Which veterans will not make final squad?

[Sky King]

You have to consider that Matthews injured his shoulder in week 12 of last season though.

I have. That's why I'm impressed that he could even play at all the last four regular season games plus those three playoff games with a shoulder joint so injured. Including the game that his shoulder was injured, that accounts for 40% of all games played last season. Very importantly, they were down the stretch. That percentage does not include other games where his hamstring had also limited his performances.

For much of the season he could be blocked by a single OL, probably due to physical limitations. I'm guessing that you have access to some stat from somewhere that indicates what percent of the time he had been double-teamed or faced single blockers, per snap or maybe per season(s) at OLB. His ILB stats would be an apple to an orange though. If you do have access to those numbers I'm sure that some of us would be curious to know what they are.

A shoulder joint injury is one that may be difficult to understand regarding the level of pain and loss of range of motion/strength unless one has experienced an injury like that for themselves. Unfortunately, I have. Hopefully, you never will. Him playing through it made me an even bigger fan of Matthews' and his grit than I had been before. He is one tough SOB in my opinion and my shoulder fully agrees with that.

 

[gbgary]

he pretty much only gets doubled if...he spins and goes inside between the tackle and guard. and remember his success depends on the pressure the other guys apply and vice versa. with a healthy front 7 everyone looks better.

 

[brandon2348]

I have. That's why I'm impressed that he could even play at all the last four regular season games plus those three playoff games with a shoulder joint so injured. Including the game that his shoulder was injured, that accounts for 40% of all games played last season. Very importantly, they were down the stretch. That percentage does not include other games where his hamstring had also limited his performances.

For much of the season he could be blocked by a single OL, probably due to physical limitations. I'm guessing that you have access to some stat from somewhere that indicates what percent of the time he had been double-teamed or faced single blockers, per snap or maybe per season(s) at OLB. His ILB stats would be an apple to an orange though. If you do have access to those numbers I'm sure that some of us would be
curious to know what they are.

A shoulder joint injury is one that may be difficult to understand regarding the level of pain and loss of range of motion/strength unless one has experienced an injury like that for themselves. Unfortunately, I have. Hopefully, you never will. Him playing through it made me an even bigger fan of Matthews' and his grit than I had been before. He is one tough SOB in my opinion and my shoulder fully agrees with that.

This is where I have the problem as i've experienced the same injury of the "AC Joint" my sophmore season in college that you keep bringing up. I've posted about this before but you just want to keep giving Matthews a pass for it so I figured I'd chime in and describe it with more depth.

My sophmore year in college in the first action of the season we were playing Washington State in an interleague scrimmage and the mighty "Drew Bledsoe" where I ended up taking on a guard and his helmet hit directly on my right shoulder pad where the AC Joint is and "Pop". I felt a stabing pain that ran all the way down my arm. I suppose as a 190 pound safety something was going to give giving up so much size. Regardless I was forced to leave the game and missed the following game as well.

Yes, there were range of motion issues and discomfort along with strength degeneration as the season went on. I would get the shoulder numbed before games and gobble lots of milligrams of pain meds before games that would cause me to vomit. The end result was I had my best season ever playing football with 8 picks which I believe was second in the nation that year for Juco and earned all conference with honorable mention all american honors. I actually had surgery on that shoulder 24 years later last fall and the doctor was amazed at the amount of scar tissue and compression there was around the joint. Needless to say I feel much better today.

I don't tell this story because I think I'm a bigger bad *** then Clay Matthews. I tell it cause he had better rehab people, better pain meds, and better overall support so this "AC Joint" excuse doesn't go far with me. I'm just tired of all the excuses for some of these guys. This Matthews is making millions of dollars and if he can't battle through a sprained AC Joint with all his resources then shame on him.

 

[Sky King]

This is where I have the problem as i've experienced the same injury of the "AC Joint" my sophmore season in college that you keep bringing up. I've posted about this before but you just want to keep giving Matthews a pass for it so I figured I'd chime in and describe it with more depth.

My sophmore year in college in the first action of the season we were playing Washington State in an interleague scrimmage and the mighty "Drew Bledsoe" where I ended up taking on a guard and his helmet hit directly on my right shoulder pad where the AC Joint is and "Pop". I felt a stabing pain that ran all the way down my arm. I suppose as a 190 pound safety something was going to give giving up so much size. Regardless I was forced to leave the game and missed the following game as well.

Yes, there were range of motion issues and discomfort along with strength degeneration as the season went on. I would get the shoulder numbed before games and gobble lots of milligrams of pain meds before games that would cause me to vomit. The end result was I had my best season ever playing football with 8 picks which I believe was second in the nation that year for Juco and earned all conference with honorable mention all american honors. I actually had surgery on that shoulder 24 years later last fall and the doctor was amazed at the amount of scar tissue and compression there was around the joint. Needless to say I feel much better today.

