LouisEly

I know this will generate some "lively" discussion, but there have been questions about how the Packers have drafted relative to their draft position and picking in the back 1/3rd every year but one since 2020. Not all picks have panned out, but neither have all the picks for all other teams. And if the Packers are constantly drafting in the back 1/3rd of the round, most teams should draft more impactful players. But most teams don't. From a quantity standpoint, 2020 and 2021 weren't great years. But getting Jordan Love at #26 at the cost of a 4th round pick to move up was an absolute coup. (Think about how much resources the Packers would have to use at QB if they didn't have Love.) Looking at Pro Football Reference's wAV as a proxy, the only player in the entire draft who has a higher wAV per game started is Jalen Hurts. Not Joe Burrow, not Justin Herbert, not Justin Jefferson. And 2020 was a stinker for a lot of teams - two of the top 12 picks are already out of the league (for different reasons), one top 3 pick has started 31 games in 6 years, and a top 10 DT pick has 13 career sacks, and another top 10 pick is on his 4th team. People complain about A.J. Dillon at the end of round 2, but he has a higher career wAV than 13 first round picks that year (and is tied with two others).

Just frees up more time for the inevitable. Now I can do whatever I want on Saturday. With pay for play and the portal, on top of the randomness of a single-elimination tournament of the top ~40 or so teams in the country, UW isn't going to realistically compete for a national championship in football or basketball. They'll have good seasons, but a final four isn't happening in today's college sports environment. That's the flip side with Boyd - you don't get the hero without the hero ball.

I'm exhausted from all that Googling. Might have carpel tunnel from typing those 15 words. https://overthecap.com/apy-on-injured-reserve https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2025/12/03/which-nfl-teams-have-been-most-and-least-affected-by-injuries-in-2025/ https://www.rotowire.com/football/article/most-injured-nfl-teams-of-2025-102815

Now, compare where they rank on the salary $ on IR and games missed by starters lists.

And that's why the Brewers scout heavily in Venezuela.

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being absolutely no need and 10 being a dire need. I’m not going to play the “what if someone gets injured” game because this is the NFL and you can say that about every position. It’s based entirely on who they have now. QB: (3) – Need for a starter, 1. Need for a backup, 5. They have a backup, but Gutey said they want to get back to drafting QBs and they have done that, picking two in the last three years. There is a track record of drafting QBs before they are needed, and if someone falls to them they won’t hesitate to pull the trigger. RB: (2.5) – Same as QB, need for a starter, 1, backup, 4. We’ll find out what they think about Lloyd’s health, but I don’t see it as being higher than a 5th round pick. That they let Wilson walk may mean they’re likely to go with who they have. Strong was a 4th round pick, Martinez a 7th round pick, so they may feel comfortable with those guys as backups. TE: (9) – Right now they have only three TEs who were on the 53 last year, one may start the season on the PUP or in limited action, none are currently under contract past 2026, and they like multiple TE sets. Not a day 2 need, but I’ll be shocked if one isn’t picked on day 3 because they’ll likely need multiple TEs in 2027. WR: (2) – They’re full here, even though few are under contract beyond 2026. I just don’t see the roster space for a pick. They’ll extend guys they already have. OT: (3) – They’re set here, too. They have their starters in Morgan and Tom, their swing OT in Kinnard, and Belton can step out and play OT if needed. An OL with inside/outside flexibility may be picked, but more so as a guard who can play tackle if needed. OG: (7) – Banks rarely was both healthy and good, upgrades from Jennings and Glover are needed, and we don’t know anything about Williams except that he was a 7th round pick. Positional flexibility will be key as he will be a backup. OC: (4) – Really depends on what they think of Monk. But they have three draft picks here – Rhyan, Monk, and John Williams was getting some looks at center late last year, so it would not surprise me if they didn’t pick one. A guy who can play both center and guard is a good bet. DT: (7) – A true NT would be helpful, as upgrades from Stackhouse, Riley, and Ford are needed. Edge: (5) – A sneaky need, as they need to make a decision on LVN’s 5th year option in 6 weeks and I don’t see them exercising it if they didn’t exercise Walker last year. Parsons will likely start the year on PUP or limited action, leaving just LVN, Sorrell, Oliver, and Cox. Another body would be useful, and Gutey believes strongly in pass rushers. ILB: (1) – they’re set here with Cooper/Franklin, Hopper/McDuffie, and Welch/Niemann, and they gave significant guaranteed money to Jamon Johnson last year. CB: (9) – Nixon and Carrington have been average to above average, but both are UFAs after this year. St. Juste is the only one under contract for 2027. Need a 2nd-4th round pick here. S: (1) – They’re set here with McKinney, Williams, Bullard, Oladapo, Simpson, and Baldwin. K: (3) – Could use an upgrade here, but I don’t see an immediate upgrade in the draft. It usually takes kickers a few years to hit their stride in the NFL, so maybe a 7th rounder with a big leg who they try to stash on the PS. P: (1) – They have one of the best they’ve ever had.

Oh, yes. Last year agents for players were contacting Gard in January telling him that if the Badgers were interested their player would go in the portal. I guarantee the same is happening this year. Storr, Tonje, Boyd... they know they can come to UW and blossom.

Walker for some reason chose an agent who only has three other clients, the most of whom any are making is $4M/year. I wonder if his agent blew it and if he had higher offers but the agent was trying to get him to hold out for a contract like Dan Moore.

