February 3, 2010 by Packer Update
Keeping Campen
It took Mike McCarthy three seasons to realize that Bob Sanders was an inferior defensive coordinator. His replacement, the widely respected Dom Capers, immediately overhauled the scheme and the attitude of the players and the result was a No. 2 overall ranking this past season and the belief that even better days are ahead. Unfortunately, three seasons apparently isn’t enough time for McCarthy to realize that James Campen is to coaching an offensive line what Sanders was to coordinating a defense – a decent man who simply isn’t good enough at his job. “The only way you can judge an assistant coach from afar is by looking at the on-field results,” said a longtime scout for another team. “Using that critieria, it’s awfully difficult to make a strong case for keeping Campen. He hasn’t had much success developing young players, his unit almost always struggles out of the gate, and if not for the re-signing of Mark Tauscher in the middle of October, Aaron Rodgers may have been sacked over 70 times last season. Again, from afar, you’d have to think McCarthy could do better.”
When specifically asked about bringing his embattled assistant back for another season, McCarthy’s response was interesting – if not a bit telling. Instead of immediately lauding Campen’s teaching skills, he first defended Campen by pointing to the impressive numbers posted by the offense in 2009. “I certainly don’t blame McCarthy for bringing up statistics, but to me, that’s a bit of a red herring,” said the scout. “The play of the line was absolutely killing the Packers before Tauscher returned to the starting lineup in November. Rodgers was getting pressured on almost every pass, Ryan Grant’s average yards per carry was under 4.0 and the team was 4-4. In my opinion, if anyone associated with the offensive line deserves another season, it’s Tauscher. He – and not Campen – is the main reason for the turnaround.”
While McCarthy didn’t laud Campen’s teaching skills while speaking to reporters last week, the team’s media guide provided this little gem prior to the start of the ‘09 season: “A natural teacher, Campen has worked hands-on in the development of three linemen now entering their fourth seasons – Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz and Tony Moll.” Yikes. Considering the fact that Colledge may have played his way out of Green Bay and Moll already has, it’s probably safe to assume that as an educator, Campen is more Mr. Kotter than Mr. Tibbs. “Spitz is a good player, but I’m not sure how much he’s really improved under Campen,” said the scout. “He was solid from day one.”
To be fair, not every offensive lineman has either remained stagnant or regressed under Campen’s tutelege. Josh Sitton was a tackle for four seasons at Central Florida and now he’s one of the better young right guards in the league. You have to give Campen props for that. “Sitton is definitely an ascending player,” said the scout. “My biggest problem with Campen isn’t individual player development as much as it is with the way the line works as a whole. Things were a mess the first eight games. I know that Allen Barbre was a disaster and Chad Clifton was in and out of the lineup, but that’s not a valid excuse for just how bad things were.” What was a valid excuse? McCarthy blamed, what else, pad level. OK, then forget all the other reasons and just get rid of Campen because he can’t teach grown men the concept that the player whose pads are the lowest wins.
Tags: Campen, Packers
Posted in Coaches | 7 Comments »
January 28, 2010 by Packer Update
Flying the coup?
A.J. Hawk hasn’t come close to living up to his lofty draft status, but the former Ohio State star has been a consistent and solid player for the Packers ever since arriving in 2006. In a day and age when so many top-10 picks wind up being worthless, it would be very unfair to attach the dreaded “B-word” to Hawk. “He’s far from a bust,” said a scout for another team. “He lines up every week and gives maximum effort on every play. You win with guys like that. I just don’t think he’s a particularly good fit for the new scheme and that’s why I question whether he’ll be back next season.”
Hawk is scheduled to make $4.1 million in 2010, but money won’t be a determining factor on whether he returns. “Salary will definitely be an issue in 2011, but it’s more about performance right now,” said a person familiar with the situation. “[General manager] Ted Thompson will hold on to Hawk if the defensive coaches think he’s one of the two best inside linebackers on the roster. They obviously considered him to be just that at the start of last season, but I’m not so sure any more. The decision to give Brandon Chillar all that money has to make you wonder.” Chillar signed a four-year extension worth over $21 million in December, and while that’s not a huge deal in today’s NFL, it’s more than a team typically pays for a situational player.
