The Packer Pundit

Optimism for Packer Fans, Part II

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by Dennis Gaskill
PACKER PUNDIT GUEST BLOGGER

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In my Part I article, I listed seven areas that ruined the 2005 season for the Packers. I addressed the lack of toughness by some players in Part I, so now it's time to look at some of the other causes.

The most obvious reason was the inordinate number of injuries the team suffered to key players. Team depth also became a problem with injuries to decent backup players and a lack of quality depth at some positions.

Javon Walker was one of those key injuries, and he's gone in a draft day trade. With the trade of Walker, Antonio Chatman being cut, and the loss of promising rookie Terrence Murphy to a spinal condition, the wide receiver position remains one of the biggest question marks for McCarthy and company to answer.

The good news is Donald Driver, armed with a new contract extension, is still on the team. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Driver will be the number one receiver. Having Driver as the number one receiver is not a problem. He's played like a number one receiver for several years, including making at least 80 receptions and piling up over 1,200 receiving yards in each of the last two seasons. And he did that last year while often being double and even tripled teamed. The problem is finding a number 2 receiver to take some of the heat off him.

The Packers still have Robert Ferguson, who also ended the season on injured reserve. He may start training camp as the number two receiver, but if he doesn't step up his play he may not keep that job. Ferguson has done everything the Packers have asked of him, the problem is he still hasn't lived up to his vast potential. The new staff, with a new approach and simplified scheme, and with Fergy having another year's experience behind him, hope to bring out the best in him. Frankly, Ferguson is due for some good luck. He's been snake bit throughout his career. The bad karma has to be paid in full at some point, doesn't it?

The staff isn't putting all their eggs in one receiver's basket though. They signed unrestricted free agent Marc Boerigter, signed four rookie free agent receivers, drafted two other receivers, and still have Rod Gardner, a player they picked up late last season. Gardner proved to be a quick study and looked good as a late season pick up. He has the size to be a viable west coast style receiver. They also have Chad Lucas, currently tearing up NFL Europe. But, it's still NFL Europe...that's like baseball's minor league. It's mostly a practice squad level of talent, but many players have used it for a launching pad to the NFL.

Of the eleven receivers battling for roster spots, Greg Jennings, a second round pick in this years draft, may be one of the most intriguing prospects. Everyone from players and coaches to beat writers had nothing but praise for him after the first mini-camp.

Jennings looked silky smooth, has good hands, is a precise route runner, and showed good moves and speed after the catch. One scout that saw a lot of him in college predicts he'll be a key part of the team's offense much sooner than expected. We'll see, but that does offer a little optimism for the Packer faithful.

At 6'3" and 230 pounds, Marc Boerigter, like Gardner, is the kind of big receiver that can thrive in a west coast style offense. While he hasn't had many chances in the NFL, partly due to injury, he did put up good numbers in the Canadian football league with 111 receptions for 2,023 yards and 19 touchdowns in two years. The Packers like his speed and size. New England and Seattle were trying to sign him too, but the Packers won out. I like the fact that two of the top teams wanted to sign him. New England is known for picking up free agents that are at the point in their careers where their level of play kicks up a notch. Some of the credit for that probably belongs to the Pat's coaching staff, but it's still another reason for optimism.

While the wide receiver position is one of the biggest questions marks, Mike McCarthy is pleased with what they have. In fact, he likes them well enough that he recently said he is thinking of keeping six receivers. Maybe the situation isn't as dire as it would seem after the loss of Walker and Murphy.

At running back, the Packers should have both Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport back. How well they can play after serious injuries is a bit of a question mark, but if any player can return and be stronger than before it's workout demon Ahman Green.

If neither can come back, last year's rookie sensation Samkon Gado isn't a bad player to fall back on. In fact, he could end up with a lot of carries even if Green and Davenport both come back. It wouldn't surprise me to see Gado become one of the most exciting players on the offense. He's been working out and studying all winter, and he wasn't too shabby last season. This man has set high standards for himself all his life, and so far, he's consistently lived up to them. There's no reason to think he's in over his head now.

Three other players that ended the season on injured reserve, Bubba Franks, Ferguson, and Brady Poppinga, will all be back at full strength. Of the 13 players that ended the season on injured reserve, the Packers will be getting everyone back that they wanted back, with the exception of Walker and Murphy.

