2023 Rookie Minicamp / OTAs / Training Camp

[thrILL!]

10 hours ago, Leader said:

 

This might be the most anticipated preseason I can remember as a GB fan at least since early Rodgers days. 

[Refugee]

4 minutes ago, thrILL! said:

This might be the most anticipated preseason I can remember as a GB fan at least since early Rodgers days. 

First training camp I won’t make in a while, pandemic notwithstanding. Hope some of you locals give an update on the players and the atmosphere. Absolutely a good time if you have ever considered going. 

[ThatJerkDave]

5 minutes ago, thrILL! said:

This might be the most anticipated preseason I can remember as a GB fan at least since early Rodgers days. 

I disagree.  Preseason is mostly about the back-ups.  I want to see Love and Watson, but I don't want to see a lot of them in meaningless games.  And I am hoping that Clifford and Etling don't suck so bad that we actually get to see some of the newer WRs... but I am not holding my breath on that front.  

I am pretty excited to see an OL with Caleb Jones, Kadeem Telfort, and Luke Tenuta just getting huge and beating people up.  And maybe add Rasheed Walker to the mix to hump someone that gets thrown to the ground.  

But other than Karl Brooks, I am not terribly excited about the back-up defensive players.  Maybe this is finally the year that Neo Garvin reaches his potential...

[minnypackerfan]

9 hours ago, ThatJerkDave said:

I disagree.  Preseason is mostly about the back-ups.  I want to see Love and Watson, but I don't want to see a lot of them in meaningless games.  And I am hoping that Clifford and Etling don't suck so bad that we actually get to see some of the newer WRs... but I am not holding my breath on that front.  

I am pretty excited to see an OL with Caleb Jones, Kadeem Telfort, and Luke Tenuta just getting huge and beating people up.  And maybe add Rasheed Walker to the mix to hump someone that gets thrown to the ground.  

But other than Karl Brooks, I am not terribly excited about the back-up defensive players.  Maybe this is finally the year that Neo Garvin reaches his potential...

The scrimmages with the Patriots should be worth watching this year.  I'm definitely planning to attend them. Could get kind of feisty this year.  Packers defense needs to establish an attitude and the offense has a lot of new players that are fighting for roles.

 

[Mazrimiv]

9 hours ago, ThatJerkDave said:

9 hours ago, thrILL! said:

This might be the most anticipated preseason I can remember as a GB fan at least since early Rodgers days. 

I disagree.  Preseason is mostly about the back-ups.  I want to see Love and Watson, but I don't want to see a lot of them in meaningless games.  And I am hoping that Clifford and Etling don't suck so bad that we actually get to see some of the newer WRs... but I am not holding my breath on that front.  

I am pretty excited to see an OL with Caleb Jones, Kadeem Telfort, and Luke Tenuta just getting huge and beating people up.  And maybe add Rasheed Walker to the mix to hump someone that gets thrown to the ground.  

But other than Karl Brooks, I am not terribly excited about the back-up defensive players.  Maybe this is finally the year that Neo Garvin reaches his potential...

I could be wrong, but I think "pre-season" was referring to camp in general.  I am really looking forward to it.

[vegas492]

16 hours ago, craig said:

@ByRyanWood

Ben Sirmans says AJ Dillon didn't have that type of production either of them wanted for the big, bruising tailback last season. They've talked about it. "I think he's going to come out and respond to that challenge, and have a much more productive year," Sirmans says.

I've heard a lot of great stories about AJ Dillon.  From Door County to right around here in Pewaukee.  He was at a co-workers friends' kids' birthday party....if you can follow that.  He played with the kids a lot and was a gentle giant.

Maybe AJ just doesn't have it in him to be mean or aggressive.  I would suggest making him room with Quay during training camp.  And they need to run that Oklahoma (I think that is the name) drill to see who gets to pick their bed to sleep in that night.

[Packerraymond]

15 minutes ago, vegas492 said:

I've heard a lot of great stories about AJ Dillon.  From Door County to right around here in Pewaukee.  He was at a co-workers friends' kids' birthday party....if you can follow that.  He played with the kids a lot and was a gentle giant.

Maybe AJ just doesn't have it in him to be mean or aggressive.  I would suggest making him room with Quay during training camp.  And they need to run that Oklahoma (I think that is the name) drill to see who gets to pick their bed to sleep in that night.

Dillon ran plenty hard in 2021, I just don't think he's a shotgun back, and with Rodgers injury we were exclusively in shotgun last year. 

[thrILL!]

53 minutes ago, Mazrimiv said:

I could be wrong, but I think "pre-season" was referring to camp in general.  I am really looking forward to it.

That too but specifically the young guns on offense getting preseason game reps. Toure, Reed, Musgrave, Kraft, Dubose etc. 

[craig]

29 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

Dillon ran plenty hard in 2021, I just don't think he's a shotgun back, and with Rodgers injury we were exclusively in shotgun last year. 

Interesting thought, you may be right.  I think so many other things intertwine, too. 

1. Others may disagree, but I don't think the interior line blocking was all that great last year.  Running between the tackles, you gotta have some gaps created for you.  Dillon will run better if Myers and Runyan and Jenkins all block better.
2. Does MLF's offense often compress the defense and congests the box?  Watson was the only downfield threat.  Many run plays, and of the passes most are either behind the line or no more than 5 yards beyond.  Mercedes was a another big body in the box, an invitation for defense to compress and further clutter the box.  When the offense so predominantly operates at, near, or behind the line, aren't defenders ready to fill in hard and fast when the expected happens?  A lot of Dillon's carries, just not much space. 
3. Dillon is big, but not bigger than D-linemen and linebackers.  Not likely to plow those guys.  
4. Maybe big quads aren't build for light, quick, shifty feet?  

