks and 2^nd year man Alex Green, both of whom, while younger, have had their own injury issues as well. The RB position was largely ignored in the off season in much the same fashion that DE was ignored when Cullen Jenkins left in FA to Philly. That fact came home when 2^nd year man Mike Neal failed to fill the role Jenkins left. The hope is that Grant will not be missed as severely. The Packers are counting on Starks to be their guy and Green has been explosively impressive early. The inside track on the #3 RB position  has to go to Brandon Saine, a mostly PS player last year who was on the field at the end of several game winning drives towards the end of last year. Saine is big, reliable, can run and catch the ball but must show he can block and protect All World/ Galaxy/ Universe QB Aaron Rodgers and keep The Franchise clean. While the Pack is not dependent upon a running game - they are most definitely a pass-first team – their running game has to improve to keep opposing defenses honest to open up the passing lanes for Rodgers and maybe the best set of receivers in the business today in Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, Donald Driver and the expected breakout year of super rookie Randall Cobb, who electrified everyone with his kick returns and promise of a bright future. One face with much to prove is the newly signed TE Jermichael Finley who can talk the talk all right, but until he hangs on to the ball consistently has little to say of relevance. Finley’s focus has to be on simply coming down with the rock sans the dropsies that keep him from being considered an elite player. He does that first, then we’ll talk.

2nd Round pick DE Jerel Worthy

The off season has seen multiple players from multiple teams in hot water with Goddell and the various law enforcement bureaus around the league (hello, Detroit? Yep, it’s the police again…), Green Bay has not been exempt with the aforementioned Hargrove and DE Mike Neal planked for 4 games for failing to report his ADHD meds as the league sees them as PED’s Oh. Neal is on shaky enough ground as it is. With DE Lawrence Guy coming off IR and playing well, the importing of both Hargrove and Merling as well as the drafting of DE Jerel Worthy (2^nd round/ Mich. St. ) and DE Mike Daniels (4^th round/ Iowa), Neal, as well as incumbents Jarius Wynn and C.J,. Wilson will be pushed hard for jobs. Even after returning from an injury last year Neal’s play was underwhelming and the Pack’s patience in waiting for his potential to kick in has grown perilously thin. As Aaron Rodgers said there will be a lot of good players looking for jobs simply from the talent of what’s been brought to camp. Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy’s philosophy has been, from day 1, a ‘draft and develop’ approach. The draftee had better start showing a significant return on investment by year 3, as MM has stated it is in year 3 and 4 they expect each player to be able to produce.

The Pack's brass -
 Head Coach Mike
McCarthy and
GM Ted Thompson

Clearly, Thompson has not rested on his laurels. The sweet taste of unexpected success has been washed away by the bitter pill of last year’s loss to the G Men. Thompson has made bold and unexpectedly aggressive steps into correcting the flaws in the Packers defense with his off season moves. Clearly disappointed in his pass rush he went after pieces that if they would not plug the leak at least compete to bring out those that can.

As TT showed in his bold foray as it were into free agency, he was not done… not by a long shot. He saved his best maneuvering for the draft, where his wheeler/ dealer approach had heads spinning in Titletown.

NEXT: The Draft and the New Faces