While Chillar wasn’t overly impressive last season, he seems to fit the 3-4 better than Hawk. “Ideally, you’d like an inside linebacker who is tall and can turn his hips and change directions easily,” said the scout. “Chillar has two inches on Hawk and he’s much more fluid.” And that’s not all. “Some of the decision-makers think that Chillar would benefit greatly from taking more reps with the starters during the week,” said the source. “Remember, he played his best football in the summer and early in the season when Nick Barnett was still recovering from an injury. Chillar’s performance fell off once Barnett was healthy enough to start practicing on a relatively full-time basis.”
Tags: Chillar, Hawk, Packers
Posted in Players | 4 Comments »
January 24, 2010 by Packer Update
Persona non grata
While most of the country celebrates Brett Favre’s amazing success at age 40, Packer fans know better. They know one thing and one thing only – that if No. 4 displayed even a sliver of the control and focus during the last 10 years of his career in Green Bay that he’s shown during the first five months of his career in Minnesota, Cheeseheads of all ages would’ve been partying in the streets of Houston, Texas and Glendale, Arizona instead of tossing and turning in their sleep following brutal playoff losses to the Eagles in 2004 and to the Giants four years later. Yes, it hurts every time Favre the Viking throws a safe pass in lieu of unloading one of those season-ending prayers that Favre the Packer seemed to perfect in his later years with the Green and Gold.
Why is this version of Favre so much more careful with the football than the version of Favre that the entire state of Wisconsin used to know and love worship? The answer is quite simple – he finally has something to prove. For the first time since the early ’90s, the old gunslinger entered a season besieged by extreme doubt and heavy criticism. In fact, the din was so audible that even ESPN’s constant ass-kissing couldn’t drown it out. So Favre decided to prove to all the nay-sayers that an old dog can indeed learn new tricks. He simply decided not to throw interceptions. And it has absolutely nothing to do with coaching. Mike McCarthy and Tom Clements are about as good as it gets when it comes to working with quarterbacks. As far as Twiddle Dee Childress and Twiddle Dum Bevell are concerned, they’re far better at chauffeuring around a quarterback than they are at developing one.
It all comes down to accountability, or in the case of Favre and Green Bay, a lack thereof. While McCarthy was certainly demanding, how much could he really do by the time he took over as coach in 2006? Favre had long ago become bulletproof and he darn well knew it. How else can you explain all the people who blamed Mike Sherman’s fourth-and-one call, Ed Donatell’s 4th-and-26 defense and Bob Sanders’ inability to adjust against Plaxico Burress for excruciating playoff losses while at the same time being able to almost overlook two of the worst passes in postseason history? Let’s face it, if Favre could come out of those two games virtually unscathed, he was indeed as invulnerable as Superman. And while that’s a great trait for a Superhero, it’s not so desirable in a quarterback. The kid from Kiln needed to be humbled and that’s just what took place in the weeks leading up to the ‘09 season.
That brings us to Favre and the Vikings. The more you watch this story unfold, the more you’re reminded of Damn Yankees – a musical comedy written in 1955 about a middle-aged fan named Joe Boyd who makes a deal with the devil in order to become a star outfielder for the Washington Senators. His dream is to help that struggling team beat the damn Yankees. The newly-coined Joe Hardy was willing to do almost anything to make that happen – include selling his soul. Fifty-five years later, Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings are starring in an updated version of the play. In this adaption, a middle-aged quarterback and a desperate organization are willing to do anything to win a Super Bowl. That includes lying (Favre), tampering (Childress and Bevell) and cheating (Kevin Williams and Pat Williams).