I expect changes in Love's usage and the reduced use of shotgun, changes in TE usage, improvements in WR weaponry, changes in play-calling, and improvements in OL-blocking could all work to Dillon's advantage this season.  

I think there is also some natural reversion-to-the-mean likely, following a down year?

[R T]

10 minutes ago, craig said:

Interesting thought, you may be right.  I think so many other things intertwine, too. 

1. Others may disagree, but I don't think the interior line blocking was all that great last year.  Running between the tackles, you gotta have some gaps created for you.  Dillon will run better if Myers and Runyan and Jenkins all block better.
2. Does MLF's offense often compress the defense and congests the box?  Watson was the only downfield threat.  Many run plays, and of the passes most are either behind the line or no more than 5 yards beyond.  Mercedes was a another big body in the box, an invitation for defense to compress and further clutter the box.  When the offense so predominantly operates at, near, or behind the line, aren't defenders ready to fill in hard and fast when the expected happens?  A lot of Dillon's carries, just not much space. 
3. Dillon is big, but not bigger than D-linemen and linebackers.  Not likely to plow those guys.  
4. Maybe big quads aren't build for light, quick, shifty feet?  

I expect changes in Love's usage and the reduced use of shotgun, changes in TE usage, improvements in WR weaponry, changes in play-calling, and improvements in OL-blocking could all work to Dillon's advantage this season.  

I think there is also some natural reversion-to-the-mean likely, following a down year?

The high volume of shotgun was not helpful, but another big factor that fans often overlook is that these players have a life outside of football. Dillon got married last June and his wife gave birth to their first child this spring. NFL football is about the work each player puts into their off season and it very likely that Dillon didn't put in the same amount of work as in past years and it showed on the field. I expect he will have his best season yet as a Packer in 2023, especially with it being a contract year for him. The honeymoon is over and he has a family to feed.  

[ThatJerkDave]

1 hour ago, thrILL! said:

That too but specifically the young guns on offense getting preseason game reps. Toure, Reed, Musgrave, Kraft, Dubose etc. 

My main concern with that is, I don't have any confidence that Etling or Clifford can get the ball to those guys.  I would love to see them in action, but I would not be surprised at all to see: Love, Bakhtiari, Jenkins, Watson, Doubs, Jones, Dillon, and maybe even Reed with very few preseason game snaps, together, or even in total.  

I think my favorite part of this preseason schedule will just be seeing the OL, which I think is deep.  Chris Slayton beating up some poor 3rd string OL.  And probably the last of two of my favorites, John Garvin and Patrick Taylor, as Packers.  

[craig]

https://theathletic.com/4532179/2023/05/18/packers-eric-stokes-anders-carlson-coaches-comments/

Schneidman Athletic article (for pay).  He basically pulls something he found interesting from most of the 13 coaches/coordinator press conferences this week.  Don't imagine I should copy too much due to copywrite reasons, and a number of these have already been touched on.  But I'll pull out a few items.

[craig]

1. “We got a lot of competition on the right side, whether it’s right guard, right tackle or even center,”  regarding Tom.  
2. My thought:  Given MLF's "best 5" philosophy, Tom's got a shot to try to convince MLF he's better than whoever our worst default starter is.  Steno's reference to right side, RG and RT, suggests the obvious perspective that Runyan and Nijman are our most vulnerable starters.  But "even center" add-on suggests Myers probably isn't viewed as our worst starter, but you can't know for sure.  
3. Or, of course, we're always one injury away from "best 5" change.  
   

[craig]

Montgomery:  “I had high expectations for T.J. last year and I don’t think he played those consistently, but he showed flashes,” Montgomery said. “My expectation for him is to be the best version of himself every single day. That’s what we gotta get out of him. Devonte, Year 1 to Year 2, I expect a massive jump for him. He knows the defense much better. It allowed him to play free and fast instead of worrying about where you go and those things.” 

Craig comment:  I'm a little nervous.  We're a D+D team, and if the team gets good, it will hinge on getting development from young players.  But we also know that the legendary "2nd-year-jump" happens sometimes but not always.  (Slaton didn't 2nd-year-jump to Monty's expectations, as his comment reflects.). 

d-line has been run-awful and pass-nondisruptive. Counting on the same guys to come back run-good and pass-disruptive is a risky, uncertain premise upon which to build a high-end defense.  Getting these guys able to play the run well seems especially risky to me.  But yeah, maybe no-risk-no-reward.  *IF* they do step up and work out well, the defensive improvement could be enormous.  I'd also like to imagine that if they are playing better (in the run game), it might make things simpler for Quay who might also improve a lot.  And if both Quay and Campbell are healthy and playing well behind a better line, both run and pass defense could benefit a lot.  And obviously improved run defense might afford a lot more volume and quality of 3rd-down opportunities.  

Wyatt, TJ, and Clark too, really important to see improvement there.  

[craig]

Pass-rush specialist Jason Rebrovich talked about Cox, the UDFA knucklehead.  “Because he has a lot of talent, but he needs to be pushed and a lot of guys need that. They need that kick in the rear end. … If we can dig him the heck out of it and keep climbing that mountain, you might have an opportunity to have a pretty good player in that kid.”