Green
Bay Packers
2018 Record: (6-9-1) 3rd NFC North
2018 Season Recap:
Offense
Points: 23.5 (14th)
Yards: 369.1 (12th)
Pass Yards: 264.9 (9th)
Rush Yards: 104.2 (22nd)
Defense
Points: 25.0 (22nd)
Yards: 354.4 (18th)
Pass Yards: 234.5 (12th)
Rush Yards: 119.9 (22nd)
With Aaron Rodgers back from his injury lost season of
2017, the Packers outlook and excitement for 2018 was on at an all-time high
believing they could do damage and contend for another super bowl.
Unfortunately for Green Bay, the Vikings and Bears got
exponentially better as well, making for a tougher path to dominate the
division.
As the season started on a high note for the Packers
beating the Bears and what would become one of the best defensive groups in all
of football, the excitement gradually changed to dismay as each passing week
rolled by.
Green Bay operated with a level of inconsistency that
we aren’t accustomed to, seeing them win a game to only follow it up with
losing a game, while never putting back-to-back victories together for the
entire season. By week 13 of the regular season, the Packers basically
eliminated their hopes at the postseason with a disastrous loss to the bottom
dwelling Arizona Cardinals leaving their record to sit at 4-7-1. Playing out
the string of contests was the unfortunate outcome of what was a horrendous
state of affairs to a club that houses many talents.
Statistically, the Packers did show signs of sound
performances, but the overall philosophy and game strategy under Mike McCarthy
was becoming vanilla, leaving the opposition with a leg up. Throughout his 14
year career, we have never seen Aaron Rodgers so displeased with how a season
transpired; it was inevitable that changes would come swiftly at the season’s
conclusion.
2019
Offseason WorkBook:
The
Coaching Staff
The writing was on the wall for quite some time with
the future of Mike McCarthy continuing to be the sideline boss for these Green
Bay Packers. While he did enjoy great levels of success in his tenure, racking
up a healthy winning record of 125-77-2 (.618), including bringing the city of
Green Bay their 4th NFL title, his playoff record left a lot on the field.
Nevertheless, the Packers felt as though 12 years was
long enough, and continuing to waste the talents of Aaron Rodgers was an act of
futility.
Moving forward, the Packers progressed in a direction
similar to that of many clubs announcing they have snagged bright, young,
offensive minded Matt LaFleur. The appeal in this hire was the coaching
bloodlines LaFleur possesses, having received tutelage from both offensive
geniuses Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. Spending one season with the Tennessee
Titans, the Packers felt it was time to make a big splash and think outside the
box.
While we have our opinions on LaFleur and believe he
could become another stand out prodigy for offensive production, his showing in
Tennessee did look rather simple and uninspiring. Sinking his teeth into this
offense led by the great Aaron Rodgers, we have little doubt success will be
had.
In securing his coaching staff, LaFleur hired on
former Bills and Jaguars offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to help with
the offensive installation. While Hackett does have positives to his systems,
he still requires growth to match levels this league demands.
Retaining the defensive coordinator from a season ago,
LaFleur chose to hold firm and keep Mike Pettine as the leader on defense for
at least one more season. With other specialty coaching moves still need to be
filled, at the moment Green Bay has the main cast in place.
The
Offense
Though the Packers didn’t see good levels of success
as a team, Aaron Rodgers again showed solid numbers in nearly every category.
The one glaring statistic which could pose some concern was his lowest levels
of touchdown passes thrown since taking over as the starting pivot back in
2008. 25 touchdowns over a 16 game slate is rather pedestrian and would be
classified as a grave failure in his eyes as well I’m sure. Fully entrenched as
the team’s starting quarterback for 2019, one concern at hand could be
chemistry with a new offensive system being implemented. With that said Aaron
is one of the best in the business and should manage to adjust rather quickly.
When we review the running back situation on the
Packers, Aaron Jones is a player that turned heads last season when given the
opportunity, but continued to see his workload shrink for no valid reason.
Jones does have an injury history that leaves some concern being provided a
full blown workload, leaving Jamaal Williams prime to steal those carries. With
a new system in place, a real change of pace/third down back is something the
Packers rarely employ, and we would love to see that change this season. Duke
Johnson’s name has been rumored to be open for movement; perhaps a spot in
Green Bay would favor both.
