CheezWizHed

I texted a friend of mine Saturday who is a huge Purdue BB fan. He complained that I only text him whenever the Badgers beat Purdue. I responded, at least that means I reach out yearly! 😂

I thought Rhyan played better than his PFF numbers; especially later in the season. I expected him back this year, but that is quite a bit more than I expected. Perhaps an offseason of focusing on the C position will help him. But seeing how Monk couldn't see the field last year and the team kept signing, cutting, and resigning Lecitus Smith last year for C depth, they still need to draft a C/G for development. I'm not too worried about losing Wooden since he wouldn't have been a 3-4 NT anyway. He did a surprisingly nice job at stopping the run last year but wore down as the game went on. Clearly NT needs to be a focus this year. Hopefully Stackhouse follows in the path of Slaton (terrible rookie season, passable 2nd year depth, good 3rd year) and we add a veteran depth in front of him.

I didn't say we shouldn't bring in competition to find a better kicker. But the thought of just booting a decent kicker and putting us back into the situation where we have to find someone new is just horrifying. It's almost like we blacked out 2023 and half of 2024...

I would be 50/50 on Hobbs being released. Cash flow + performance says cut him now. Knowing that we need viable NFL CB bodies (and regardless of what anyone things about him... he is one) makes me doubt it. I think Banks will be back (98.37% certainty). He started terribly, but was passable later in the season. You still have the injury question mark... but they knew that going in....

Me reading this and remembering the circumstances that brought McManus to the Packers... I don't get the McManus hate. He had a down year, but when you consider the bad blocking and injury there was only a handful of misses that were truly on him. And every kicker will have those.

Swing and a miss. At least I can stand next to Logan knowing I'm only one day (and a year or two) older.

Does anyone record pop times in ST? Would be interesting to see get any feedback from his throwing this spring (objective measurements or not...)

I wonder if we can get Levis from the Titans for a 7th round pick? Then we could get Cam Ward in a couple of years. Keep refurbishing their failed QBs... 😉

Agreed about the facilities, but also a bit surprising. We just did renovations not long ago and we are already getting dinged? Food, training, and those things should be automatic for getting high marks. Leadership is a tricky thing. I've worked as a manager at three different companies and all three took surveys like this. Those numbers can swing drastically if they take the survey at the "wrong time"; right after a layoff, having a poor year results in poor merit increases, etc... Quite often I get my results with comments like "I like my direct manager, but the company leadership stinks". Hopefully, this is more about the 5-game losing streak at the time than MLF losing the locker room. Hard to know that from the outside though...

I wouldn't consider him a bust. Not a huge success, but far more yards than Lloyd... But with Belton, Cooper, Bullard, Musgrave, Reed, Watson, Myers, Dillion, and Jenkins, you have a pretty good record of quality players without any busts. Our run of Williams (still hope), Lloyd (??), Hopper (still hope), Kraft (major hit), Rhyan, Amari Rodgers, Deguara, and Sternberger... isn't nearly as stellar (with Kraft being the saving grace of the group)

That might be true. But I'd also be upset "drafting" a kicker (even as good as Aubrey) in the second round. Let alone spending another $9M on him. Aubrey is probably worth 2-3 more FG on average over McManus. I'd much rather focus on DT, C, and CB for those limited resources. And technically, it is the third round where we seem to do some hair-brained drafting (H-back, back up RB). We've done very well in the second round. 😉

Now we just need our beloved Brewers (David) to defeat the evil giant Goliath (Dodgers)!

No, you aren't, but it is just you and Brandon's mother. Brandon's father was still on the fence.

