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2009 Team Report: Green Bay Packers

Quarterbacks

Starter: Aaron Rodgers
Backup(s): Matt Flynn, Brian Brohm

Starting QB: When you replace an icon and miss the playoffs, there is usually a long line of naysayers ready to throw you under the proverbial bus. Although the Green Bay Packers may have had some issues in 2008, the play of Aaron Rodgers was not one of them. Rodgers had a great season in his first campaign as starting quarterback. He tossed 28 touchdown passes and just 13 interceptions, completed 63.6 percent of his throws, threw for 4,038 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns. It is not easy to replace a legend, but Rodgers looked capable and confident throughout the year and Favre's shadow is not quite so large heading into this season. Rodgers is an intelligent, accurate quarterback who has put the team on his shoulders and should have another strong year.

Backup QB: The Packers drafted two quarterbacks in 2008, and both are still competing for the backup quarterback position. Matt Flynn earned the backup role last year but completed only two of five passes for six yards in limited duty. As a former seventh-round draft pick, Flynn's upside may be quite limited, but he still has enough ability to beat out last year's second-round pick Brian Brohm, who really disappointed in Green Bay last year. Brohm does have the accuracy, poise and intelligence to eventually be a starting quatrerback. It is definitely a battle to watch at training camp this year to see if either young player elevates his play.

Running Backs

Starter: Ryan Grant
Backup(s): Brandon Jackson, DeShawn Wynn
Fullback(s): Korey Hall, Quinn Johnson [R]

Starting RB: When it comes to RB Ryan Grant's play last season, there is some good and bad news. The good news is Grant proved he is capable of carrying the ball 300 times in a season. He finished with 312 carries for 1,203 rushing yards and had four 100-yard rushing games. He has great size and is difficult to tackle once he gets up a head of steam. The bad news is Grant had just four rushing touchdowns (one score every 78 carries) which was amongst the worst in the NFL at the position. He did not appear as capable of making defenders miss as the 2007 campaign and his YPC went down by a full yard. He is still likely to get the bulk of the work this season, and he should finish with 300+ carries and 1,200+ yards.

Backup RBs: Last preseason, Brandon Jackson was generating some buzz with his size and quickness, but it never really materialized on game day. He did average 5.5 YPC on just 48 carries and added an additional 30 receptions. There is a potential of much more production from this former second-round pick, but it is unlikely he will wrestle the starting job away from Ryan Grant and his upside (unless injuries occur) is a 10-touch per game player. DeShawn Wynn was a forgotten man in this offense last year and will likely only see significant action if injury strikes a player ahead of him. However, Wynn did display in 2007 that he could get the job done if called upon (four touchdowns on 50 carries).

Fullback: Korey Hall should retain the starting fullback job this season, but rookie FB Quinn Johnson will push him hard for playing time. Johnson, from LSU, is a hard-hitting fullback that excels in run blocking. He only had 14 carries for 28 yards last year but did score three touchdowns. Hall is a similar player in that he is primarily a blocker. So much so in fact, that he has not registered a single carry in his two NFL seasons. He does have 15 total receptions and a touchdown though.

Wide Receivers

Starters: Greg Jennings, Donald Driver
Backups: Jordy Nelson, James Jones, Ruvell Martin, Evan Moore

Starting WRs: The Packers are set at receiver. Greg Jennings had a massive season last year, cementing his role as the top receiver on the team. The 5'11, 195-pound speedster finished with 80 receptions for 1,292 yards and nine touchdowns and finished as the fourth-best fantasy player at the receiver position. He has developed nice chemistry with Aaron Rodgers and should continue his productive ways in years to come. At 25, Jennings is only starting to reach his prime now. Donald Driver simply continues to amaze. He had his fifth-straight 1,000-yard receiving season in 2008 and caught 74 passes. He also managed a respectable five touchdown receptions and finished as the 23rd-best fantasy receiver. At 34, Father Time is catching up to Driver, but he should have another couple of seasons with strong production.

Backup WRs: If Driver's production takes a dip this season, it will likely be because second-year receiver Jordy Nelson earns a bigger role. Nelson is a big, strong, quick receiver that the Packers really like. As a rookie in 2008, Nelson caught 33 passes and scored twice. He is talented enough to see many passes thrown his way as WR3 in this offense and will replace Driver in the near future. James Jones and Ruvell Martin will round out the receiving corps, and Jones should see the majority of the action between those two players. Jones saw his production take a big dive in 2008 from his rookie campaign in 2007, but he has caught 67 passes in two seasons.

Tight Ends

Starters: Donald Lee
Backups: Tory Humphrey, Jermichael Finley

Donald Lee is a good starting tight end. He has enough quickness to get open in underneath passing routes and has scored 11 touchdowns over the past two seasons. He caught 33 passes in 2008. However, most were thrown within five yards of the line of scrimmage, so he finished with only 303 receiving yards. Four-year veteran Tory Humphrey accumulated the first stats of his career last year, finishing with 11 receptions for 162 yards. He had some nice moments but failed to catch a touchdown pass. He will likely be surpassed by Jermichael Finley, who has some nice long-term potential.

