Rams @ Packers - NFCD Playoff GDT - 1/16 - 3:35 PM CST

[NCF]

Fun to go back and listen to this now. Something often overlooked is when we drafted Rashan Gary, most understood that he was a little bit of a project and needed a lot of coaching up. He was probably the least ready-to-play EDGE in that draft, yet with Z and Preston in house, we could afford to play the long game.

Do you think this guys confidence has ever waned?

[go pak go]

It's tough when the "lunch pail" guys at WR are both too expensive and replaceable to be kept around when their team-first attitude and willingness to do the dirty work makes them fan favorites and valuable team members. The mid-level veteran is the most disadvantaged by the football finance and cap economy. Responsible team building REALLY limits the mid-level contracts you can afford. You pay big money to big stars and rookie-contract money to as many as possible.

Spot on. I've been talking for a long time how the NFLPA really hurt itself on the last CBA because a big goal for them was to "reward" veteran players. The notion that rookies made more than guys 5 or 6 years in the league was ridiculous and it absolutely was.

However the unintended consequence of the CBA was exactly this. It made 5 to 7 year players far too expensive. It put too much of a premium on draft picks and it forced too many players who are loved by fans to play elsewhere, even when fans and players don't want to because of the economics.

It really does suck that a guy like Allen Lazard will never get life changing money even though his personal contribution and team buy in makes him a top 40 to 50 WR in the league.

[Yoop]

More on the defense from pff

"The Packers were charged with just two missed tackles by PFF; one by Darnell Savage and another by Za’Darius Smith. The two misses were the Packers’ fewest in a game all season. Tackling has been an adventure for Mike Pettine’s defense in 2020, but the group rallied to the ball and made stops in the open field against the Rams on Saturday.

10 different defenders had a final tackling grade of 70.0 or more. Linebacker Krys Barnes and cornerbacks Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan combined to make 26 tackles without a miss.
Overall, Saturday’s win was the Packers’ highest team tackling grade of the season (79.7)"


that's fantastic news on the tackling side, great time for them to be peaking

[salmar80]

LOL, on the botched XP, looks like Scott wanted Mason to lateral the ball back to him. Scott had some space there, but 95% would've gotten caught before getting into the EZ.

[go pak go]

Remember the narrative that Gary is a low effort guy?

I mean there has to be accountability on the draft industrial complex on how wrong that narrative was.

[YoHoChecko]

Remember the narrative that Gary is a low effort guy?

I mean there has to be accountability on the draft industrial complex on how wrong that narrative was.

That was a really interesting piece.

I still think under the wrong leadership, it could have played out differently. But Gary was someone who gave what he considered his best effort. The narrative was more that Gary was SO gifted, he didn't understand what hard work was. So he thought he was working hard and giving top effort, but he wasn't. I'm not sure if that was ever true or not; it felt like it was more about the off-field, classroom, study habits, technique work that they were talking about more than on-field motor.

But I do know that from the moment we drafted him, I knew that Za'Darius Smith's understanding of hard work would be an excellent learning point for him. And I also know that his desire to be great, which was a draft industrial complex question mark, never should have been questioned, like you said, based on his own interviews and his coach's interviews.

[Yoop]

Fun to go back and listen to this now. Something often overlooked is when we drafted Rashan Gary, most understood that he was a little bit of a project and needed a lot of coaching up. He was probably the least ready-to-play EDGE in that draft, yet with Z and Preston in house, we could afford to play the long game.

Do you think this guys confidence has ever waned?

I still would have moved back 5 slots and taken the DT.

that doesn't mean I dislike Gary, as I said, with Rodgers window I want draft picks that help sooner rather then later.

last I checked Z had 55 cumulative pressures, Prestine had 38, and Gary had 45, imo sacks get over rated, pressures under rated, in that sense Gary has had a pretty good year, I should go check some of the other OLB's drafted last year to see how they stack up.

[RingoCStarrQB]

Remember the narrative that Gary is a low effort guy?

I mean there has to be accountability on the draft industrial complex on how wrong that narrative was.

