Preseason Game 1 - Green Bay @ Cincinnati

[Old Guy]

52 minutes ago, minnypackerfan said:

One of the key considerations for wide receivers 4, 5 and 6 on the Packers depth chart is what can they contribute to special teams.  

Well, the way Heath blocks, he certainly can. I believe Toure contributed on specials last year? Wicks certainly has the body type for it. Reed seems like he's destined to be the punt returner. 

[Old Guy]

18 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said:

Kraft was not good.  I recall calling it out during the game.  Could have been a little bit of jitters.  I do think he improved later in the game.  There was a Patrick Taylor 3 yard loss where Kraft missed his block completely and Taylor was wrapped up in the backfield.  I don't remember if that was the second Jordan Love drive or one of the first Clifford drives.

It's gonna take Kraft some time go get used to the talent level. He's not going to be running over 3rd graders anymore. He's got the ability to adjust but it will take some time. 

I think bringing in a vet TE makes sense. 

[ThatJerkDave]

19 minutes ago, R T said:

Kraft is going to need a year or more to be a real benefit and by then many will be dogging him as another 3rd round bust. The TE/FB room will go as Deguara and Musgrave go, Kraft is a redshirt rookie this year. Expecting they will be active in bringing in TE's from now to week one and probably beyond.  

 

12 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

It's gonna take Kraft some time go get used to the talent level. He's not going to be running over 3rd graders anymore. He's got the ability to adjust but it will take some time. 

I think bringing in a vet TE makes sense. 

I don't know if any of these guys have any juice left, or if they even had it in the first place.

 https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/tight-end/available/

 

There is the tried and true OJ Howard pipe dream.  Could he be as good as Davis would have been? Probably.  

[Old Guy]

3 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said:

 

I don't know if any of these guys have any juice left, or if they even had it in the first place.

 https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/tight-end/available/

 

There is the tried and true OJ Howard pipe dream.  Could he be as good as Davis would have been? Probably.  

Will he play special teams and is he good in the run game? 

Why is Noah Fant on the list? He's under contract in Seattle?

Edited August 13, 2023 by Old Guy

[R T]

40 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said:

 

I don't know if any of these guys have any juice left, or if they even had it in the first place.

 https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/tight-end/available/

 

There is the tried and true OJ Howard pipe dream.  Could he be as good as Davis would have been? Probably.  

Doubt the Packers have any interest in Howard, and they shouldn't. You are probably looking at the wrong list, scanning teams' depth charts for possible cuts at the 53 cutdown would be more likely. Going to be a ton of usable TE's in the final cuts. 

2023 NFL Depth Charts By Position | Ourlads.com

 

[ThatJerkDave]

47 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

Will he play special teams and is he good in the run game? 

Why is Noah Fant on the list? He's under contract in Seattle?

I don't know why Fant was on that list I clicked through a lot of the others, he seems to be the only mistake. 

Howard is supposedly a good blocker.  I don't know if he has any special teams value.  He sure doesn't have the receiving value everyone thought that he would have.

 

@R T I agree, we will probably have to dumpster dive throughout the season.  I was just looking at who is available right now that we could get into camp.

[R T]

22 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said:

I don't know why Fant was on that list I clicked through a lot of the others, he seems to be the only mistake. 

Howard is supposedly a good blocker.  I don't know if he has any special teams value.  He sure doesn't have the receiving value everyone thought that he would have.

 

@R T I agree, we will probably have to dumpster dive throughout the season.  I was just looking at who is available right now that we could get into camp.

This isn't a shot at you, it just gets old the number of fans that pound the table for washed up/out big names with no game. Reserve TE's need to play ST's, and Howard has never been on a coverage unit in his life. People can spare the comment that he has the body type for it, ST's starts between the ears, that is the number one body type. 

[Brat&Beer]

Packers best and worst grades from PFF:
 

 

Top 5 offense

1. RB Emanuel Wilson: 93.5
2. OL Elgton Jenkins: 85.6
3. OL Zach Tom: 78.5
4. OL Luke Tenuta: 76.5
5. WR Dontayvion Wicks: 76.3

Wilson produced three runs over 10 yards on just six carries, including the 80-yard touchdown. Jenkins, who played 14 snaps at left guard, didn’t allow a pressure and earned the second-best run-blocking grade. Tom played 16 snaps at center and 12 at right tackle without giving up a pressure, earning him the top pass-blocking grade. Tenuta played 10 snaps at right tackle before his injury and was the top run blocker. Wicks caught three passes for 68 yards on 16 routes run.

 

Top 5 defense

1. CB William Hooper: 90.3
2. CB Carrington Valentine: 89.8
3. DL TJ Slaton: 89.5
4. S Tarvarius Moore: 81.7
5. S Anthony Johnson Jr.: 76.5

Hooper allowed only three catches on eight targets for 18 yards and broke up two passes. Valentine had a run stop, and he allowed only two catches on six targets for 16 yards while breaking up two passes and intercepting one. On just eight snaps, Slaton had two pressures, including a quarterback hit, and two run stops. Moore allowed only nine yards on three targets in coverage and earned the team’s top tackling grade. Johnson had two tackles and a near interception.