So far, so good for Minnesota. Favre has enjoyed arguably the best season of his long career and the team is one victory away from a trip to the Super Bowl. But just remember, the Senators didn’t win the World Series. Hardy ultimately decided that his prior life and his soul were more important than hoisting a championship trophy. And while Favre and the Vikings apparently have no such integrity, if there’s such thing as karma, they’ll run into their own version of the devil either tomorrow evening or in two weeks. So while it’s been difficult for the greatest fans in the NFL to watch what’s been happening for the past five months, just think of how good it’ll feel when it all comes to a bitter ending. Wouldn’t that be the best story ever?
Tags: Favre, Packers
Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments »
January 22, 2010 by Packer Update
Looking for a sidekick
The biggest need for the Packers heading into next season is exactly the same as it was going into this past season – finding a legitimate left tackle to either back up or replace 33-year-old Chad Clifton. GM Ted Thompson failed to adequately reinforce that position through free agency and/or the draft a year ago and Aaron Rodgers paid the price. The Pro Bowl quarterback was sacked 37 times in the first eight games. That can’t happen again, and it almost certainly won’t. Thompson is simply too good at his job to make the same critical mistake twice. “Left tackle will be a top priority,” promised a person familiar with the situation. “You can be sure that Green Bay won’t go into next season counting on a broken-down veteran, an undersized guard and a middle-round draft choice to fend off some of the league’s best right defensive ends.”
So while there’s little question as to which position presents the greatest concern entering the offseason, there seems to be a wide range of opinions when it comes to identifying the team’s second-biggest need. After the defensive debacle in the desert, some experts are calling for an upgrade in the secondary. And while adding a quality corner and/or safety is certainly important, it takes a back seat to finding an outside linebacker to pair with rookie sensation Clay Matthews. “The Packers could’ve had four Pro Bowlers in the secondary and they weren’t going to shut down [Kurt] Warner,” said a former scout. “A 3-4 team must be able to consistently pressure the quarterback and that means having two outstanding rushers coming off the edge. As we all saw, one simply isn’t enough.” The Cards double-teamed Matthews about 50% of the time and pretty much neutralized him. That left Warner with all day to throw and wide receivers running free all over the field.
Rookie Brad Jones had four sacks in his seven starts, but the majority of his pressure came as the result of tight coverage in the secondary. The rookie from Colorado was seldom able to beat his man cleanly and force the quarterback to get rid of the ball in a hurry. That doesn’t mean Jones can’t eventually develop into a good pass rusher, but the Packers are in no position to keep their fingers crossed and hope for the best. We saw how that worked at left tackle. “Mike McCarthy hired Dom Capers because he wanted a carbon-copy of the Pittsburgh defense,” said the scout. “Well, when haven’t the Steelers had two great outside linebackers?” True. From Kevin Green and Chad Brown to Joey Porter and Jason Gildon to James Harrison and Lamar Woodley, having a pair of studs has always been a given in the Steel City.
As bad as things looked in the wild card game, the Packers actually aren’t all that far away from having a defense that can truly dominate – and not just against the Jay Cutlers of the NFL. The front three is solid, Matthews is a rising star, the inside linebackers are good enough, and when healthy, the secondary is as at least as talented as any group the Steelers have employed in recent years. “The pass defense struggled early in the season against Minnesota because of a lack of pressure on Brett Favre,” said the scout. “That same deficiency, along with the loss of Pro Bowl cornerback Al Harris, made covering quality receivers a virtual impossibility in close late-season losses at Pittsburgh and Arizona. But if Harris and [former Auburn star] Pat Lee return in 2010 and a solid No. 3 safety can be found, Capers will have more than enough talent in the secondary.” That would just leave finding a partner for Matthews. And while it may not be priority No. 1 in the weeks and months to come, it wouldn’t be a stretch to call it priority No. 1A.
