2024 Training Camp Thread

[tynimiller]

I forget who it was, and will try to find it, but I remember an interview in the early inception period of podcasts a show having a backup QB that either was at the tail end of their career or one just out of the NFL on and discussed the art of being a backup they felt simply not everyone is cut out for.

I actually as I typed the above also now remember an interview with Kurt Warner where he spoke that being a back up in many ways was harder mentally than anything he ever had to do in the NFL...you had to be able to possibly run or help be part of the offense trying to give the defense looks similar to the opposition upcoming, but also be ready at the drop of a hat and enter the offense seamlessly should QB1 go down. The diversification of what all you're having to do as the #2 is daunting for many and I believe Warner said he has known a couple guys that merely their situations and having that log jam of a cemented #1 and their mental fortitude not being strong enough led them to become lazy and not driven...and guys would non-work themselves out of the league.

I'm not saying that's Clifford at all...but depending on what type of mental make up one is, knowing without a doubt you will never see a snap that truly matters unless catastrophe hits would erode your drive some possibly.

Matt Flynn is a Packer example of a guy that from all accounts absolutely mastered the art of being the backup....Ryan Fitzpatrick seemed to seamlessly do it his whole career multiple times back and forth from starter to backup....it is a tough thing to excel at.

 

[GBkrzygrl]

Hi there. Glad to see Training Camp starting. Hubby and I have been having health issues to it's good to have a distraction.

Love finally signed his contract and that's one less thing to think about.

Just stopping by when I can. Take care.

 

[El Guapo]

Hi there. Glad to see Training Camp starting. Hubby and I have been having health issues to it's good to have a distraction.

Love finally signed his contract and that's one less thing to think about.

Just stopping by when I can. Take care.

Glad to see you back. Luckily you can stop back quite easily again in the future!

 

[El Guapo]

...you had to be able to possibly run or help be part of the offense trying to give the defense looks similar to the opposition upcoming, but also be ready at the drop of a hat and enter the offense seamlessly should QB1 go down.

That was all great insight. It might be easier to be QB2 if you're a rookie because you don't know what you don't know. Once your sophomore season rolls around the coaching staff probably feels that you should be better prepared. They probably throw a lot more onto your plate and now you know that you don't know everything. The expectations are higher, the pressure is higher, and some guys fold.

Different sport but I played on a national-level team as a backup. It was much easier for me. Play a few points here and there, hand out some beer at the end of the game. It wasn't quite the pressure of a QB2!

 

[Thirteen Below]

Hopefully. The key philosophy on either side of the ball should be attack, not sit back and watch. All those draft choices, especially in the first round, to lay an egg on defense.

That's one of the things that I keep going back to...we've drafted half a million defensive players players in on Day One or early Day Three over all these years, and almost every single one of them turns out to be Just A Guy or at least drastically underperforms , year in and year out. Is it that the same scouting staff who keeps finding these All-Pros on offense are so consistently and completely incapable of evaluating defensive talent - or is it that once they get here, the defensive coaches don't know how to coach them up?

It's just hard to believe that the personnel departments that have produced such dynamic, dominant offenses could so often fail to deliver with the defensive players they were bringing on board. Something about that discrepancy just fails to add up.

 

[Heyjoe4]

One of the podcasts talked about how bad Clifford has been consistently in 2024. He's really kind of stunk up the off-season programs and now training camp, having several multi-interception days and no real bright spots to think of. Believe it or not, the guy did say that he wants Clifford to do well.

On the flip side, he said that Pratt hasn't had many opportunities. In the only main one, he drove down the field for a score. He suggested that Pratt should start the week as the #2 QB to see how he responds, and send a message to Clifford.

That's all that I know....and that it's only the first week of camp.

Thanks. This is all news to me so I appreciate it. Weird that Clifford did so well in camp and PS last year. Seemed like he was a solid #2. Well if he's struggling in camp and PS, that will give Pratt more reps, I think.....

 

[Heyjoe4]

That was all great insight. It might be easier to be QB2 if you're a rookie because you don't know what you don't know. Once your sophomore season rolls around the coaching staff probably feels that you should be better prepared. They probably throw a lot more onto your plate and now you know that you don't know everything. The expectations are higher, the pressure is higher, and some guys fold.

Different sport but I played on a national-level team as a backup. It was much easier for me. Play a few points here and there, hand out some beer at the end of the game. It wasn't quite the pressure of a QB2!

Yeah and being QB #2 on a team that is expected to do very well - well that adds some pressure. And it should. These guys are all paid to perform. If they don't, next an up.

