Packers 2026 Offseason

[OldSchoolSnapper]

2 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

That was a offseason blunder to not address backup RB. Even if this didn't happen and Jacobs got hurt, they were stuck with Chris Brooks and praying that Marshawn Lloyd can stay healthy. I hope Gutey has been working the phones to get someone in since he learned about this allegation. 

It makes me wonder if Savion was part of the plan at RB.

[homer]

1 minute ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

It makes me wonder if Savion was part of the plan at RB.

6'4" RB  Let's go!

[OldSchoolSnapper]

1 minute ago, homer said:

6'4" RB  Let's go!

It's been done. He is built more like Eddie George than Brandon Jacobs or Henry. I don't think he's a 30-carry guy anyway, but part of the overall plan. He had one more rush than reception last year and had 51 carries his last season at TCU. GB requires their backs to catch, too. I would have expected to see more of him this season as a gadget guy anyway with the departures they had.

[patrickgpe]

22 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

It's been done. He is built more like Eddie George than Brandon Jacobs or Henry. I don't think he's a 30-carry guy anyway, but part of the overall plan. He had one more rush than reception last year and had 51 carries his last season at TCU. GB requires their backs to catch, too. I would have expected to see more of him this season as a gadget guy anyway with the departures they had.

They tried with Ty Montgomery with mixed results. 

[JosephC]

 

[LouisEly]

7 hours ago, patrickgpe said:

That was a offseason blunder to not address backup RB. Even if this didn't happen and Jacobs got hurt, they were stuck with Chris Brooks and praying that Marshawn Lloyd can stay healthy.

It's the NFL, you can say that about any position and player.  Their backup plan for QB was Desmond Ridder then Tyrod Taylor.  They didn't address backup TE, or LT.  You only get so many picks and so much salary cap.

This Braelon Allen guy is stuck behind Breece Hall with the Jets.  The Giants have Tyrone Tracy and Cam Skattebo, and probably don't need Devin Singletary.  Benson of the Cardinals is a good call.  The Packers have plenty of picks in 2027 to throw a 5th at someone, if it even takes that.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

3 hours ago, LouisEly said:

It's the NFL, you can say that about any position and player.  Their backup plan for QB was Desmond Ridder then Tyrod Taylor.  They didn't address backup TE, or LT.  

Backup RB isn't a backup though, he plays a ton. It's probably the most important backup on a football team. Wilson touched the ball 140 times last season and 114 the year before and any backup is getting the ball a lot.

Tyrod Taylor is fine at QB2. He's enough to not kill you and win a game or two because of a concussion. Any major injury to Love and their season is shot regardless. A backup LT might never play.

There's still time for some UDFA to shine in camp and solve this issue, but it was really odd to me that they did nothing at that spot considering that Wilson was a good player for them and got a paltry one-year deal. And that was before anything happened to Jacobs. The signs were present last season that Jacobs was wearing out. I'm not positive he was, but there was more than enough alarm to think the position needed a shot in the arm. It was the one need I thought they ignored in the draft. Likely because Jacobs is durable.

[LouisEly]

27 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Backup RB isn't a backup though, he plays a ton. It's probably the most important backup on a football team. Wilson touched the ball 140 times last season and 114 the year before and any backup is getting the ball a lot.

If they drafted a RB, who do you cut - Brooks or Lloyd?  Or do they short another position to keep 4 RBs?  It's a roster space issue, too.  In recent history they rarely if ever have kept 4 RBs on the 53.  They had backup RBs in Brooks (pass blocker) and Lloyd (high upside day 2 pick) who were adequate for backups. 

And who should they not have drafted to draft a RB instead?  Highly unlikely that a 6th or 7th round pick would be any better than who they already have (the practice squad RBs were day 3 draft picks: Strong - 4th round pick, Martinez - 7th round pick).

[OldSchoolSnapper]

9 hours ago, LouisEly said:

If they drafted a RB, who do you cut - Brooks or Lloyd?  Or do they short another position to keep 4 RBs?  It's a roster space issue, too.  In recent history they rarely if ever have kept 4 RBs on the 53.  They had backup RBs in Brooks (pass blocker) and Lloyd (high upside day 2 pick) who were adequate for backups. 

And who should they not have drafted to draft a RB instead?  Highly unlikely that a 6th or 7th round pick would be any better than who they already have (the practice squad RBs were day 3 draft picks: Strong - 4th round pick, Martinez - 7th round pick).

Draft nobody and keep the solid backup RB you already had who signed a deal for peanuts. I'd cut my losses with Lloyd as he has a handful of touches through two years and retain Wilson, who has been a productive player for them, and runs more explosively than Jacobs. I didn't know this until now, but Lloyd also tore an ACL in 2020 and missed time in 2022 and 2023 with injuries. This guy should not be considered a real option as the starter. Idk how he's considered adequate as a backup when he hasn't played in the NFL at all. I can embrace keeping him with Jacobs on the roster, his role is small enough in that case to see if he can stay healthy and has anything to offer. In the current state, I would strongly prefer having Wilson over Lloyd.