Place Kicker

Mason Crosby : Mason Crosby was nearly unstoppable from long range during his sophomore and junior seasons at Colorado, and very likely would have been a rare first-day draft selection had he come out at that time. He stayed for his senior year, struggled, and fell to the Packers in the sixth round of the 2007 draft. He scored 141 points in his rookie year, placing Green Bay atop the kicker scoring rankings. In his second year he followed up with 127 points and the Packers ranked 7th in kicker scoring. Mason's 79.5 percent (31 of 39) on field goals in 2007 and 79.4 percent (27 of 34) in 2008 are below average for an NFL kicker, especially in a time when accuracy was up across the board. This year the offense and its coaches remain relatively intact. Mason will be working under a new special teams coordinator who was promoted from assistant.

Kick and Punt Returners

Kick Returners: Will Blackmon, Jordy Nelson, Tramon Williams, Brandon Jackson, DeShawn Wynn, Ruvell Martin, JaRon Harris

CB Will Blackmon won the return specialist role in the 2007 preseason, but a broken thumb and then a broken foot eliminated much of his year. In his absence, kickoff returns were primarily handled by CB Tramon Williams (30 returns, 22.8 avg.). Last year Blackmon remained healthy and handled the majority of the kickoff returns (55 returns, 21.0 avg.). Although WR Jordy Nelson did not handle kickoff returns in college at Kansas State, the Packers tried him in that role. Aside from Blackmon, Nelson was the only player to return more than one kickoff last year (11 returns, 18.9 avg.). Potential backups behind Williams include RB Brandon Jackson, RB DeShawn Wynn, and WR Ruvell Martin. UDFA rookie WR JaRon averaged 21.0 yards on 10 kickoff returns during his senior year at South Dakota State, however his chances of making the final roster are slim.

Punt Returners: Will Blackmon, Tramon Williams, Jordy Nelson, Charles Woodson

When Blackmon returned later in the 2007 season, he delivered (8 returns, 13.3 avg., 1 TD) on the promise shown that preseason. That carried over to last year when he averaged 11.1 yards on 36 punt returns, taking two the distance for TDs. Although Blackmon isn't typically mentioned among the top returners in the league, he quietly ended up as the second ranked fantasy returner in 2008. Tramon Williams made a splash on his six returns in 2007, taking one of them 94 yards for a score. While Blackmon was injured in 2007, the Packers turned to old reliable, CB Charles Woodson. Once again, he did pretty well for an old guy (33 returns, 8.1 avg.). The wildcard is once again WR Jordy Nelson. Although he only returned six punts during his career at Kansas State, he took three of those all the way for scores. That scoring percentage is hard to beat. While kickoff returns typically factor more heavily in into fantasy rankings, the Packers finished 8th in fantasy returns each of the last two years on the strength of their punt returns.

Offensive Line

Projected Starters: LT Chad Clifton, LG Daryn Colledge, C Scott Wells, RG Jason Spitz, RT Tony Moll
Key Backups: T/G James Meredith [R], T T.J. Lang [R], C/G Duke Preston

Four of the five offensive line positions look to be locked in as LT Chad Clifton, LG Daryn Colledge, C Scott Wells and RG Jason Spitz played most of last season together and meshed well. The right tackle position however is a different story. Incumbent veteran starter Mark Tauscher tore his ACL and isn't expected to be ready until at least October 1st. He is a free agent and the Packers are unsure if they wish to lock in a player that may be damaged goods. So right now it appears Tony Moll (five starts last year) will battle rookies James Meredith from South Carolina and T.J. Lang from Eastern Michigan for the starting position. Moll has experience and will likely win the job unless one of the two rookies has a sensational camp. Meredith is the most ready to push him for playing time. Another scenario that could happen is free agent acquisition Duke Preston sliding in as the starter at left guard and Daryn Colledge moving out to the right tackle position. Watch training camp to see how it plays out.

Team Defense

Though the Packers were an average defense when measured by points and yardage, the unit forced 28 turnovers last season and scored nine combined defensive and special teams touchdowns. The big plays helped Green Bay to a Top 10 fantasy finish in the standard FBG scoring system. Surprisingly the Packers offseason began with the hiring of long-time, 3-4 zone blitz guru Dom Capers, which confirmed rumors that they would be changing to a 3-4. They then spent the off-season shuffling personnel to fit the new scheme. Defensive end Aaron Kampman was moved to outside linebacker with OLB A.J. Hawk shifted inside alongside Nick Barnett. Green Bay then addressed two other critical needs in the draft by taking stud NT prospect B.J. Raji and versatile OLB prospect Clay Matthews, Jr. with their two first round draft picks. There are always growing pains with such a complete scheme change, but if Raji fulfills his promise and the defense can get enough pass rush from its new outside linebackers, the Packers could still finish among the Top 10 fantasy defenses. Smart owners should probably let someone else take the risk of drafting them highly.

