Game 8: Rams @ Packers - Sunday, Nov. 5th 12:00 PM

[BrewerFan]

2 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Life's been busy, but wanted to add my $0.02 here.  Maybe it's worth less (or worthless?)...

Love has put together a couple of nice games.  He still has a couple "aim" balls that tend to go off accuracy, but far more just let 'er rip.  He has a good arm, but too often looks like he is trying to finesse it in this year. Did better there.

Dillon - maybe his best game of the season?  A couple bad runs, but had some very nice ones too.  Finding more of the holes instead of just running into OL.  I'm starting to wonder if he should have Deguara's job as a HB? 

Wicks - He continues to impress - fumble or not. The embodiment of why route running > athleticism. 

Valentine - he has been up and down all season, but I'm excited to see him get more opportunity now.  Certainly a starting CB in the league.  Just needs some refinement and/or experience.  Looks very natural out there. 

Johnson - likewise.  Nice to see him step up and have a good game at safety.  

Rhyan - Was happy to see him out there, even for a few snaps. Looked good.  Way better than Newman. Maybe he is the first to break the 3rd rounder streak?  

Brooks - I keep getting KGB flashbacks when I see him out there (physical resemblance), but Brooks has really made an impact on the field (very different player than KGB). 

Wooden - has been up and down, but didn't disappoint in Clark's absence.  Will be interesting to see how much of a 2nd year jump he can make. 

McDuffie - Reminds me of an old-school MLB.  Not really a speed, sideline-to-sideline guy, but a solid tackler and run-stuffer.  Great backup guy. 

Defense - yeah, against a backup QB, but they did what they needed to and made him look bad.  Defense has actually been decent for a few games. 

Offense - Improving, but still below average as a whole.  They really need to find something that sparks them at the beginning of a game. 

The way Love plays vs a poor pass rush, or when we block well(I think the Rams are still pretty poor despite having Donald) just reinforces how much we need to improve the OL. He gets confidence and he starts to trust the receivers and his accuracy suddenly looks good. 

Valentine looks like a huge steal already. I don't know when/if Stokes will be back to build off his rookie year, but I like the future of that position with Jaire and Valentine. 

Rhyan... I don't know what we're missing. It has to be his pass protection vs quicker athletes or maybe he struggles with stunts? I'd like to see them try JRJ at Center and Rhyan at RG, but I'm not overly optimistic. 

[CheezWizHed]

18 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

Rhyan... I don't know what we're missing. It has to be his pass protection vs quicker athletes or maybe he struggles with stunts? I'd like to see them try JRJ at Center and Rhyan at RG, but I'm not overly optimistic. 

Well, he looked bad in TC as a rookie, then went into the doghouse with the suspension. Nice to see him work his way out of it. 

Has JRJ played much at center aside from the few snaps in pre-season?  I kind of doubt he is ready for that.  I wouldn't mind seeing JRJ & Rhyan (and perhaps Nijman/Walker) alternate series or halves as an in-season competition.  I know the OL wants continuity, but at some point you need to evaluate the players too. 

[BrewerFan]

5 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Well, he looked bad in TC as a rookie, then went into the doghouse with the suspension. Nice to see him work his way out of it. 

Has JRJ played much at center aside from the few snaps in pre-season?  I kind of doubt he is ready for that.  I wouldn't mind seeing JRJ & Rhyan (and perhaps Nijman/Walker) alternate series or halves as an in-season competition.  I know the OL wants continuity, but at some point you need to evaluate the players too. 

He's worked there during camp and pre-season, but no, not a ton of snaps. But I think it's something you should at least take a look at before he hits Free Agency. I don't really see the downside. Myers is a very below-average Center. Maybe Runyan is a better C, or maybe he's not. You're probably(almost definitely) not going anywhere this year despite being just a game out of the last playoff spot. So shuffle the deck a bit, see if you can find something that may work better for next year. Most likely you let Runyan and Yosh walk in free agency, but maybe he excels at Center like Connor Williams who turned into a better Center than a Guard.