Tags: Jones, Matthews, Packers
Posted in Players | 3 Comments »
January 20, 2010 by Packer Update
Schneider is off to Seattle
The Packers haven’t had much success in January this decade, but 95 regular season victories and six trips to the playoffs is a resume that most teams would take in a heartbeat. That’s why it’s so surprising that John Schneider is only the third key assistant coach or front office executive to leave the organization for a better opportunity in the past 10 years. Schneider, who served along with Reggie McKenzie as director of football operations, was hired as the Seahawks’ new GM on Monday night. Prior to that, the only defections of note were when running backs coach Sylvester Croom (2004) and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski (2007) left to be head coaches at Mississippi State and Boston College, respectively. “Green Bay has been very fortunate as far as the front office is concerned,” said a person close to the situation. “Schneider, McKenzie and [director of college scouting] John Dorsey are excellent. As far as coaches are concerned, Mike Sherman’s staff just wasn’t very good. Mike McCarthy’s group is much stronger and I expect some of his top assistants to move on in the next few years.”
Tags: Packers, Schneider
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January 18, 2010 by Packer Update
Not so DOMinant
This post is not meant to bash Dom Capers. Heck, we were the first to suggest hiring the respected defensive coordinator almost a year ago to the day. Why? Because he’s been one of the brightest – not to mention one of the most innovative – defensive minds in the NFL for the past two decades. That said, we wouldn’t be doing our job (OK, our hobby) if we didn’t take Capers to task for what happened last Sunday in Arizona. Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams joked that the wild card game set defense back 100 years. He was being kind – or maybe he was only talking about the Cardinals. Green Bay’s defense, and we use the term loosely, set football back a lot farther than that. “It was a pathetic display,” said a former scout. “I know Arizona is explosive and I know the Packers were missing some people in the secondary, but there’s just no excuse for a performance like that.”
Giving up 45 points and 531 yards in 60 minutes is bad enough, but what’s even worse is that Capers had seen his defense sliced and diced by a very similar offense only three weeks earlier. “The Steelers run pretty much the same stuff,” said the scout. “[Cards coach] Ken Whisenhunt didn’t reinvent the wheel for the wild card game. He was doing what he always does.” And yet it looked as if Capers had no clue what was coming, or if he did, his players had no clue how to react. The number of missed assignments in coverage was mind-boggling. “You can blame Jarrett Bush and Brandon Underwood all you want, but it wasn’t only the inexperienced players who were making critical mental mistakes,” added the scout. “Veteran starters Tramon Williams and Nick Barnett both screwed up within the first five minutes.”
To his credit, Capers didn’t make any excuses immediately after the game. He did, however, offer a curious comment a few days later. Here’s what he said: “We didn’t match their routes nearly as tight and efficiently as we had the week before.” Hmmm. Was Capers really expecting to face the same offense in the playoffs that he saw in a meaningless week 17 contest? In a game that meant absolutely nothing, Arizona was as bland as Ed Begley, Jr. “I think Whisenhunt played possum and it worked,” opined the scout. “That defense felt way too good about itself after holding the faux Cardinals to seven points.” In fact, All-Pro cornerback Charles Woodson admitted just that a few days ago. “I think we went in there with the wrong mentality that we were going to just go in there and win that game,” said the NFL’s newly crowned Defensive Player of the Year. “I think the previous week you went in there and you had a good game against a team and I think we thought we thought we were going to go in there and it was going to be the same way. Obviously that is not the mindset you can have going into a playoff game.”
The Packers were overconfident and underprepared on defense – a deadly combination against an offense as potent as Arizona’s. That’s definitely an indictment on Capers, who’s being paid $2 million a season because he’s supposed to be the anti-Bob Sanders. You know, a coordinator who can actually scare and confuse veteran quarterbacks with his creative schemes and intense pressure. Instead, Capers proved unable to make Kurt Warner even break a sweat. In an interview prior to the divisional playoff game between the Cardinals and Saints, the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer admitted that “there wasn’t a single play where I didn’t know what they were doing.” It sure as heck looked like that. OK, so maybe this column was meant to bash Capers. Well, he can take it, and more importantly, he deserves it.