Went to Costco last night around 8pm to grab a couple of things when I thought checkout would be quick. The self-checkout line was unusually long, but walking by it appeared that there were a couple of checkout stations that were open but nobody using them. Grabbed a couple of things, looked for another I couldn't find, and the line is still long, but there clearly are stations that are open. Turns out there are three Costco employees scanning the items in carts with a hand scanner before people get to self checkout. What is this? Finally gets to me and I ask what they are doing. Guy says "pre-scanning". What the hell is that? I look at the guy and say, "How does this make the checkout process more efficient? Because there are open stations where people can be checking out right now." He says I don't have to "pre-scan" and can use an open station. "Thank you", and walk right past a couple of people getting "pre-scanned" and check out my two items. I can assume this is some type of way to reduce retail theft to ensure everything that goes through self-checkout gets scanned and paid for. But if it builds a line while there are stations open, it won't last.

Packers signed Hargrave, 2/$23M, per NFL 4th best tackling grade among IDL per PFF

I'm referring to their Packers Twitter/X feed - it compiles tweets/X from many sources including all of the Packers local media coverage, national media, former executives (Andrew Brant, etc.), local media for other teams that mentions the Packers/players, Packers PR, etc. It's the only thing I look at and it is actually very helpful (80% of it at least ) in finding all of that in one place without having to be on X. Their draft coverage and prospect analysis is also very good, and has been among the most accurate of all of the national media over the past several years.

There's some clown podcaster who shows up on the Bleacher Report app's Packers X feed who just b****es about anything and everything the Packers do. I'm not going to name him/them, but when Jenkins was released with a "failed physical" designation, of course he thinks he's smart without doing his research: "First it was 'Rashan Gary was hacked'. Now this? What is going on in Green Bay?" Aside from the fact that Jenkins finished the season on IR with a lower leg fracture and ligament damage that required surgery, clown show, see Maxx Crosby - that is why you designate guys as "failed physical".

Doubs to the Patriots, 4/$70M. $17.5M AAV

Apologies if this is too political, but looking back what happened with Venezuela now seems like a prelude to what is happening in Iran. I don't think Iran happens if they don't secure supply from Venezuela first.

Someone on another board reminded me of one of the reasons that Hobbs was signed and why he got what he got - he is/was very good in run support and is not afraid to hit people. He got kicked out of practice at least once last summer for being overly aggressive with tackling/hitting people. Kind of wish that was also the case with their other corners.

Yes, Banks' contract was reworked about a week ago. Salary was converted to signing bonus.

Reported that it's a post-June 1st release, so cap hit spread over this year and next. Possibly an indication that they are looking to add more FAs this year. Riq Woolen still available, and there's been some rumors of the Packers talking with him.

I was told that if a player doesn't get a second contract with the team who drafted him then he sucks.

The son of my sister's neighbors is really good friends with Erickson. Fun fact - Matt's only hit in the majors was off of Greg Maddux when Maddux was on the Cubs. He asked Maddux if he would sign the ball, and Greg obliged. And wrote on it, "Nice hit, f*** face".

I think teams are smart enough to see that he was also 101st among CBs in snaps played despite playing 16 games, likely for a reason, and factor that in accordingly.

In one of the more curious moves of the last two weeks, Lions starting LT Taylor Decker asked for and received his release. The Lions had asked Decker to take a pay cut. His release saves the Lions $11.6M in cap space, but creates a huge hole. Lions probably going to be looking LT at #17. They aren't going to get one for $11M.

Packers formally release Elgton Jenkins.

Quay Walker to the Raiders. Was projected to get $14M/year and got $13.5M/year (3 years, $40.5M) with $28M guaranteed. Per Next Gen Stats, Walker's 4.5% missed tackle rate in 2025 was 3rd lowest among LBs with at least 100 tackle attempts. His 28 yards given up after missed tackles was the lowest.

There is a big difference between "having a bad season"/"sucked" and "not worth his contract". He was not worth his contract. But to say that he "had a bad season" is not factually correct. Ranking top 30 in sacks and top 20 in pressures is not a bad season. And did his pressures lead to sacks by others or incompletions? If he truly "had a bad season", nobody would have traded for him. Joe Flacco was 32nd among all QBs in number of times sacked (played 13 games). Aaron Rodgers was 17th. (Jalen Daniels 34th.). Some of those guys are harder to sack than you give them credit for. And if you want to play that game, here is who Parsons sacked: Jared Goff (3.5 times - 8th in # of times sacked) Jalen Daniels (only 1/2 sack, 34th) Dak Prescott (14th) Jacoby Brissett (3 times - 5th) Aaron Rodgers (17th) Jamies Winston (1.5 times - 56th, but only played 3 games) J.J. McCarthy (2 times - 20th, but only played 10 games) That's it. Looks worse than the list of guys Gary sacked. Take out the 6.5 times he sacked Goff (8th) and Brissett (5th), and what do you have? A half sack against Jalen Daniels.

"just 13 pressures, including the playoffs, after the Micah Parsons injury" Parsons was injured halfway through the Broncos game, week 15. They played 4.5 games after Parsons got injured. That means that Gary averaged 2.889 pressures per game after Parsons went down. Over an 18 game season, 2.889 pressures per game amounts to exactly 52 pressures. According to PFF, Gary ranked #18 among 116 edge rushers in pressures in 2025 with 54. He was basically the same player after Parsons' injury as before, he just didn't get any sacks.