JosephC

I think Gutekunst would grade out as good to well-above-average (in terms of the draft only), but that would largely be due to the 2022 class which was pretty remarkable. Q. Walker (not great but a legit starter), Wyatt, Watson, Rhyan (again, not great but has started), Doubs, Tom, Enagbare, R. Walker is like 2 1/2 quality drafts stuck into 1. However, 2018 was Alexander who was very good early and Valdes-Scantling who has a role but is not a great player. Not much else. 2019 is Gary who is great when he wants to be but is near worthless when he doesn't want to be (which is about half the time), a really over-rated Savage and Jenkins who was excellent for a second round pick. Not much else to see here. 2020 was Love. Runyan is a marginal starter, good for a B-level team but a guy who a team will always be looking for an upgrade for. AJ Dillion was good in his role early but didn't last that long. 2021 draft was pretty much a disaster. First three picks were Stokes, Myers and Rodgers and none of them worked out. They got a left tackle in Van Lanen but didn't realize what they had. Slaton is a nose tackle that will give you a solid, honest days work. McDuffie is alright for what he is, getting a guy like him with pick #220 is definitely a good pick. 2023 first two picks don't look good (Van Ness and Musgrave). Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft are hits. Wooden, Wicks, Brooks, Valentine...may not be great but they all have roles. Even if you hate Valentine, he was a #232 pick. Wooden may not be great but he was a real god-send for the Packers. I'd argue the last two drafts are still probably too early to tell. Cooper and Williams likely to remain good players. IMO, can't really even judge guys like Jordan Morgan and Matthew Golden yet. I'm guessing, if you take out the 2022 class, that the rest of it would grade out as being pretty average. Including the 2022 class, somewhere in the good to well-above-average area.

ESPN must just love LaFleur. Every article about him says 76-40-1. They completely ignore the 3-6 playoff record. They completely ignore that he is 38-34-1 in the last 73 games (including playoffs). Lots of other coaches would get a "but" after their overall regular season record is posted, but not with LaFleur. Frankly, this organization has moved from great/good to very, very average since the core of the Thompson/McCarthy era disintegrated and the team became a Gutekunst/LaFleur assemblage.

If anybody wants to know why old guys like me stop watching games, and really only have interest in the sport in terms of personnel moves...well, here is a good example for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKjxL7-aJNw You'll have to click the link because the NFL blocks the video from being embedded here. #30 for Jacksonville. This is a pretty good example of why the NFL's crappy product is not worth watching. #30 for Jacksonville, that guy sucks. And if someone is going to get on here and say that he's a premier defensive back in the league...well...that is just all the more reason why not to watch. Season on the line, and #30 is just going to dance around and do a few pirouettes and basically not try to stop the ball carrier at all. What a joke!

McDermott now 8-7 in the playoffs. Certainly not eye-popping, but again, winning playoff games is hard. His playoff winning percentage of .533 is better than Don Shula, Sean Payton, Mike McCarthy, Pete Carroll and Mike Ditka. Also worth noting is that he started coaching the Bills in 2017. The last time the Bills had been to the playoffs was 1999. The last time they had won a playoff game was 1995. So it's not like he inherited a great situation in Buffalo.

You think the Packers are the Jets. The Packers are not the Jets. The Packers are an 9-8 team that will go to the playoff and will lose their first game. In the last four years, there has been one better season and one worse season...but basically anybody who looks at that last four years will conclude the same thing. Above-average football organization, nothing more, nothing less.

Regular season is hard to compare, because the AFC East has been a joke division since the Patriots tailed off. Still, the Bills have posted 7 straight 10+ win seasons. They haven't had an 8-9/9-8 .500 dropoff like the Packers did in 2022/2023. Winning in the playoffs is hard. Divisional strength still might play a role in the playoffs (home field), but things like that get largely wiped away. McDermott has a 7-7 playoff record. LaFleur has a 3-6 playoff record. So there is a big difference there. One thing that really weighs heavy in my evaluation of LaFleur is how they went into the 2021 playoff as the #1 seed and got KO'ed by the 49ers in their first game. They had home field, and blew it. Can't say that LaFleur didn't have as good of a QB, as Aaron Rodgers was the AP league MVP. Including that playoff game and all the games that have happened since, the Packers are on a 38-34-1 run (1-4 in playoffs). Looking at the complete picture...no, I don't think McDermott is MLF with a better quarterback. I think McDermott is a better NFL head coach.

One thing that I find funny is all the talk of next year being a "lame-duck" year for Gutekunst and LaFleur if they are not extended. Does that have any meaning in the NFL at all? I've never heard of an NFL team keeping a GM or coach because a buyout is prohibitive. How many NFL coaches have been given multi-year deals and then are fired after the first year? I'm guessing too many to count. So if Gutekunst and/or LaFleur are each given big, shiny new contracts, does anybody think either of them have a job with the Packers in 2027 if the 2026 record is 4-13? Not a chance.

One key thing that I haven't seen mentioned regarding Harbaugh. Gutekunst hired Milt Hendrickson away from Baltimore the year after he got the GM spot. Hendrickson was a top scout for the Ravens, and seemingly has been Gutekunst's right hand man since he was brought in. If Harbaugh respects Hendrickson, and the Ravens were really good when both Harbaugh and Hendrickson were there (Super Bowl championship, 4 division titles), it might make Green Bay a more attractive location for him if he has a level of comfort with the front office and scouting knowing that Hendrickson is here.