I would say that the Packers don't value RB that much and think they will be able to scoot by on whoever emerges from a camp battle. That might be true. But their recent spend at the position makes me think they do actually value it, and they should because they don't run block that well.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

If this it to be trusted, it really doesn't makes sense how they were approaching this year. Brooks is "not a threat with the ball" so the No. 2 job was Lloyd's to lose. That's perfectly fine for a 3rd round pick, just not one that literally can't play. There's no way he can tow a starter's load in this offense - at least not this year.

The Packers have a pretty talented roster, but it is just so paper thin nearly across the board. I realize I'm just passing the time arguing about backups in May. But this is actually a problem on this roster IMO. Keeping guys like Brooks because they play ST on a very bad ST unit. Was he a more critical piece than Wilson? Really?

[LouisEly]

4 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Draft nobody and keep the solid backup RB you already had who signed a deal for peanuts. I'd cut my losses with Lloyd as he has a handful of touches through two years and retain Wilson,

Garrison Hearst was injured his first two seasons and rushed for a total of a little over 400 yards combined.

He went on to rush for almost 8,000 yards in his career, including almost 3,000 yards after missing two full seasons in the middle of his career.

The Cardinals and Bengals look pretty foolish for cutting him.

The Packers kept Brooks because he's the best pass blocking RB on the team.  As for special teams, the Packers ranked top 10 in kick coverage.  Brooks did not play on the FG units, nor did he return punts.

Lloyd averaged 7.1 YPA and 17.8 YPC his junior season at USC.  He has the shiftiness of Aaron Jones with more speed; he lasted until the 3rd round because of fumbling issues, but he has far more upside than Wilson.

[JosephC]

3 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

The Packers have a pretty talented roster, but it is just so paper thin nearly across the board.

I think they are fine on defense, but agree that they are very thin at almost every spot on offense.  I see significant depth issues at RB, TE, OLine and then they didn't backfill the hole at WR after the Wicks trade.  They lost Rasheed Walker, Romeo Doubs, Elgton Jenkins, Malik Willis, Dontayvion Wicks and Emanuel Wilson on offense.  They have added Tyrod Taylor, Jager Burton and Skyy Moore on offense...that's if you want to even count Moore, which I wouldn't since his addition was about 95% special teams and 5% offense.  

[OldSchoolSnapper]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

Garrison Hearst was injured his first two seasons and rushed for a total of a little over 400 yards combined.

He went on to rush for almost 8,000 yards in his career, including almost 3,000 yards after missing two full seasons in the middle of his career.

The Cardinals and Bengals look pretty foolish for cutting him.

The Packers kept Brooks because he's the best pass blocking RB on the team.  As for special teams, the Packers ranked top 10 in kick coverage.  Brooks did not play on the FG units, nor did he return punts.

Lloyd averaged 7.1 YPA and 17.8 YPC his junior season at USC.  He has the shiftiness of Aaron Jones with more speed; he lasted until the 3rd round because of fumbling issues, but he has far more upside than Wilson.

Brooks is fine, they've justified his spot on the team, but it doesn't change the fact that he isn't really a RB for the purposes of carrying the ball, which they are going to need now. Exactly what real purpose does Bo Melton serve on this team, other than pretending he's a 2-way player? I really can't believe he's more worth a roster spot than Wilson, or another RB of similar ability.

I do get the rationale in keeping Lloyd around. But even if he recovers to have a great career, assuming Jacobs is out for a chunk or all of this year or forever, I don't think Lloyd will be thrown into that kind of workload this year anyway.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

1 hour ago, JosephC said:

I think they are fine on defense, but agree that they are very thin at almost every spot on offense.  I see significant depth issues at RB, TE, OLine and then they didn't backfill the hole at WR after the Wicks trade.  They lost Rasheed Walker, Romeo Doubs, Elgton Jenkins, Malik Willis, Dontayvion Wicks and Emanuel Wilson on offense.  They have added Tyrod Taylor, Jager Burton and Skyy Moore on offense...that's if you want to even count Moore, which I wouldn't since his addition was about 95% special teams and 5% offense.  

TBH I think a lot of those losses are dead weight "names" that will be replaced by guys who are fine, we just don't know their names yet. Willis hurts, but no team in the league could have kept him or replaced the value he brought with a QB2. The only name on the list that is a tangible loss imo is Doubs. I've touted Wilson, but you can get a guy like that with roster cut downs. Doubs was consistent last year and became a safety net for Love. Lots of big catches in big moments.

They didn't backfill the WR hole because they have invested in the position and need guys to step up. They didn't get much at all out of Reed or Golden so I consider those the backfills. Watson, Reed, Golden, Williams and Kraft is a very solid group, provided Watson doesn't get hurt because he covers a lot of warts.