Here would be my offseason plan: QB: With our first round draft pick, we select... oh never mind. Need a backup badly though. Ridder plus a late round draft pick and maybe an UDFA. Watch other team's cut list. RB: Jacobs remains, IMO. Maybe with a paycut? I think you try to resign Wilson for less than the RFA tender, but otherwise you go with spaghetti against the wall - low draft capital, UDFAs, hope Lloyd can play more than a snap or two. TE: Depends on how long Kraft will be out, but I don't know that I'd focus much here? They need a blocking TE which can be found with low draft capitol or roster turnover. Musgrave started showing something at the end of last year. Whyle showed some wiggle. OL: Assuming this would cost only $2-3M (per a few projections), I'd resign Rhyan to establish your C floor. Let Walker walk for $20M/year and put in Morgan. Resign Kinnard. Williams comes in as a redshirt G, but you probably still need a C (G/C) and T in the draft. WR: I'd let Doubs go. He is a good, but not great player. I think Golden will slot in well to take his place with more upside. Having Golden, Watson, and Reed is a good starting trio. Wicks and Williams fill the depth. For defense, I'll assume more of a 3-4 alignment - with the main difference is fewer LB types and adding a more NT style. NT/DT(0/1 tech) - We knew trading Clark made a hole, but this was our number one weakness. This more favors a player like Stackhouse and goes against a player like Wooden. But we need a legit starter here. There are plenty of options in rounds 2-5 of the draft as well as some vets that could come fill the whole. DE/DT(3-tech) - The move to 3-4 favors Wyatt, Brooks and maybe even Brinson. Wooden probably slots in more in this technique too. We are probably ok here. EDGE - I'd restructure Gary's contract to match his production. Enagbare can sign elsewhere. Having Oliver and Sorrell makes Enagbare expendable. Parsons, Gary, LVN, Oliver, and Sorrell should be plenty here. Even losing Gary isn't the end of the world. LB - Walker - unless he comes back very inexpensive, I'd let him go. Being an ILB on a 3-4 with a big NT in front of him will make him better... but his major flaw right now is coverage. I don't want to spend big money on an MLB that can't cover. Hopper stepped in nicely last year (in a very small sample). You need some depth here, but Cooper, McDuffie, and Hopper is a good start for a position with 2 starters. S - Strongest and deepest position on the team. Moving on. CB - I tend to think Hobbs stays, but mostly because it doesn't save much to cut him. They will give him another chance. The floor of Nixon, Valentine, Hobbs is ok, but we need upside. I hope we spend draft capitol here plus an upside vet (e.g Stokes last year) in FA. ST - I'm ok sticking with Brandon. '24 was unrealistic, but I don't think '25 was actual either (many misses weren't his fault). I tend to think he will be in the middle, which is still plenty good. Focus on OL, NT, and CB high in the draft. RB, LB, and OL again lower in the draft. FA is probably mostly low cost contracts.

I'll even admit that I'm not convinced that Willis is better than Fields.... But Fields as a player has his upside pretty well "vetted". The money you are paying is to find out if Willis has more upside. And if you are a team that won't get one of the top QB draft picks and don't have a great option for next year, I'd rather gamble on Willis than admit defeat with a QB like Fields.

I agree that there is a red flag against Willis that the offensive play calling seems to be more of a sub-set than with Love. Far more running plays (including his own) and fewer play call options than Love does leave some questions marks about MLF's trust in Willis' ability to execute certain plays/throws. But I think you are arguing from a lack of information too. He played (mostly) against bad defenses... but he completed 79% of his passes against those bad defenses. Good QBs will be excellent against bad teams... and he was. We really only have one data point against a good defense, so there are some questions there. But Willis also has some clear advantages over Love too (as I mentioned before). I forget if I picked 25% or 50%... but if the multiverse is true, there are worlds where Willis is the better QB and we might just find out if this universe is one of them. 😉 As for $20M QBs... the Jets paid Justin Fields $20M to play QB for them... I'd take Willis over Fields hands down. Rumors are him getting $30-35M next year. That might seem crazy, but if those teams don't have a clear path to a top rookie QB next year, trying out Willis on a short-term deal for that price is a gamble, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone takes it. The supply of excellent QBs is small and teams will pay for even the chance of finding one. That is the cost of trying to win in the NFL.

Am I reading this right that at 500 ABs, he will accumulate $1.5M in incentives? ($100k*5+$250k*2+$500k) So "best case" scenario is $5M for one year ($2M base, $1.5M incentives, $1.5M buyout). Seems like a fair deal for both sides for a decent bounce-back player.

Yeah, my heart sank when I read the OP thinking that he hurt himself this spring. While Woody's health is a high risk for the team this year, this seems more like ST fluff news. If they are simply bringing him along slowly in ST, I have no concerns. They should. I'd expect an "injury" for him mid-season too, so he is fresh for the playoffs.