 

Bottom 5 offense

1. QB Alex McGough: 28.1
2. OL Royce Newman: 35.4
3. WR Duece Watts: 43.3
4. TE Tucker Kraft: 44.8
5. FB Henry Pearson: 48.5

McGough turned the ball over on his only passing snap. Newman gave up two pressures, including a quarterback hit, and had two penalties over 45 snaps. Watts had a holding penalty that wiped away an explosive run. Kraft caught one of three targets for four yards, lost out on a contested catch that turned into an interception, and earned poor run-blocking grades. Pearson graded poorly as a run blocker.

 

Bottom 5 defense

1. DL Devonte Wyatt: 29.1
2. DL Jason Lewan: 34.8
3. S Jonathan Owens: 35.0
4. OLB Lukas Van Ness: 40.8
5. OLB Kenneth Odumegwu: 51.4

Wyatt had a pressure on a stunt but also two missed tackles, including one resulting in an explosive run for Chris Evans. Lewan earned poor run defense grades over nine snaps. Owens, who started, missed a tackle and gave up an explosive passing play over 15 snaps. Van Ness played 20 snaps but delivered just one pressure. Odumegwu played 15 mostly empty snaps.

[Mr. Fussnputz]

4 hours ago, Old Guy said:

It's gonna take Kraft some time go get used to the talent level. He's not going to be running over 3rd graders anymore. He's got the ability to adjust but it will take some time. 

I think bringing in a vet TE makes sense. 

It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out, but there is a golden opportunity for Pearson, if he can block, and contribute on STs.

The original idea might have been, Musgrave, Kraft, Davis, Deguara with Davis' main contribution being blocking and specials. Now it could be Musgrave, Kraft, Deguara, and Pearson with Pearson taking over Davis' roles. If Pearson can't cut it, then I can see Gute hitting the waiver wires. I'm sure he will be heavily scouting TEs the next two weeks!

[Old Guy]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Fussnputz said:

It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out, but there is a golden opportunity for Pearson, if he can block, and contribute on STs.

The original idea might have been, Musgrave, Kraft, Davis, Deguara with Davis' main contribution being blocking and specials. Now it could be Musgrave, Kraft, Deguara, and Pearson with Pearson taking over Davis' roles. If Pearson can't cut it, then I can see Gute hitting the waiver wires. I'm sure he will be heavily scouting TEs the next two weeks!

Interesting idea, but if we keep 2 fullbacks I might throw up. Deguara has pretty much played out of the backfield and sometimes goes in motion. Much like the guy in San Francisco. If they think they can move Deguara to a more traditional role when needed, then I think Pearson has some merit. 

[Mr. Fussnputz]

5 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

Interesting idea, but if we keep 2 fullbacks I might throw up. Deguara has pretty much played out of the backfield and sometimes goes in motion. Much like the guy in San Francisco. If they think they can move Deguara to a more traditional role when needed, then I think Pearson has some merit. 

Yeah, I think the likelihood is that Pearson goes to the PS, and Gute makes a waiver claim on some Davis-like TE.

[Zycho32]

5 hours ago, Old Guy said:

Well, the way Heath blocks, he certainly can. I believe Toure contributed on specials last year? Wicks certainly has the body type for it. Reed seems like he's destined to be the punt returner. 

Toure either had one snap or two on ST last year. Not that I would say Rich is averse to using WR on ST, it's just that in general it's more of a bonus, even in the 4/5/6 portion of the depth chart. Mind you, I'm referring to non-returning spots on ST, so stuff like Reed playing PR I'm not really counting here.

[ThatJerkDave]

8 hours ago, R T said:

This isn't a shot at you, it just gets old the number of fans that pound the table for washed up/out big names with no game. Reserve TE's need to play ST's, and Howard has never been on a coverage unit in his life. People can spare the comment that he has the body type for it, ST's starts between the ears, that is the number one body type. 

I 100% agree.  Every time that OJ Howard becomes a FA, everyone thinks they are getting the guy that was drafted like 15th or whatever it was, and was supposed to be the next great TE.  I am not excited about any of the veteran guys on the FA list.  Most of them have played more games than they have left, and some of them weren't any good to begin with.  I was just looking at guys that won't need a ton of time in camp but we could possibly bring in before the next preseason game.  Ideally, they can be cheap, and offer at least what Davis would have on offense, which in my mind was just good blocking and the occasional reception.  I'm doubting that we can adequately replace his ST contribution with one player.  We are probably looking at guys like Tariq Carpenter, Josiah Deguara, Patrick Taylor and Eric Wilson to pick up some slack and maybe getting a little out of Kraft as well.  

I do dig the looking for 4th or 5th guys from cut downs.  It has a lot more future worth than signing a washed up 30 something for one season.  The drawback is that guy can't be added for a few more weeks.  

[ThatJerkDave]

5 hours ago, Zycho32 said:

Toure either had one snap or two on ST last year. Not that I would say Rich is averse to using WR on ST, it's just that in general it's more of a bonus, even in the 4/5/6 portion of the depth chart. Mind you, I'm referring to non-returning spots on ST, so stuff like Reed playing PR I'm not really counting here.

His snaps were returns too.  He wasn't on coverage units.  

[Brat&Beer]

10 hours ago, ThatJerkDave said:

I don't know why Fant was on that list I clicked through a lot of the others, he seems to be the only mistake. 

Howard is supposedly a good blocker.  I don't know if he has any special teams value.  He sure doesn't have the receiving value everyone thought that he would have.

 

@R T I agree, we will probably have to dumpster dive throughout the season.  I was just looking at who is available right now that we could get into camp.

With every team right now having a 90 man roster, not much out there. Won't be surprised to see Gute do something once cutdowns happen though.