That was a really interesting piece.

I still think under the wrong leadership, it could have played out differently. But Gary was someone who gave what he considered his best effort. The narrative was more that Gary was SO gifted, he didn't understand what hard work was. So he thought he was working hard and giving top effort, but he wasn't. I'm not sure if that was ever true or not; it felt like it was more about the off-field, classroom, study habits, technique work that they were talking about more than on-field motor.

But I do know that from the moment we drafted him, I knew that Za'Darius Smith's understanding of hard work would be an excellent learning point for him. And I also know that his desire to be great, which was a draft industrial complex question mark, never should have been questioned, like you said, based on his own interviews and his coach's interviews.

Let's all R-E-L-A-X and be extremely thankful now that Rashan Gary has proven himself to NOT be the second coming of Nick Perry.

[lulu]

Herman does a great job explaining the advantages of using a prevent type scheme, we may give up a bunch of yards, but not the yrds that matter, really hard for teams to string together enough first downs using small ball only without a mistake, ya got to get a few big plays, and we don't give up many of those.

not to take anything away from all the star players on this defense ( King is a whipping boy that is still better then some CB's we've had prior) but imo Barnes has really made a difference, he is instinctively better then anyone we've had for a while and reacts quickly and decisively to the snap of the ball.

When you have King of the field at the same time as Jaire, yes, he's going to look like he sucks. I'm not a huge King fan but I could see him back on a team friendly deal. I can't see him getting a ton of dough from another team. Lets just say he's servicable. We could, and have, done much worse than him for a starter.

[go pak go]

I still would have moved back 5 slots and taken the DT.

that doesn't mean I dislike Gary, as I said, with Rodgers window I want draft picks that help sooner rather then later.

last I checked Z had 55 cumulative pressures, Prestine had 38, and Gary had 45, imo sacks get over rated, pressures under rated, in that sense Gary has had a pretty good year, I should go check some of the other OLB's drafted last year to see how they stack up.

I understand where you are coming from yoop. I really do. We all want to get Rodgers rings. But there are a few things I disagree with you on.

1. I think you are viewing Rodgers's window like it was 2019 and 2020 when in reality it was 2019 - 2022/2023. We just signed him to a long conract validating that so going "all in" for impact of a rookie season is short sighted and would constantly have us chasing a moving ball.

2. Jeffrey Simmons was a great player. We also had Luke Getsy who was on the Mississippi State coaching staff and we passed on Simmons But we took Elgton. So we passed on one player that was on our forum's "first round radar" and took another player who we thought wasn't a position of need (center)

3. Jeffrey Simmons would not have had any impact last year vs San Fran. The 9ers had their success beating our edge boys and our offense only mustered 20 points scored primarily in garbage time. A hole plugging DT would not have changed htat.

4. The narrative changes. Halfway through the season in 2019 you wanted to trade up for Bush or take Fant because Graham wasn't cutting it at TE. Then we lay an egg with bad run defense and it changes to we should have taken Simmons.

5. The Titans defense was not good this year. Additionally, our Packers run defense carved the Titans up both with outside edge and up the middle runs.

6. Depth matters. Having players behind starters matters. We are seeing this right now at OT and OLB. We would not have a realistic shot at the SB this if we didn't have Gary because Preston Smith is not going to cut it for us if he were our full time edge rusher. He just doesn't have the dynamic ability that Gary has. What we potentially have with Gary is so special because he is so dynamic. He can rush from the interior. He is great at stopping the run and setting the edge. He is faster than most ILBs and can chase quarterbacks down if the QB is a runner. He has the "want to" to succeed which you can't teach. He can beat tackles with speed and quicks. He can beat tackles with bull rushes. Literally this guy has everything and I am so happy we had someone watching, learning and getting ready to step in to replace and supplant Preston Smith. I mean the Rams offense in the 4th quarter yesterday had NO shot. None. The package with Gary, Preston, Z and Gary was absolute death for Goff and that Rams offensive line.