Willis played some incredible football for the Packers and clearly showed that the Titans gave up on him. But now, he departs because we are clearly invested in Love. But part of me wonders who the better QB will actually be. I give Love the edge on arm talent, but not by much. There are some plays you don't see them run with Willis - so I assume that means he doesn't throw those as well? Willis' accuracy was much better than advertised, so I'd say the two are pretty equal there. Willis gets a clear edge on escaping and managing the pass rush. His legs are a clear weapon that the D can't forget. I also give him the edge on being the better "football player" in that he seems more aware of what is going on in the game. He seems to have intangible "make it happen" leadership that Love struggles with.

My brain was telling me 1yr/$2M, but when I double checked it, I found the $3.6M. I'm glad you confirmed my memory! 😂 My point (with both Myers and Walker) is that it isn't "do I want them back?", but "what price am I willing to have them back?". I would've gladly taken Myers back at $5M (give or take) and then invest draft capitol to replace him. But you can't give mediocre talent top money either. Not sure what $$ I'd take Walker back at ($5M would be a no-brainer), but I also know that the $20-$25M that is being rumored is a big "no thank you". With the salary cap, you can really only invest in your star players for big money and replace the "good" players with draft picks.

Walker is very much the type of player that you don't invest $20+M on for a second contract. The teams that will invest will do so because they have to... desperation breeds bad decisions. Ironically, we expected a similar decision last year when Myers went into FA... except he only got a $3.6M contract for one year. And I think it would've been easier to say Jenkins-Myers($3.6M) would've been better than Banks($19M/yr)+Jenkins. But I don't expect the market for Walker to drop out like that...

The Packers have brought in several vets in the RB ST era: Nick Niemann, Zayne Anderson, Kristian Welch, even Nixon was brought in as a PR/KR (initially). No one is going to bring in a ST only OL (except the LS). Last year was more a function of poor OL depth than anything. Just given the timing of other ST coordinators being hired - including our own ST assistant... I think Rich just decided he didn't want to do it. Unless Rich suddenly had an "HR incident", there isn't any logic behind the Packers waiting until now to let him go. How I see our St units: The KR and PR coverage units were fine. No major gaffs except the onside kick recovery and that was a player mistake not coaching - right player, right spot, right setup... bad bounce/result. FG/XPT - More depth at OL so we have better OL blocking. K - Brandon had a bad year but it seemed to be more about injury/bad OL. In 2024 he was excellent and in 2025 he regressed, but we are probably OK here. I wouldn't be looking to change at the moment, but keep bringing in young K to develop and compete. P - Whelen was fantastic. Probably the best part of our ST. No changes please LS - He wasn't great early, but hasn't been a problem for a few season. KR return unit just needs to stop holding. Hopefully Savon Williams stays healthy, but frankly with the new rules there isn't a lot to gain here. PR - Here is probably where we could improve the most. Really haven't had anyone that was a threat.

Probably hard to know exactly, but did you pay more in buying the house because of the panels? Did you pay $50k more?

A few thoughts on this whole situation: It is very odd timing for him to suddenly step down... was his performance review delayed?? Not retiring, not fired... just resigning. I see the "NFL and college rules for ST are very different!" cry. My response is "so what!" Can't a good coach understand the differences in a week of studying the rules? Find a good coach and let him do the job. ST in the NFL is pretty much come down to "don't make a penalty!". Blocked FGs seem to be the only area where creativity works anymore. I think a few punts were returned for TDs, but were any kickoffs? Seems to be a far cry from the Desmond Howard/Devin Hester - specialist returner days. I'm with @OldSchoolSnapper, just keep it simple and don't make a penalty. You will be better off than trying for the elusive massive return (that seems so rare now).

Opening Day rotation: Woodruff - Undisputed. Priester - No reason for him not to be. Misiorowski - His last development step will be at the MLB level. Shouldn't have much for innings restrictions this year either. Patrick - I still like Patrick as a starter, but I get the feeling the club might not. Henderson would be the backup plan. Ashby - I agree with the others that he needs another shot starting. Gasser would be the choice if Ashby stays the super-sub in the pen. AAA Starting rotation at the start of the year: Harrison, Sproat, Henderson, Drohan, Crow (C-ROD?) - that is a pretty nice AAA rotation! This gives you some time to tweak Harrison and Sproat at AAA before bringing them back up. While I like the idea of Harrison starting at AAA, there is a good chance the MLB club doesn't agree. In that case, I think you still have Gasser down at AAA rotation.