Tags: Capers, Packers
Posted in Coaches | 7 Comments »
January 13, 2010 by Packer Update
We reported a few months ago that quarterbacks coach Tom Clements would be a hot candidate for offensive coordinator openings in the offseason. The Packers have already said no to the Bears’ request for an interview, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll rebuff the next team. Should Clements leave, don’t be surprised if former Buffalo assistant Alex Van Pelt takes his place….. Aaron Kampman said all the right things when he finally spoke to the media on Monday, but we’ve been told by a number of people that he has no real interest in returning to Green Bay. The former Pro Bowl defensive end knows that outside linebacker isn’t the ideal position for a 30-year-old coming off a major knee injury….. Tight end Donald Lee caught 37 passes this season, but he averaged 7.0 yards per reception, dropped too many balls and was only adequate as a blocker. That’s not much production from a player being paid over $2 million. He’ll almost certainly have to fight to keep his spot on the roster come next summer….. We’ve been hearing for months that offensive line coach James Campen and special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum are on fairly shaky ground. It’ll be interesting to see if the team’s strong finish is enough to save their jobs….. And finally, rookie fullback Quinn Johnson played well enough down the stretch to convince head coach Mike McCarthy that he can finally be trusted to carry out his assignments. The ex-LSU star will be given every opportunity to start in 2010.
Tags: Packers
Posted in Rumors | 9 Comments »
January 11, 2010 by Packer Update
QB was heroic in defeat
There’s an old saying that a quarterback gets too much credit when his team wins and too much blame when his team loses. The second part of that platitude was proven accurate in the aftermath of Green Bay’s 51-45 overtime loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. While the sieve-like defense rightly took the brunt of the criticism, Aaron Rodgers was hardly immune to finger-pointing. Yes, the same Aaron Rodgers who passed for 422 yards (406 in the final three quarters) and four scores. Yes, the same Aaron Rodgers who led the offense on five consecutive touchdown drives en route to erasing a 31-10 deficit in the game’s final 26 minutes. “He wasn’t perfect like Kurt Warner, but that’s hardly a crime,” said a former scout. “Other than his very first pass, I thought he played great.”
Apparently, Arizona safety Antrel Rolle feels the same way. “Let me tell you something – that dude is scary,” said the safety to Yahoo! Sports. “We have a great defense, and we were up on him and ready to pounce, and he found ways to tear us apart. I don’t ever want to face him again in my life. I am dead serious. I’ll face Drew Brees any day of the week before I face him again.”
The nitpickers were quick to point out the handful of passes that Rodgers missed and the part he played in some of the five sacks – including the final one that ended the Packers’ season. And they weren’t wrong. He did miss some open throws and he did hold on to the ball a bit too long at times. But to denigrate his performance because of a few imperfections is akin to dismissing Heidi Klum’s beauty because she has a pimple on her forehead. “Green Bay would be getting ready for the Saints right now if the defense showed up even a little on Sunday,” said the scout. “It took a near flawless performance by a future Hall of Fame quarterback to beat a 26-year-old kid making only his 33rd career start. I think that says it all.” Amen.
Tags: Packers, Rodgers
Posted in Players | 4 Comments »
January 9, 2010 by Packer Update
Receiver's biding his time
It’s easy to criticize GM Ted Thompson’s first pick in the 2008 draft. After all, Jordy Nelson has caught only 55 passes in two seasons as the team’s third or fourth wide receiver. Meanwhile, two of the prospects selected after Nelson – Ravens’ halfback Ray Rice and Eagles’ receiver/returner DeSean Jackson – will play in the Pro Bowl at the end of the month. “It’s awfully easy to second-guess now, but remember, there were plenty of questions surrounding Jackson and Rice back then,” said a former scout. “Heck, even their own teams weren’t completely sold on their pro potential.” Baltimore took quarterback Joe Flacco with its first pick that April and Philadelphia preferred defensive tackle Trevor Laws. “The knock on both players was a lack of size,” added the scout. “It may seem silly now, but it was a legitimate concern at the time.”