The Packers also found out which back up players could be counted on to step up and play like a starter and which ones couldn't. Gone are players like Antonio Chatman, Tony Fisher, Andre Thurman, and Ben Steele. New players will be given a chance... new players chosen by Ted Thompson. As much as I liked Mike Sherman as a man, he was, in my opinion, not a very good evaluator of talent. I have to think Thompson will be better at filling out the end of the roster, so the team depth should be better.

Count them...97! That's how many players McCarthy said were vying for roster spots, including tryout players without contracts. That's a lot of fierce competition. When you figure all that sweat and blood shaping the final roster, knowing the odds are that the injury problem probably won't be as severe as last year, and with the team hopefully developing better roster depth, we can be optimistic that the 2006 season will have better talent and should be less likely to have the season go down the tubes because of injuries.

That brings us to my next point of failure, the team being unable to adequately replace Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle on the offensive line last year. So how will this area of the team improve?

For starters, they still have two studs on the offensive line, Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher. Enough said about them. Scott Wells proved enough as a replacement at center for Mike Flanagan that they let Flanagan bolt to the Houston Texans. With Flanagan turning 32 and having an injury history, the Packers are probably better off with a younger and healthier Wells now.

Wells may not be special at this point, but he'll be solid, and I wouldn't put it past him to become special. While attending Brentwood Academy he was ranked the number one heavyweight wrestler in the nation, so he's proven he's tough-minded and tough, plus he has smarts and a little football nasty to him.

The Packers are also relying heavily on the new zone blocking scheme and draft pick Daryn Colledge. Colledge was picked specifically to play in the zone scheme. I haven't seen Colledge play (in college!) so I'm not too familiar with him, but nearly everything I've read about him is positive. He was one of the fastest down linemen in college football, which is a good fit for the zone scheme. He is supposed to be an excellent pass protector as well, and he's very intelligent. He's also supposed to have a bit of a mean streak. I like that in offensive linemen.

The only negative I found was that one writer said he was cocky. One man's cocky is another man's confidence, I don't put much value in that supposed negative, not in the game of football.

As an aside, the Packers seem to have chosen a lot of intelligent players in this year's draft. Does scoring high on the Wonderlic test make for a better football player? No...but it often means they can become a good player faster. Slow learners take longer to develop, so a team that has a lot of needs can restock quicker by taking players that take less time to develop. That seems to have been one of Ted Thompson's modus operandi in this year's draft. I applaud him for that. At this point, the Packers can ill afford very many players that need years to develop.

I'm assuming Colledge is going to win one of the starting spots, and if so, it's because he's better than what they had. The Packers used three draft picks on the offensive line, two of them in the first three rounds, and they also having several promising young 2-3 year linemen returning, so there should be heated competition for the remaining spots. I think the offensive line will be a pleasant surprise.

The zone blocking scheme defensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski is installing is designed to make the most out of the least amount of talent. The purpose of using the zone scheme is to stop penetration first, and create running lanes second. It's been highly successful in Denver and Atlanta, the only two teams that use it almost exclusively, which is how the Packers intend to use it as well.

Atlanta led the league in rushing last year with three seventh-round draft picks, a fifth-round pick and a free agent for an offensive line. Jagodzinski was the offensive line coach of that team.

Denver was second in the league in rushing, and their two best linemen are probably free agent Matt Lepsis and seventh-round pick Tom Nalen. The zone blocking scheme sounds very promising.

Almost 40 percent of the regular starting offensive linemen for last year's 12 playoff teams were 5th round picks or lower, or free agents. In other words, with the right teacher and system in place, an effective offensive line can be developed without big name free agents or high draft picks. Many forum posts have indicated disappointment that the Packers didn't do more to bolster their offensive line in the off season, but if the Packer's anaylysis is correct, they did enough -- and Jagodzinski seems to be the right man for the job.

I've given you several more reasons for optimism in 2006. Don't blame me if you're still depressed about the 2005 season! If you need one more dose of optimism, though, come back soon to read the third and final installment of this article.

Read Part One Here

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Article Copyright © Dennis Gaskill and published on Packer Pundit with permission. Be sure to visit one of Dennis' web sites at BoogieJack.com, HTMLville.com, or eBook Farming.