| Jeff Risdon. 18th August, 2006 - 7:59 pm
 Last season: 4-12
Coming: LB Ben Taylor, DT Ryan Pickett, CB Charles Woodson, S Marquand Manuel
Going: WR Javon Walker, LB Na’il Diggs, RB Tony Fisher, K Ryan Longwell, C Mike Flanagan, DT Grady Jackson, QB Craig Nall
Rookies of note: LB AJ Hawk, OL Daryn Colledge, WR Greg Jennings, LB Abdul Hodge, C/G Jason Spitz
What I like: They have one of the best CBs in the NFL in Al Harris, great at jamming his man and a steady tackler. Adding Manuel and Woodson will help in both coverage and tackling and gives the Packers their best secondary in ages. QB Brett Favre returns, and he still has the fire and gunslinging gusto. If RB Ahman Green can return from a devastating leg injury, the Packers have a strong and deep RB corps, along with Najeh Davenport (also coming back from injury) and last season’s rookie phenom/fumble machine Samkon Gado. All of the newbies in the “rookies of note” listing will start in Week 1, and all but Hodge should be major upgrades. The Packers had one of the best draft days in recent history in 2006, potentially. Of the 12 players they drafted, 9 could be starting by the end of the 2007 season. AJ Hawk has all the makings of a perennial Pro Bowler at LB, and Greg Jennings has quickly become the #2 WR with a bullet, showing great physicality and hands. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Aaron Kampman are decent DEs against the pass. There is newfound depth and vastly improved talent at LB, though it’s very youthful and unproven. They still play in Lambeau Field, one of the best home-field advantages in pro sports. They also have a schedule with several winnable non-divisional games.
What I dislike: Brett Favre returns. He doesn’t have the velocity or the mobility of his glory years, and other than Donald Driver, the WR corps is either very green or very inadequate. His return also indicates this team must try to win at all costs this season, rather than do the painfully necessary task of a complete rebuild. That puts tremendous pressure on all those rookies and marginal starters. Starting 2 rookies on the OL is downright scary, but scarier still are the guys who return. Other than Chad Clifton at LT, the line was awful last season, unaggressive, weak, and easily beaten. That was with C Flanagan, easily their best OL, now gone to greener pastures. Two of their top FA pickups, Woodson and Pickett, have been largely disappointing of late. Losing K Ryan Longwell is a big blow, as he was great on kickoffs and had mastered the tricky winds of northern Wisconsin. Ahman Green looked lousy before his injury, and unless Gado meets Lester Hayes this summer, he’s as much a risk to fumble as he is to gain 5 yards. Gbaja-Biamila is awful against the run and has exactly one pass rush move, trying an outside speed rush on every single play. That he’s as successful as he’s been is remarkable, but one trick ponies don’t last long. The kick return and punting units are below average. Even the more respected defenders, Harris and LB Nick Barnett, have some fairly large flaws that regularly get exploited. If Harris misses his jam at the line, he’s worthless. Barnett is alarmingly out of position quite often and doesn’t shed blocks well.
Best case: All the youngsters revitalize Favre, and the Hall of Famer is able to lead his charges to playoff contention. The special teams become a strength, the LB corp emerges as a dominating unit right away, and the RBs are both healthy and effective.
Worst case: Ahman Green is done, and the well runs dry behind him. Favre leads the league in INTs again. The OL struggles in all aspects. All the new LBs don’t live up to expectation. The special teams remain a deficiency. New Head Coach Mike McCarthy loses his team after painful early losses. Actually, anything resembling their 2005 campaign is not a positive.
Prediction: I really like the rookie class, I like the needed improvements in the defense, I believe Favre can still summon the greatness at times. Despite all that, this is one of the worst teams in the NFL. They do have a favorable schedule and play in the worst division in football, so an improvement to 6 or 7 wins is likely. But make no mistake; this team would go 3-13 in the NFC East or AFC West. And if Favre is still taking every snap when the Packers are 4-7, they’re not going to significantly improve until at least 2008.
Jeff Risdon's other 2006 Team Previews
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Miami Dolphins
New York Giants
Oakland Raiders
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
St. Louis Rams |