Size certainly isn’t an issue with Nelson. At 6-3 220, he’s one of the biggest receivers in the NFC. And while the former Kansas State star may never make it to a Pro Bowl, he has the potential to be a very good player. “All he needs is an opportunity,” opined the scout. “He’s stuck behind Greg Jennings and Donald Driver in Green Bay, but he could start for at least a dozen teams in the league. He runs good routes, he catches pretty much everything and he’s a better athlete than people think. Put him on the Bears and he probably would’ve had 60 or 70 receptions this season. Would I trade Nelson for either Rice or Jackson? Of course I would, but it’s not like the Packers are hurting for backs or receivers.” Very true. Last Sunday, Green Bay became the first team in history to have a 4,000 yard passer, a 1,200 yard rusher and two 1,000 yard receivers in back-to-back seasons.
Why did Thompson draft a receiver – any receiver – when he already had Greg Jennings, Donald Driver and James Jones? “Three simply aren’t enough in that offense,” said the scout. “[Coach] Mike McCarthy likes to get as many playmakers on the field as possible, and remember, Ruvell Martin was the No. 4 guy during the ‘07 season.” The Packers wanted an upgrade, and that’s exactly what they got in Nelson. He caught 33 passes for 366 yards as a rookie. Of course, that was before Jermichael Finley’s emergence as one of the league’s most exciting young players. “While he’s technically a tight end, for all intents and purposes, he’s a wide receiver,” said the scout. “McCarthy loves to create mismatches by splitting him out wide. It’s worked extremely well, but it’s left a much more limited role for Nelson this season.” Considering the team went 11-5 and made the playoffs, it’s hard to imagine anyone caring – even those fans who still pine for Jackson and Rice.
Tags: Nelson, Packers
Posted in Players | 2 Comments »
January 7, 2010 by Packer Update
QB coach Clements
Mike McCarthy is hoping Bill Cowher spends next season sitting between Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe on the NFL TODAY set and not spraying spit on the sidelines. That’s because the chances of keeping his staff intact are much better if the Super Bowl-winning coach isn’t doing what he does best in 2010. “There’s no question that Tom Clements and Darren Perry would be candidates for coordinator positions under Cowher if and when he returns to the league,” said a person close to the situation. “Both men enjoyed very successful stints with the Steelers earlier this decade and were highly thought of by Cowher. I’m pretty sure they still are.”
Clements, who came to Green Bay with McCarthy in 2006, has received well-deserved plaudits for developing Aaron Rodgers into a Pro Bowl quarterback, but his work with Brett Favre might’ve been even more impressive. The no-nonsense Clements actually got the stubborn old gunslinger to play within the system in 2006 and 2007 – something that hadn’t been the case for seven seasons under Ray Rhodes and Mike Sherman. Perry was hired last January after spending the previous two years in Oakland. He’s the safeties coach, but he also spent an inordinate amount of time in the spring helping to implement Dom Capers’ complex 3-4 scheme. That work, along with Nick Collins’ continued outstanding play and Atari Bigby’s re-emergence, has Perry back on the coaching fast track.
There’s obviously no guarantee that Cowher would hire either Clements or Perry. There’s also no guarantee that some other team won’t pilfer one or both in the coming weeks. “That’s the only negative thing about having a good staff,” said the source. “It’s almost impossible to keep it together. Of course the alternative is to hire the likes of Tom Rossley, Bob Slowik, Bob Sanders and Mike Stock. You never have to worry about them going anywhere.” You probably don’t have to worry about winning in January either.
Tags: Clements, Packers, Perry
Posted in Coaches | 1 Comment »
