CheezWizHed

I'm guessing some of that was "excused" because he kicked injured his last year. I'm sure there was a lot more scouted about him than just that one number... but alas, that number did tell the tale (at least initially)

Every year we fear that our TC darling that gets cut will be claimed... but very few do. I guess we will see. Bad day to be a 7th round pick (Pratt, Johnson, Dubose, King).

Or not... 😀

It won't be the last time you see him. He'll be on the PS.

I wonder if the new kickoff rules might make Crosby (i.e. old kickers) more interesting to teams? No need to hit the end zone on kickoffs anymore.... However... I do wonder if teams will mess with the new kickoff rules or just give it to them at the 30. The preseason seemed to have very few kickoffs start at less than the 30 yd line. Which makes me wonder if scoring will be up this year as a result. Most Packer kickoffs last year were between the 20 and 25 yard lines. If you start at the 30, scoring should be a bit easier.

The same Dak and Lamb that couldn't get on the same page in the playoffs? Yes, please. 😉

I don't care who has the stronger leg. I want to know who is more likely to make a typical FG. Carlson's leg is strong enough for the job.

Well, after giving up a 7th, I doubt we do much more at the position (doubtful we keep 3 QBs). Typically, I've not been a fan of QBs that derive a large chunk of their value from their legs. But as a backup QB, they always seem to bring the defense a curveball when replacing the starter. And for bringing a QB in this late in the season, it is helpful to be valuable before he learns the offense. Not quite what I was thinking with a veteran QB, but I suppose he has one more year than Clifford...

My final prediction: Offense (24) QB (2): Jordan Love, Sean Clifford A toss up for the early backup. I'm actually hoping for a vet QB with Pratt on the PS. I'm stunned at how much Clifford regressed this year. RB (3): Josh Jacobs, MarShawn Lloyd, Emanuel Wilson Most likely one of Lloyd or Dillon to IR. Then Merriweather or another RB can elevate from the PS if needed. WR (6): Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton, Grant DuBose Really a tossup between Heath and DuBose right now. I pick the upside in DuBose. TE (4): Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, Ben Sims, Tyler Davis Maybe some rumblings of Davis to IR? Having Wilson on the PS could also provide some depth. OL (9): Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Sean Rhyan, Zach Tom, Jordan Morgan, Andre Dillard, Jacob Monk, Kadeem Telfort Potential waiver claim area? Defense (26) DE (5): Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare, Brenton Cox Jr. I'm not sure a 5th DE is necessary, especially with 5 DTs (and Wooden being able to fill in at DE). Mosby has all the momentum, but not much difference between him and Cox. DL (5): Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton, Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks, Colby Wooden Not much has changed in the top 5. Probably just assured we keep 5. LB (6): Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson, Edgerrin Cooper, Ty’Ron Hopper, Kristian Welch Welch played himself on with his defense. Cooper's injury and slowed development probably keep Wilson also. Otherwise, Welch vs Wilson might be interesting. CB (5): Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Kalen King Corey Ballentine probably has more value for us than anyone else. Decent backup but low ceiling player. Unlikely to be claimed and could be stashed on the PS. S (5): Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, Anthony Johnson Jr., Kitan Oladapo The only other options are ST only players. So maybe Zayne Anderson vs a 6th LB or 5th DE. Special Teams (3) K: Anders Carlson - Potentially a temporary spot depending on trades/waivers P: Daniel Whelan - most secure spot on the ST. Nice TC and pre-season (with plenty of opportunities to punt). LS: Matt Orzech - Potentially a temporary spot depending on waivers.

Craig Counsell is that you? I wonder what you'd say if we weren't in first place and within striking distance of MLB's best record.... after trading away one of last year's ace pitchers and losing another to injury.... while on a shoestring budget.

I've flipped flopped on the kicker so many times this TC... Joseph seems to kick more down the middle (for what I've seen anyway), so I was leaning his way. But then he started choking late in TC, so I assumed Carlson had it buttoned up. Until Carlson missed the gimme in the last game... Ugh... there doesn't look like many better options are going to be on the cut list either.

Glenn was a player that produced a lasting memory for me as a kid. I was at my first ballgame ever. We arrived early and I was able to be down by the fence as the players were warming up. I looked into the dugout and Glenn was sitting by himself, so I asked him for an autograph. He said he would after he went out and warmed up. True to his word, he came back to sign autographs. But as he came, a swarm of kids crowded the fence and pushed me back down the line. Glenn reached over the kids to grab my card (his Topps rookie) and signed it for me.

Yep, that was what I meant. They still need to waive him and resign him, but it doesn't take up a normal spot. Sounds like the NYG are doing the same thing with an international kicker.

One of my major skills is to read something the wrong way (intentionally) and run with it. 😉

Hopefully while wearing a Brewer's cap.

It is interesting for Hale though. I didn't realize they could just do that with anyone born outside the US. I thought it was only through that special assignment process in the offseason. Kind of shows their hand in what they will do with him after the cuts though...and maybe why he has lasted this long as a third kicker. PS target all the way.

I wonder if certain pitches are more taxing on your arm than others? Thus, avoiding those pitches gives you a bit more for your other pitches (on average over 6 innings).

