Post-draft, there have been a number of notable events taking place in Packer Nation. Let’s take a gander at some of the happenings since draft weekend.
Eddie Lacy’s garage sale
People came from near and far to purchase random stuff at Eddie’s old digs in De Pere. The place was cleaned out in a few hours except for a sectional couch. This yet again proves that couches can be the hardest things to get rid of from a house. Nobody wants those things unless they are a tremendous deal, like free. It will be strange to see him wearing a Seahawks uniform at Lambeau in September.
Vince Biegel is already injured
Vince Biegel assured the media the cast he wore on his hand at rookie orientation was precautionary. He said he “hyperextended his hand”, which isn’t a thing, but okay. Clay Matthews missed a large amount of his rookie training camp with the first of his 347 hamstring injuries to date, but had a great campaign. Even with the infusion of speed and talent from the draft, injuries can negate that promise quickly.
Aaron Rodgers can’t catch a break…
Rodgers and Tom Brady crossed paths at the Derby and posed for some photo ops. After a busy weekend, Rodgers will probably settle for more “having fun” with an actress from the new Baywatch movie. Some people just never catch a break.
The competition for Long Snapper is heating up
You won’t find a more intense competition for long snapper than in Green Bay, WI. Apparently the long-time holder of this position wasn’t Goode enough… Now there are two men vying for the position. One is Taybor Pepper, a rookie out of Michigan State. The other is Derek Hart, who played college ball at the pigskin factory known as James Madison. Hart was working as a Harley Davidson engineer until he figured he’d give long snapper a shot. Long snapper and punter are great positions because any Joe from the street could come in and get the job. In fact, there are lots of Joes out there who could probably compete against the 27th ranked punter from 2016 that’s still on the roster.
The secondary is crowded, and that’s a wonderful thing
See previous article talking about COMPETITION. The projected starters at CB probably do not include Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins. These guys had terrible 2016 campaigns, but they can redeem themselves by not having to consistently face the top opposing wideouts of each opponent. Add in Ladarius Gunter, and there are three CBs with extensive experience against all-pro competition who are not likely to break the top two spots in the CB rotation. The 2015 Packers, with a deep secondary, finished 6th in pass defense. The 2016 team finished 31st. The 2017 squad starts the year with a deep secondary. We’ll leave it at that.
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John Piotrowski is a UW-Eau Claire alum, spending most of his life in western WI. He makes the trek east to Lambeau whenever possible. Follow him on twitter at @piosGBP.
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3 responses to “Packers Rundown Since the Draft”
Ah yes, optimism. What a wonderful thing. Personally, I look at our secondary right now and compare it to the secondary we had 1 year ago and it doesn’t look as good.
Will our secondary be better this year? Only time will tell. The draft is over and TT made fixing the secondary priority one. I personally like the players chosen.The process continues with getting them acclimated to playing together in Capers system.As a fan you have to love the size and the speed of our new players with the competition we’ll face in the NFC South this year. The combination of an improving defense with the excitement our offense will create has me excited for 2017. Good luck to another hometown boy Biegel.
Hyper-extended hand? Hmmm…sounds fishy. That is the one thing that concerns me with Vince. If he would have been injury free last year with the Badgers, there is no way he would have been around in the 4th. He can ball when healthy but I have a not so good feeling about that.