 

[OldSchool101]

Myers 100% has trade value. I'm not talking a Day2 level type pick but you're talking about an above average center that's still very affordable for a team to test run one year before deciding what to do. Likely if I'm Gute I'm wanting to net a 5th round pick or better in some capacity. Likely some team is going to face a center going down in camp or before the trade deadline...if you have a team with promise need a Center I could easily see us do say packages like one of these:

Packers get - 4th rounder
'Other Team' get - Myers and 7th rounder or a 6th perhaps

Packers get - 5th and 6th rounders
'Other Team' get - Myers

While many would overlook and even argue this isn't smart move...I would vehemently disagree. Let's be real honest for a minute. We have three guys with center experience and/or are better centers than Myers in Jenkins, Tom and then of course the lowest and untested at NFL in Monk. BUT that is a lot of options. Myers isn't coming back this offseason...he is going elsewhere and sure while he may get you a 4th or 5th round in compensatory....that isn't UNTIL 2026 draft. A 5th in 2025 draft is more valuable than a 4th in 2026 given the surge we are entering and having just paid and likely about to have to face some decisions in the next two off seasons. Keep churning the youth and finding the next ups.

I agree Myers would probably garner a 5th straight up.

While I doubt he’s in the trade block, if it becomes a reality, I’m guessing it’d be their 3rd rounder for our 4th Rounder plus Myers or something like that 4th for 6th like you mentored

 

[OldSchool101]

Hi there. Glad to see Training Camp starting. Hubby and I have been having health issues to it's good to have a distraction.

Love finally signed his contract and that's one less thing to think about.

Just stopping by when I can. Take care.

Prayers already lifted @gbkrzgrl for healing. Get better soon

 

[OldSchool101]

Marshawn Lloyd and Kitan Olodapo are back and being worked in slowly. So good news on the injury front.

 

[sschind]

Just curious, why are there so many interceptions during TC. I think we've got more already than we had all last season. Is it mostly because of Clifford because if I'm not mistaken Love has a couple as well. Is it because the defense is that good? I'm hoping it is. Or is it just the types of plays they run? Does it happen league wide or what? There just seems to be a lot and not just from the starters but from depth guys as well.

 

[OldSchool101]

According to Several interviews eoth Coaches (such as Stenavich) I’ve watched, the Offense usually struggles more in those first few weeks of “installs”. This year the Defense is intentionally being more aggressive than normal with lots of DB’s playing in the box and playing more “downhill”

Add to that I do believe this Defense is pretty stocked with talented players and has more raw talent overall than they did last year.
Added Stokes. Added McKinney. Added Evan Williams. Added Javon Bullard. Added Edgerrin Cooper. Added Hopper. added Kalen King.. who had a beautiful Pick 6 on Love! Jumped that pass perfectly I think we got us an absolute steal in Rd7. Hopefully
King is not Josh Jackson 2.0 just starting fast and phasing out

That’s my take anyways

 

[Poppa San]

Just curious, why are there so many interceptions during TC.

Gary has been terrorizing the OL. Could also be a factor. Mixing and matching on the OL leaves room for improvement there. Tom out for a while, EJ getting veterans rest every few days*, Trying to find a spot for 1st rd pick, seeing what you got in Dillard, etc.

* I don't recall veterans rest this early in camp. He had a day off like on day 3 or 4. Is he nursing a chronic injury I forgot about?

 

[OldSchool101]

Gary has been terrorizing the OL. Could also be a factor. Mixing and matching on the OL leaves room for improvement there. Tom out for a while, EJ getting veterans rest every few days*, Trying to find a spot for 1st rd pick, seeing what you got in Dillard, etc.

* I don't recall veterans rest this early in camp. He had a day off like on day 3 or 4. Is he nursing a chronic injury I forgot about?

Actually that’s interesting Hafley mentioned this. He said there has been significant disruption by the DL. He mentioned Gary and also TJ Slaton. Apparently both have been very effective at applying pressure and causing errors and the DB’s have been somewhat recipients of that pressure.

That moving guys around on OL is obviously a part. I heard Dillard was playing good at LT, but struggled at RT.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Just curious, why are there so many interceptions during TC. I think we've got more already than we had all last season. Is it mostly because of Clifford because if I'm not mistaken Love has a couple as well. Is it because the defense is that good? I'm hoping it is. Or is it just the types of plays they run? Does it happen league wide or what? There just seems to be a lot and not just from the starters but from depth guys as well.