Defensive Line

Starters: DT B.J. Raji [R], DE/DT Ryan Pickett, DE Cullen Jenkins
Backups: DE/DT Johnny Jolly, DE Justin Harrell, DE Mike Montgomery, DE Jarius Wynn [R]

Starting DL: With the Packers changing to a 3-4 defense, they had a glaring need for a nose tackle. They addressed it during the 2009 draft by selecting Boston College standout B.J. Raji with the ninth overall pick. At 335 pounds and very athletic, Raji is a perfect fit at the nose, as he can handle double teams and make it easier for the inside linebackers to make plays. Lining up next to him will be 310-pound defensive lineman Ryan Pickett. Pickett has played defensive tackle throughout his career, but will move to end in the 3-4. He is also likely to play some nose tackle whenever Raji needs a breather. Pickett does not get many sacks, but he has averaged almost 55 tackles over the last seven years. There is a chance that Pickett will play the nose and Raji at DE. Cullen Jenkins, who only played four games last year, will play the other defensive end spot. Jenkins has a good combination of size and speed and should be a solid 3-4 defensive end.

Backup DL: Johnny Jolly has some legal issues and his availability for training camp and the season are up in the air. The 310 pound Jolly racked up 50 tackles last year and he will be a top contender for a backup spot on the line if he can take care of his legal problems. Justin Harrell, a first round pick on 2008, has been a major disappointment in his two years with the Packers. Harrell has had injury problems, appearing in only 13 games in his two years and even when he has played, he has been inconsistent. Mike Montgomery had 59 tackles last year and will compete for playing time as a 3-4 DE. Sixth round pick Jarius Wynn will battle for a roster spot.

Linebackers

Starters: OLB Aaron Kampman, ILB Nick Barnett, ILB A.J. Hawk, OLB Brandon Chillar
Backups: OLB Clay Matthews [R], OLB Brady Poppinga, MLB/OLB Desmond Bishop, OLB Jeremy Thompson

Starting LBs: Last year's starting middle linebacker, Nick Barnett, will play inside linebacker in the 3-4 defense. Barnett suffered a torn ACL and missed the last seven games, so it remains to be seen how effective he will be this year. Barnett only had 41 solos in nine games last year and did not record a sack. Lining up inside next to Barnett will be former WLB A.J. Hawk. Although Hawk played a few games at MLB last year following Barnett's injury, he has primarily played OLB during his short career. Hawk will have to shed blockers better to be an effective 3-4 ILB. Aaron Kampman is moving from DE to OLB, a position he has not played since college. At 265 pounds, it is unclear how well Kampman can play when he drops back in coverage, but he should still put up solid sack numbers. The current projected starter at the other OLB spot is Brandon Chillar, who has averaged over 50 solos the last three seasons. He is an above average blitzer and should be athletic enough to play OLB in the 3-4. He will face a serious challenge for the starting job from first round pick Clay Matthews.

Backup LBs: The Packers made a draft day trade to move up in round one of the draft and selected Clay Matthews, an OLB from USC. Matthews is a solid all around LB who is equally adept in coverage and rushing the passer. Matthews will compete for the starting OLB spot opposite Aaron Kampman. Veteran Brady Poppinga provides solid depth and experience to the linebacker spot. Poppinga has been a starter at SLB for the Packers, starting 39 games in the last three seasons. Desmond Bishop is a versatile player who will likely be the backup at ILB. Bishop had eight solos two different times last year. Jeremy Thompson played DE last year and likely will compete for a backup spot at OLB.

Defensive Backs

Starters: CB Charles Woodson, CB Al Harris, FS Nick Collins, SS Atari Bigby
Backups: CB Tramon Williams, CB Jarret Bush, CB Will Blackmon, CB Patrick Lee, SS Aaron Rouse, FS Anthony Smith, CB/FS Brandon Underwood [R]

Starting DBs: Cornerback Charles Woodson is entering his 12th season in the league and he continues to be an effective cover corner. Woodson was second in the NFL last year with seven interceptions and he added 62 tackles, three sacks and 17 passes defended. Starting at the other corner is another experienced corner, veteran Al Harris. The 34-year-old Harris has slowed down in recent years, but along with Woodson, brings veteran leadership to the Packers defense. Free safety Nick Collins had a career year in 2008, setting personal bests with seven interceptions and 15 passes defended, and added 72 tackles. Atari Bigby, who missed nine games last season because of injuries, currently holds the strong safety spot. Bigby hopes to regain the form that helped him have a strong 2007 season.

Backup DBs: Cornerback Tramon Williams started nine games for the Packers last year and racked up 57 tackles, five interceptions, and 14 passes defended. Williams could contend for a starting spot if Harris falters. Jarret Bush provides depth at CB and is a solid special teams player. CB Will Blackmon is a solid CB and an elite punt returner. He ran back two punts for touchdowns last year and averaged 11.1 yards per return. Patrick Lee adds depth to the CB spot and also returns kickoffs. SS Aaron Rouse had a solid rookie season in 2007 before faltering in an injury-plagued 2008 season. If he rebounds and improves in coverage, he could push Bigby for the starting strong safety job. Former Steeler Anthony Smith adds depth at safety. Rookie Brandon Underwood can play both CB and safety.

Last modified: 2009-07-14 06:15:37