7. Thing is when you pick 12th, there are always going to be 3 or 4 guys who also would have been a great fit in GB. Simmons, Fant, Burns, Metcalf, Gary all would be great Packers. We wouldn't have lost with any of them. But yesterday was the first time I watched 52 before the snap and knew he would wreck the play from the outside. I haven't really seen that since Matthews. Even last year we saw it from Preston the first half but Zadarius does most of his work from the interior. We have that with Gary. If this offense continues to score points, guys like Gary and Savage will continue to show their worth these next two games.

[go pak go]

Remember the narrative that Gary is a low effort guy?

I mean there has to be accountability on the draft industrial complex on how wrong that narrative was.

That was a really interesting piece.

I still think under the wrong leadership, it could have played out differently. But Gary was someone who gave what he considered his best effort. The narrative was more that Gary was SO gifted, he didn't understand what hard work was. So he thought he was working hard and giving top effort, but he wasn't. I'm not sure if that was ever true or not; it felt like it was more about the off-field, classroom, study habits, technique work that they were talking about more than on-field motor.

But I do know that from the moment we drafted him, I knew that Za'Darius Smith's understanding of hard work would be an excellent learning point for him. And I also know that his desire to be great, which was a draft industrial complex question mark, never should have been questioned, like you said, based on his own interviews and his coach's interviews.

I mean I have always felt that the draft is 75% environment and 25% player. Culture and mentorship is so important. We all see that in our own life too. When you have someone take you under their wing...it usually means you are going to succeed. Gary really was put in a perfect spot to succeed.

[Crazylegs Starks]

Have we ever had a punter who is good at punting outdoors in December/January?

Hentrich and Landeta come to mind but that was a looooong time ago

[Crazylegs Starks]

Remember the narrative that Gary is a low effort guy?

I mean there has to be accountability on the draft industrial complex on how wrong that narrative was.

Remember how some were troubled by Gary crying when the Packers called him? And how he already had his own sports agency?

[BF004]

More on the defense from pff

"The Packers were charged with just two missed tackles by PFF; one by Darnell Savage and another by Za’Darius Smith. The two misses were the Packers’ fewest in a game all season. Tackling has been an adventure for Mike Pettine’s defense in 2020, but the group rallied to the ball and made stops in the open field against the Rams on Saturday.

10 different defenders had a final tackling grade of 70.0 or more. Linebacker Krys Barnes and cornerbacks Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan combined to make 26 tackles without a miss.
Overall, Saturday’s win was the Packers’ highest team tackling grade of the season (79.7)"


that's fantastic news on the tackling side, great time for them to be peaking

Packers say they are tougher graders than most on missed tackles. Guess I don't get how you don't call this a missed tackle here from Barnes.

[NCF]

He tackled him... just so happened it was into the end zone, but he tackled him.

[BF004]

Man, how true this is, lol

[go pak go]

See I actually think yesterday's defense looked much more like 2019's defense.

Great pressure and stopped them in the 4th quarter. I would honestly say our defenses didn't look "great" this year even from a numbers standpoint because they would allow 125 yards and 10+ points in the 4th quarter each game.

Yesterday they allowed like 20 yards and 0 points in the 4th quarter.

When this team needed a stop...the defense gave it.

[BF004]

He tackled him... just so happened it was into the end zone, but he tackled him.

I dont' know, not knocking him game overall, but made contact at the 5, got dragged into the endzone, did not get a tackle on the stat sheet for that play.

That one play, I am giving a negative grade and calling that a missed tackle. I am quite sure Barnes, Olivadotti and Pettine all expect better there.

[BF004]

Little tweet dump here:

[NCF]

He tackled him... just so happened it was into the end zone, but he tackled him.

I dont' know, not knocking him game overall, but made contact at the 5, got dragged into the endzone, did not get a tackle on the stat sheet for that play.

That one play, I am giving a negative grade and calling that a missed tackle. I am quite sure Barnes, Olivadotti and Pettine all expect better there.

Probably. I can just see, depending on how you slice it, where that may not be scored as a missed tackle.