46.5 sacks in 106 games means he wants to play about half the time. This guy is a supreme talent and has always underachieved going way back to his Michigan days.

Gary is definitely a pass-rusher...but only when he decides he wants to play.

Thought this would make an interesting poll. I have never set up a poll before in this forum, so if it all looks kind of botched...oh well.....

If Gutekunst is out, my favorite to be the next GM. https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/team/front-office/alec-halaby And not because he's a Wisconsin man, but because he has a nerd-like Stearns times two reputation with statistical analysis and will nearly always be the smartest guy in the room.

Said it a few days ago and I'll say it again. 2 months back I thought the suggestion of LaFleur getting fired was comical. But the record is what it is. Last 4 seasons, regular season record of 37-30-1, and a 1-3 playoff record. They lost the first playoff game in 2021, so the last four trips to the playoffs has resulted in a 1-4 record. Policy would be completely justified to clean house. And why does Hafley have such a great reputation anyway?

SEC KO'ed. ESPN demanding a recount.

He gets no credit for winning a Super Bowl with mediocre-at-best Joe Flacco as his starting QB?

Miami Dolphins, number of playoff games coached- Don Shula = 31 All the rest = 12 Considering how the playoffs have expanded, it's pretty impressive that Shula is that far ahead of the rest of the field. Of the Miami Dolphins playoff victories, he was the head coach in 85% of those wins.

betus.com, an actual sportsbook has the line as a pick 'em. Over/under is 45 1/2.

In the least surprising move ever, CB-Geimere Latimer Jr has reached an agreement with West Virginia. They just as well might have announced this a few weeks ago.

The Badgers entire offense might have needed to play 25 Big 10 games to get to 6000 yards of total offense. Congratulations to River Falls, at least there is somewhere they still play college football.

Regarding Rodgers, I know that "back up" comment was a joke, but it is interesting to take a look at his 2025 stacked against the other quarterbacks. QB rating finish was 14th in the league. That was better than franchise QBs named Justin Herbert, C.J. Stroud, Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes. And for the hype of some of the young (and not so young in Lawrence's case) QBs with impressive W/L records, Rodgers QB rating was better than Trevor Lawrence, Caleb Williams and Bo Nix. And in the case of Nix...a lot better, not even close better. I know QB rating is by no means a definitive stat measuring QB play, but I do think it is accurate enough to show that Rodgers is still a legitimate starting QB in this league, and many of these other guys may be good, but not good to the level that the media has hyped them up. Another 10 win season and another playoff trip for the old man.

Six weeks ago I would have laughed at the idea of Gutekunst and LeFleur getting fired. But if they lose the first playoff game, over the last four years the Packers have a regular season record of 37-30-1 and a 1-3 playoff record. IMO 37-30-1 definitely is not a "should be fired" record, but with more limited off-season resources coming up, it doesn't give one great hopes for optimism.

Another transfer reaches an agreement with Wisconsin- NR - TE - Ryan Schwendeman - Southern Illinois 247Sports put TE-Jacob Harris in the rankings. He is #248 overall, #17 tight end. S-Preston Zachman to Indiana QB-Billy Edwards to North Carolina

The guy who was the #1 QB on their list, Old Dominion's Colton Joseph, has an agreement with Wisconsin. According to 247Sports portal rankings, Joseph was 155 on the overall list, 19 on the quarterback ranking. Dual-threat player, from what I've been told is a better runner than passer, Simply saying that he is a more experienced version of Carter Smith might not be that big of a stretch. although I think Smith has more upside as a passer. In 2025, Joseph was 173/290 passing (57.9%) for 2624 yards and 21 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. He has 158 rushing attempts for 1007 yards (6.7 average) and 13 touchdowns. Interestingly enough, Old Dominion played Indiana this year. Passing, Joseph was 11/22 for 96 yards with 0 TD and 3 INT. He broke two huge runs in the game and has 179 rushing yards on 10 carries with 2 touchdowns. Joseph should be a good fit for what Grimes offense needs. We'll see if he can make the jump from the Sun Belt to the Big 10. Some guys do, some guys don't. Several Badger podcasters have been talking about this guy for weeks, so it was no secret the Badgers were really after him. One of the things I like is that I asked a football-crazy acquaintance about Joseph, a the first thing out of his mouth was, "he's a lot better than Edwards." So he has that going for him.

Three reported agreements with portal players. Again, first number is overall 247Sport ranking, number in () is the 247Sport ranking at that position. 111 (11) - RB - Abu Sama - Iowa State 852 (87) - S - Carson Van Dinter - Iowa State NR - TE - Jacob Harris - Bowling Green Kind of a surprise right off the bat with Samu. No doubt the Badgers needed offensive skill position players more than anything else, but I wasn't expecting a running back that highly graded. One would have to assume he must have had a pretty decent price-tag. I will say, just looking at some highlight vids, I does look like a solid upgrade from what the Badgers have returning. Harris gives them 7 tight ends, a good overall number. But with all the TE visits/rumors, it sure seems likely that they will add more and probably go a receiver or two short this next year considering the lack of numbers at that spot. Van Dinter is from Kaukauna, WI.

My two favorite QBs already off the board. No surprise that Rocco Becht followed Matt Campbell to Penn State. Josh Hoover has already reached and agreement with Indiana.