The Packers receiving core is highlighted with star
producer DaVante Adams and his seemingly never ending prowess to find the
endzone. Adams has piled up a whopping 35 touchdowns in the past 3 seasons, and
should again be a league leader this year. Change over to the core happened
last offseason when Jordy Nelson was released from the club. This year will see
more transition with Randall Cobb also likely to be moving on. Green Bay does
however possess a good level of talent at the position with youngsters –
Allison, Valdes-Scantling, and St. Brown, all contributing in some form last
year. There is potential to add to this group, but in our eyes, depth isn’t an
issue.
The
Defense
When reviewing this defensive grouping, there are many
positives that we can take from how they are currently built.
Starting with the defensive line, the production could’ve
been better in the grand scheme of things, but this group did encounter
injuries which cost them the overall output which was expected. Free agent
signee Muhammad Wilkerson was brought in to help lift this group and only saw 3
games in a Packer uniform. Mike Daniels also missed time to injury, which left
Kenny Clack to basically fend for himself. With Mike Pettine’s system requiring
stout linemen, we should see more depth added to this group to help the
process.
When we talk of Packers line backers, we normally
think of Clay Matthews as the staple. Playing at high levels for a very long
time, this past season saw a slight letdown in his overall play which could warrant
the team to move on form him this offseason. With Blake Martinez leading the
team in tackles with a whopping 144, and youngsters like Kyler Fackrell finding
his way in the Pettine system to lead the team in sacks, the youth movement should
continue to be at the forefront for this core with adding depth.
Going back to the 2017 season, Green Bay struggled in
pass defense and desperately needed a heavy talent infusion to help aid this
issue. From the 2018 NFL draft, the Packers made fantastic choices to navigate
the board and managed to select both stud rookies Jaire Alexander and Josh
Jackson to help recreate this unit. These two defensive backs were ADF favorites
coming into the draft and surely didn’t disappoint on the field. Teamed with
their other notable talent (Kevin King) the Packers have a trio of playmakers
that will make offenses gasp. While King also lost time to injury last season,
the prospects for this group to produce in 2019 is something we are very encouraged
for.
Team
Free Agents / Team Salary Cap
Normally when a team is unsuccessful, the main
objective to correct their issues, results in how much cap room they currently
possess. Green Bay at the moment does hold a decent 33 million (+$33,446,842)
on the books, and will have to make every penny count to return to competitive
form this season.
While the Packers do hold a smaller list of team free
agents, some noteworthy names do sit on this list. Long-time career Packer Clay
Matthews finds himself in unfamiliar territory at the age of 33 and looking to remain
in the league despite seeing his overall play drop a few notches. For Clay to
return to play for the cheese heads in the new year, he would have to take a
sharp discounted rate. Randall Cobb and Muhammad Wilkerson also appear to have
some level of appeal, but we see both of them also hitting the open market on
March 13th.
The offseason objectives also push clubs to evaluate
their financials to help garner more funds on the books. With how the Packers
have structured their contracts to date, some names do appear to have cut
candidate potential. Given the shoddy performance of this offensive line, Brain
Bullaga does have appeal to be released holding 8.2 million in salary while only
having 1.6 in dead money, that could definitely help this cap situation. Tarmon
Williams also holds 6.3 million toward the cap and could be cut with only 1.6
million headed to dead funds. If Green Bay requires additional dollars this
offseason, they can absolutely trim and find some.
The
NFL Draft
Perhaps the best outlook for this team in hopes of
retooling this squad comes from the abundance of draft capital they hold in
this year’s draft.
Currently sitting with a healthy 10 selections,
including two first round picks, the Packers could be big players in how the
draft board plays out. Holding an extra 4th and 6th round
picks also provides the ability for Green Bay to move up and down the broad
securing their most coveted players.
Green Bay could move in many directions in this draft,
and we would like to see great deal of attention given to the offensive line in
hopes to keep Aaron Rodgers off the turf. At this point, we could make a strong
argument suggesting revamping the entire group which allowed a massive 50+
sacks on their quarterbacks this past season.
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