As we ease into the bye week, it’s time to take a look back at my Bold Predictions series from the past offseason.
Jayrone Elliott will make the Pro Bowl
Everybody is going to pretend I wrote Nick Perry, right? Jayrone has largely been the odd man out, but the pass rush hasn’t missed a beat. Elliott made some excellent special teams plays, but Perry is the guy who will make the Pro Bowl if he continues on his current pace.
The Packers will have a Top 10 Defense
Currently, the Packers defense sits at 13th in yards allowed and 15th in points allowed. They are by far the best defense in the NFL against the run, but have been miserable against the pass. The injury to Sam Shields has been devastating, and his recovery from his concussion will be a major factor in the Packers success this season. Morgan Burnett has not lived up to expectations, and Damarious Randall has not stepped up when forced into the role of the number one Cornerback. Mike Daniels, Clay Matthews, and Nick Perry have been phenomenal, and the entire front seven has been outstanding. The secondary has to improve for the Packers to have any chance of being a factor in the playoffs.
Davante Adams will lead the Team in TD Catches
Well, I didn’t anticipate Jordy Nelson leading the NFL in TD catches. Adams is tied for 6th with a ton of players with 2 TD catches. He could have had another one (and prevented an eventual Jordy TD) had he caught the deep ball he was interfered on in Minnesota. Adams hasn’t completely recovered from his sophomore slump, but he is back on the right path to being a reliable weapon for Aaron Rodgers. If he can run more consistent routes and catch the easy passes, Adams could turn into a major force and have a Pro Bowl season.
Andrew Mertig is a a lifelong Packers fan and draft enthusiast. He has covered the NFL draft for radio and television stations in Green Bay. He is currently a host of the Pack-A-Day podcast and a writer for PackersTalk.com. You can follow him on Twitter @andrewmertig
3 responses to “A Second Look at Bold Predictions”
Well, the secondary needs a major improvement since Randall is not living up to his potential, possibly because he’s not fast enough and most likely he still needs to develop more naturally into the position. Sam Shields needs to get out of concussion protocol.
Davante is improving, now that he’s the # 3 receiver. It’s a far stretch to say he’ll make the pro bowl. Green Bay still needs a Julio Jones type to win the Super Bowl. The good thing is Jordy is coming back strong and the team will need the help of Cook to move the chains. So, hopefully, he won’t be out for long.
The run defense is lights out but the secondary……not at all.
Randell is actually pretty fast, 4.46 40 fast. Randell is just going through some growing pains but I think he’ll turn it around. They REALLY miss Shields because it changes the way the Packers play defense completely, more zone, less man to man.
The Packers need Cobb to start earning at least half of that. Cobb’s making over $9 Million this year and has 132 yards receiving. I’m playing him in several of my fantasy leagues this week just because i think they spent much of the bye figuring out ways to get him going. If Nelson AND Cobb get going, then the Packers will start to put up the numbers we’re used to.
Coming out of the bye and with three more home games I’d like to see our offense continue to gather momentum while our defense shores up the secondary.I truly hope McCarthy learns from past mistakes aka.the Seattle debacle to keep the pedal to the medal when we have teams down to finish them off, We’ve even gone as far as to take Arod out of game in the fourth quarter.This has to STOP.