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Not a ton of Packers news today, but there for sure will be tons tomorrow after another day of OTAs open to the public and media today.
Tom Pelissero of the Green Bay Press-Gazette discusses the strengths and weaknesses of Ryan Grant's game in an article yesterday. "When it comes to those one-on-one, mano-a-mano showdowns with a
linebacker or safety, Grant more often needs to break the first tackle," writes Pelissero. "Or make that tackler miss. Whatever it takes to turn some of those 5-
and 10-yard runs into game-breakers." Agreed. Grant isn't afraid to plow into anyone. But one problem last season is that he didn't break many of those tackles.
Cheesehead TV also has their thoughts on the running game. Aaron Nagler writes, "My hunch is that the running game as a whole will greatly benefit from
the added responsibility reportedly being given to Rodgers at the line
of scrimmage. One of the things that really helped Grant and company in
2007 was Favre’s ability to get the offense out of bad situations by
recognizing when defenses were over-committing to defend the pass." While I don't necessarily agree, I don't necessarily disagree either. I just think the effect Rodgers has on the running game will be negligible.
Bruce Smith of PackerChatters.com discusses the positional battle at wide receiver. In regards to the No. 3 wideout job, he writes, "On the surface to the casual fan this is not a
significant battle, as both draft picks will likely garner plenty of
playing time. The reality is this will be a fiercely contested battle
as the winner not only increases his value to the team and around the
league, he also moves closer to becoming the heir apparent to still
great, but aging #2 WR Donald Driver." I can't help but think that one of these guys has trade value.
Bobby O'Shea of Packers Lounge warns us of the slippery slope regarding sponsorship patches on jerseys. "As for the promise that this will only extend to practice, I say hell
no," writes O' Shea. " I could care less how many signs, commercials, billboards, product
whoring, or whatever Laura Sankey comes up with to bring in a few extra
bucks, but the playing field should be off limits (that includes all
uniforms, practice, gameday, whatever)." I don't have a problem with it. And I also don't think it will extend to game days.
Lombardi-era Packer Bill Curry was inducted into the Krystal (Hambuger) Lovers Hall of Fame. Now that's an exclusive club.
We'll have a wrap-up of OTAs tomorrow, but here's one little morsel. Pelissero wrote a tweet saying, "A few curious absences...Jake Allen, lorne Sam, Brian soi and Adam graessle. No roster moves announced." I have to imagine these guys were cut. They were longshots to begin with. It seems unlikely that they're all missing due to injury or some other circumstance.
Railbird endorsed video: Enjoy "Velvet Pouch" by New Monsoon. This song is also on their album "Live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival." Good investment...