I don't tell this story because I think I'm a bigger bad *** then Clay Matthews. I tell it cause he had better rehab people, better pain meds, and better overall support so this "AC Joint" excuse doesn't go far with me. I'm just tired of all the excuses for some of these guys. This Matthews is making millions of dollars and if he can't battle through a sprained AC Joint with all his resources then shame on him.

It's a good thing for you that you did not always have to take-on 300# OTs and/or Gs most every play.

 

[Mondio]

I think Guion is gone after the suspension assuming relative health with the guys we have right now. He's not going to count against the roster after cut downs and he's basically a free roster spot when it matters to guard against injury.

 

[brandon2348]

It's a good thing for you that you did not always have to take-on 300# OTs and/or Gs most every play.

Rather take a guard on anyday over a compact fast RB running "downhill" at ya.

 

[Sky King]

Rather take a guard on anyday over a compact fast RB running "downhill" at ya.

From the upper end zone seats you all look like ants, anyway.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I have. That's why I'm impressed that he could even play at all the last four regular season games plus those three playoff games with a shoulder joint so injured. Including the game that his shoulder was injured, that accounts for 40% of all games played last season. Very importantly, they were down the stretch. That percentage does not include other games where his hamstring had also limited his performances.

For much of the season he could be blocked by a single OL, probably due to physical limitations. I'm guessing that you have access to some stat from somewhere that indicates what percent of the time he had been double-teamed or faced single blockers, per snap or maybe per season(s) at OLB. His ILB stats would be an apple to an orange though. If you do have access to those numbers I'm sure that some of us would be curious to know what they are.

I don't deny the shoulder injury severly limited Matthews late last season but he wasn't effective while being healthy early in the year either.

FWIW he was double-teamed on 35.2% of his individual pass rushes in 2010 and 37.8% in '11. Last season his double-team rate was a career-low 22.6%.

 

[brandon2348]

I don't deny the shoulder injury severly limited Matthews late last season but he wasn't effective while being healthy early in the year either.

FWIW he was double-teamed on 35.2% of his individual pass rushes in 2010 and 37.8% in '11. Last season his double-team rate was a career-low 22.6%.

Which clearly points to the fact that he has lost a step. There is way more going on with Clay Matthews then a sprained AC joint.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Which clearly points to the fact that he has lost a step. There is way more going on with Clay Matthews then a sprained AC joint.

It's for sure an indicator that opponents don't respect Matthews as much as they did early in his career.

 

[Sky King]

Which clearly points to the fact that he has lost a step. There is way more going on with Clay Matthews then a sprained AC joint.

I don't deny the shoulder injury severly limited Matthews late last season but he wasn't effective while being healthy early in the year either.

FWIW he was double-teamed on 35.2% of his individual pass rushes in 2010 and 37.8% in '11. Last season his double-team rate was a career-low 22.6%.

Thanks! Good info. I knew you would pull through.

 

[Sky King]

This is where I have the problem as i've experienced the same injury of the "AC Joint" my sophmore season in college that you keep bringing up. I've posted about this before but you just want to keep giving Matthews a pass for it so I figured I'd chime in and describe it with more depth.

My sophmore year in college in the first action of the season we were playing Washington State in an interleague scrimmage and the mighty "Drew Bledsoe" where I ended up taking on a guard and his helmet hit directly on my right shoulder pad where the AC Joint is and "Pop". I felt a stabing pain that ran all the way down my arm. I suppose as a 190 pound safety something was going to give giving up so much size. Regardless I was forced to leave the game and missed the following game as well.

Yes, there were range of motion issues and discomfort along with strength degeneration as the season went on. I would get the shoulder numbed before games and gobble lots of milligrams of pain meds before games that would cause me to vomit. The end result was I had my best season ever playing football with 8 picks which I believe was second in the nation that year for Juco and earned all conference with honorable mention all american honors. I actually had surgery on that shoulder 24 years later last fall and the doctor was amazed at the amount of scar tissue and compression there was around the joint. Needless to say I feel much better today.

I don't tell this story because I think I'm a bigger bad *** then Clay Matthews. I tell it cause he had better rehab people, better pain meds, and better overall support so this "AC Joint" excuse doesn't go far with me. I'm just tired of all the excuses for some of these guys. This Matthews is making millions of dollars and if he can't battle through a sprained AC Joint with all his resources then shame on him.

You must be one tough ****** yourself.

 

[rodell330]

they need to play more man. zone gets you beat. the way the league lets CBs grab and hold (sherman) now, the Packers need to transition to that type of coverage team. gunter fits that mold. he can hold people up at the line of scrimmage (not letting them get into their route so fast) thus giving time for the pass rush to get the qb. he's not a starter but he's valuable to keep. i'll bet we see him a lot in these kinds of situations this year.