Well it seems like there were a lot more changes/additions on the defense from recent seasons, starting with the new DC as well FA McKinney, a resurgent Stokes, and high picks in Bullard and Cooper. The new guys are anxious to show their stuff. The veterans, especially Gary, are on fire - and again, driven by a new, aggressive scheme.

Anyway, I'm not too concerned. And it's hard to draw conclusions from the first week plus of camp. About the only concern I have is with the apparently lousy play of QB Clifford, and even that isn't a big deal, yet.

 

[tynimiller]

Actually that’s interesting Hafley mentioned this. He said there has been significant disruption by the DL. He mentioned Gary and also TJ Slaton. Apparently both have been very effective at applying pressure and causing errors and the DB’s have been somewhat recipients of that pressure.

That moving guys around on OL is obviously a part. I heard Dillard was playing good at LT, but struggled at RT.

Slaton was awesome last year and this year entering a contract year I mildly expect him to be an absolute menace upfront for us.

 

[sschind]

Thanks everyone. Most of your replies have touched on many of my suspicions. I am aware that the defense usually runs ahead of the offense this early on. I'm not really concerned for the offensive ramifications but it is kind of exciting to see it from a defensive standpoint. I think we already have more than we did all last season. I guess I was more curious as to if this is a general league wide thing or more specific to the Packers situations.


Anyway, last season gave us a reason to be excited about our offense and I see no reason for that to change. So far it seems its time for the defense to provide that feeling. I'm really looking forward to this season even more than last.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Thanks everyone. Most of your replies have touched on many of my suspicions. I am aware that the defense usually runs ahead of the offense this early on. I'm not really concerned for the offensive ramifications but it is kind of exciting to see it from a defensive standpoint. I think we already have more than we did all last season. I guess I was more curious as to if this is a general league wide thing or more specific to the Packers situations.


Anyway, last season gave us a reason to be excited about our offense and I see no reason for that to change. So far it seems its time for the defense to provide that feeling. I'm really looking forward to this season even more than last.

Agreed. And it's very hard, nearly impossible, to win a SB without a very, very good defense. Certainly that's true for the offense and STs as well. Just seems that champions in the NFL get there with a strong D.

The defense should actually be fun to watch this year (rather than the cringeworthy performances under Barry).

 

[sschind]

Just saw these comments from Brock Purdy who just threw 4 picks in his last 5 attempts yesterday. Makes a lot of sense.


Right now is the time for us to go out and ... experiment," Purdy said Wednesday on KNBR. "Can I fit it in this window on this hitch? Can I look off Fred [Warner] or [Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles] or De'Vondre [Campbell] in a certain way and then make that throw backside?

"You gotta try it out. In a game during the season it comes down to protecting the ball every snap, every play, so you can’t necessarily try those things out, but right now we can. My mindset right now is to protect the ball, but let’s be aggressive, let’s try this out, let’s figure it out."

 

[El Guapo]

...and now I heard that Clifford has been starting to play better.

Let's be clear. The defense usually has a step up but this year, everyone is tuned in and excited about the new DC. Add in that all of the starters are healthy and you've got a mismatch. Jordan Love didn't play early on, the OL hasn't had its starters and players are being moved around, it's no shock for the offense to struggle.

What we want to see is a nice build-up towards the regular season.

 

[Heyjoe4]

...and now I heard that Clifford has been starting to play better.

Let's be clear. The defense usually has a step up but this year, everyone is tuned in and excited about the new DC. Add in that all of the starters are healthy and you've got a mismatch. Jordan Love didn't play early on, the OL hasn't had its starters and players are being moved around, it's no shock for the offense to struggle.

What we want to see is a nice build-up towards the regular season.

Yeah that's well said EG. I don't get too high or too low about reports from TC, well not including injuries. sschind's comment from Purdy was good - that teams are trying new things, especially QBs testing throws into tight spots or on new routes. I'd expect players to be rusty, to your point, they're building for the start of the season (and even after the season starts, it takes a month give or take for the team to start playing like a team).

One bit of news that is exciting is what the new DC is doing. Sounds like guys are enjoying the aggressive style of play Hafley brings. I'm all for anything that fires players up before the season starts. For as long as I can remember, the D had been a real concern, in TC and in the regular season.

 

[El Guapo]

I can't remember where I heard this (I think during the Family Night Scrimmage) but someone said that the defensive communication and synchronicity is so much better this season than they've seen. When I heard that said, it means that they are playing more as a team than as individuals. Great teams communicate often and effectively.