How do we win more than one division in 2024? If we win the NL-Central and the NL-East Does that mean we play ourselves in the playoffs? Or if it is NL-Central and AL-Central, do we get two shots at the WS? 😂

Bowden might be a good long snapper, but he is very small for an NFL body. I do hope all other LS are being reviewed for cuts as several of Carlson's misses (and a few of his makes) had poor snaps. Out of curiosity, I thought I'd rate Carlson's misses last year. He had 13 misses (6XPs, 7 FGs) last year including the playoffs. I rated a bad snap as anything where the holder had to go above his head, twist his body 90 degrees (i.e. shoulders parallel to the yard marker) or below knee level. Here is how Carlson's misses rated: 7 were solely on Carlson 1 was blocked 1 was over 60 yards (I wouldn't hold that against anyone) 4 were bad snaps - including the playoff FG against the 49ers 1 was over the holder's head - arms fully extended to catch it. 2 were behind the holder 1 was behind and low Now of course all kickers have to deal with these things, so it is still hard to compare. But it satisfies my curiosity on the snapper's portion of the problem - about 25%

I'm talking myself off the ledge a bit with our kicking situation.... Last year, Carlson and Joseph were 2 missed FG away from being in the Daniel Carlson or Justin Tucker range. Carlson was good under 40 yards (100%) and over 50 yards (60%), but oddly struggled from 40-49 (50%) and XPs (87%) Mason Crosby averaged 75-79% in his first 4 years, so Carlson is above that already.

It is nice that we have that option (pun intended) to manage the pen. While I think Elvis was misused a bit with bringing him on with runners on base... it is hard to treat him special like that too. He is such an enigma as a pitcher. He stuff is just filthy, but he can't seem to find lasting results with it.

I see a lot of Z-Smith in LVN (the on the field play style and not the off the field stuff). Z Smith really didn't break out until year 4 with the Ravens and really big in year 5 with the Pack. I get the sense that in the pre-season, they are putting him in situations where he is uncomfortable to help him work on those issues (or maybe "see" the problem). Where as in the season, he will be used more to his strengths of inside pass rush (or at least I hope this is true). I missed the beginning and end of the game live... and didn't feel like going back to watch them given how poorly the play was (a rare occurrence for me). But I hear a lot of stuff about how Welch played on defense. I've advocated for Wilson as a backup LB more for a lack of options than anything... I wonder if Welch's development is enough to even the field between the two? Wilson is on the downside of his career, while Welch is still on the upside. If the two are rated remotely close to each other on D and ST, we might see Welch over Wilson... which I'd take as a positive outcome.

One thing that I'd hope we could agree upon after a joined practice is how much you play your starters. Doesn't have to be perfectly aligned, but it would be nice to mostly see #1s against #1s, 2s vs 2s, 3s vs 3s. Seeing some Denver starters playing into the 3rd quarter was pretty silly. I can't see how either side really learned much from that. Plus, Denver announcers were terrible. I get they are homers but wow... Oladapo also played well. No splash plays, but very solid tackling.

True. After Corbin and Woodruff in the offseason, I always assumed this would be a pseudo rebuild year (maybe a 500 team). But we are in first place while "rebuilding'. Chourio just became our top offensive player - perhaps sooner than expected. Frelick and Turang have stabilized as high D, decent offense players. Joey Ortiz looks like our long term 3B solution. Rea had developed as a strong SP. Myers came out of nowhere like Rea. Civale gives decent depth. Gasser looked like he was MLB ready. He and Woody coming back next year should really make the SP rotation strong. Freddie's performance has really been the only disappointment this year.

QB - I really doubt we keep three. I'd assume Pratt stays and Clifford goes to the PS. Clifford has enough tape out there where people won't try to grab him for upside. He'll have a nice career as a backup QB, but I doubt anyone claims him for that. RB - We keep all 4 unless Lloyd goes to IR. Probably keep a 10th OL if Lloyd is on IR and use the PS if we need another. TE - We keep four. Not sure if we keep Sims (blocking) or Wilson (offense), but we use them enough to hold onto more. WR - Six sounds about right here. I'm not nearly the Heath fan that you are. He had a high floor for a rookie, but really hasn't grown. Looks like Dubose passed him and can block also. I don't see anyone grabbing Heath in waivers. OL - That leaves 9 for OL, which should be fine. The backend of the roster is littered with similarly skilled and unrefined players. If one is claimed, we have 2 others just like him for the PS (not really a great thing). I'm hoping for a waiver claim at backup T. DE - I'm going with 4 here. Cox pretty quiet this offseason. I don't see us holding 10 players for four spots on the DL total. And Wooden can flex over from DT to play some DE too. DT - Same 5. LB - As before we disagree on Wilson. I actually think he is more likely to be claimed than Heath or Clifford. If someone has an LB injured, he would make a perfect option to step in. Perhaps low probability, but we have zero depth if we lose him. I just think the risk is too much to screw around. CB / S - agreed. K - Really wide open between the two we have plus the waiver wire. Packers are clearly not comfortable with Carlson/Joseph since they brought in two third kickers this offseason. Of the kicks I've seen (Family night, Cleveland), I feel better about Joseph, but that is a small sample size of what the coaches are seeing. LS - I really hope we are looking at the waiver wire (or at least Bowden to the PS) because Orzech has been about 1/3rd of Carlson's kicking issues. Dude just isn't consistent. P - Same. I don't see the team doing much for roster hijinks this year. The make it/cut lines seems much clearer this year than normal. And with the ability to put someone on IR (hopefully it remains only Lloyd), they don't need to play that game either. I only see some potential waiver claims of our own to make that will shuffle after cuts.