Yea getting toasted. Gunter isn't good. He was the fifth corner for a reason people. You cannot play man with a cornerback who doesn't have elite speed or quickness. He has neither.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Yea getting toasted. Gunter isn't good. He was the fifth corner for a reason people. You cannot play man with a cornerback who doesn't have elite speed or quickness. He has neither.

Actually a slow cornerback is capable of playing man coverage if he excels at pressing receivers at the LOS. I'm not sure Gunter fits that mould on a consistent basis though.

 

[rodell330]

Actually a slow cornerback is capable of playing man coverage if he excels at pressing receivers at the LOS. I'm not sure Gunter fits that mould on a consistent basis though.

Then there is no need for me to continue in response to this comment. You said it.

 

[Arthur Squires]

At first I thought there is no way Goodson makes it to the 53 this season. Now I'm thinking it's possible he has a good preseason makes some plays and maybe beats out Gunter, who I love for his physical play but understand he is slower than most NFL WRs. Now I say this...Janis gets cut and goes to 49ers and will someone please pack Barclay up and ship him to somewhere not called GreenBay!

 

[Mondio]

i was watching some highlights/lowlights from last season, and not that one play is indicative at all of a players overall value or production, but Goodson was in on one of them and I'll be damned if he wasn't almost perfect in his coverage. it still resulted in an Atlanta TD but he was in about as good as one can expect him to be, stride for stride over the top of the receiver.

The problem is, it leaves a pass towards the middle open, which is where they threw it and Ha Ha was a step to late getting there to break it up. Now was he late because he's just not fast enough or instinctive enough in diagnosing plays? or was it because he had to try and plug so many leaks back there last season and with more solid play from everyone, everyone becomes more assignment sure and everyone looks faster?

I don't know. I't not really on the Goodson makes the 53 wagon, it just stood out to me yesterday when I was watching that's all.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The problem is, it leaves a pass towards the middle open, which is where they threw it and Ha Ha was a step to late getting there to break it up. Now was he late because he's just not fast enough or instinctive enough in diagnosing plays? or was it because he had to try and plug so many leaks back there last season and with more solid play from everyone, everyone becomes more assignment sure and everyone looks faster?

Of course there's no way to be certain about it but I guess it seemed Clinton-Dix was a step late on several occasions because he had to cover up for too many shortcomings in the secondary. Similar to Burnett struggling when he had to line up with either the doctor or McMillian years ago.

 

[lambeaulambo]

I think our punter may be out. No one has mentioned cutting Allison instead of Janis. I think paddle hands has his spot. Fackrell, Ryan, Martinez, and Goodson and Ginter will be a spotlight. TT will not let his picks go without reason, so watch for that. Randall/Rollins should be safe for that reason, even though in a normal NFL management climate they would both be close to being cut.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

No one has mentioned cutting Allison instead of Janis. I think paddle hands has his spot. Fackrell, Ryan, Martinez will be a spotlight. Randall/Rollins should be safe for that reason, even though in a normal NFL management climate they would both be close to being cut.

It's possible Allison doesn't make the team but I highly doubt it's instead of Janis. The Packers don't have enough depth to release either Fackrell, Ryan or Martinez. While Randall and Rollins struggled last season there's no reason to cut them this early in their careers.

 

[gbgary]

It's possible Allison doesn't make the team but I highly doubt it's instead of Janis.

jeronimo in his rookie year has almost as many catches (12) as janis does in 3 seasons (15). davis will be gone before jeronimo.

 

[Dantés]

A lot of Geronimo's production came on scramble drills where Rodgers bought time, broke contain, and found him running open. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not like he was a consistent or impressive part of the scripted offense. He's in the mix with Davis, Yancey, Dupre, and Janis. At least one, if not two of that group of five won't make the team.

If it came down to Janis vs Allison for a 6th/7th spot, I'd take Janis for the ST ability.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

jeronimo in his rookie year has almost as many catches (12) as janis does in 3 seasons (15). davis will be gone before jeronimo.

Just to clarify, I expect Allison to make the final roster but it's possible either Davis (making a significant improvement over his rookie season), Yancey or Dupre end up making the team over him.

The Packers might want to keep Janis because of his play on special teams as well.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

With all the CB's the Packers now have fighting for positions, it's tempting to give the position a thread of its own. Not sure if this was posted elsewhere, but Randall wasn't the only Packer CB who had groin surgery last year (October), it was revealed yesterday that Rollins had surgery as well after the season was over.

While I am in wait and see mode when it comes to the position, it will be an interesting competition to see who comes out on top, as well as who doesn't even make the team.

http://packerswire.usatoday.com/201...inten-rollins-needed-offseason-groin-surgery/