Rank the Roster 2020: #8

[Waldo]

Rank The Roster: 2020 Edition

1. Aaron Rodgers (48%)[--]
2. Za'Darius Smith (70%)[+5]
3. Aaron Jones (43%)[+3]
4. Davante Adams (45%)[--]
5. David Bakhtiari (59%)[-3]
6. Kenny Clark (100%)[-3]
7. Jaire Alexander (74%)[-2]
8. Current

Percent of vote the winner got will be in parenthesis, position change vs. 2019 will be in brackets.

Here's how this works:

Each day there is a new thread/poll, starting at #1, on down to whereever we get. The whole point of this exercise is to have something to talk about in the lean news months to carry us to camp. Each poll will be open for voting for 24 hours. New threads will only be created on weekdays. Ties will cause a runoff poll.

Simply voting is not enough!

Post why you voted for who you did and provide a player to add to the next poll (every poll will be a list of 10 guys, a new player is added to the list each day).

Here's the thing. There is no criteria. This is an exercise to foster discussion therefore there are no clear criteria for ranking. Who is better right now? Who will have the best season? Who was better last year? Sort of a combo of them all? Do you take positional value into account? It really doesn't matter.

Previous Years:
Rank the Roster: 2014-2019

[NCF]

I have to go with Preston Smith here. Durable and consistent and just enough of a pass rush threat that I think he really opened things up for Z and the interior guys.

[Waldo]

I'm going Elgton here. Splitting hairs vs Preston; ascending player vs established player. I think Elgton passes Preston this year.

[salmar80]

Boy, this is tough.

If we hadn't signed Z, everyone would be raving about the job Preston Smith did. We hoped for a bit better Nick Perry, and got a WAY better Perry. Stout against the run and plenty of pass rush to boot.

But I'm going Elgton here, Preston next. Jenkins' dominant rookie season came outta the blue, and who knows how good this kid can get. I mean, you can't do better than zero sacks allowed, maybe getting even better at run blocking, and he was no slouch there either...

Preston benefited from offenses having to first worry about Z and Clark. Still, helluva signing by Gutey.

[Yoop]

I read somewhere Jenkins allowed 11 hurries (pressures) last year, no hits, no sacks, if true thats pretty dang good for any G, let alone a rookie.

the plan has to be for Gary to take snaps from P Smith in big chunks this year, other wise why draft him, that drops his stock for me a slot or two, I went with Jenkins, he plays so squared up, I don't see a 2nd year decline coming with him at all

[go pak go]

Remember all those games where we needed a sack on a key 3rd or 4th down to win the game? Who was the player who made that play?

Oh yeah. It was Preston Smith.

[Packfntk]

Preston, not close for me if it is between him and Jenkins.

[TheSkeptic]

I picked Amos

He is a lot better than most people think.

[go pak go]

How is it that Preston Smith has 12 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Interception and 23 QB hits and yet he is not the consensus #8 pick here? I agree he started to decline in terms of impact toward the end of the season but cripes people.

We lauded Clay Mathews as the #2 player on here for years and years and years and his best two seasons were basically the same as Preston's season last year.

Clay Matthews
2010 - 13.5 sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 INT and 25 QB hits.
2012 - 13 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 0 INT and 24 QB hits.

Again. These are Clay Matthew's BEST YEARS. As in these are the years that made fans think, "wow. he is a hall of famer"

Preston Smith should be ahead of Alexander and he certainly should be ahead of Amos and Jenkins.

[Packfntk]

How is it that Preston Smith has 12 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Interception and 23 QB hits and yet he is not the consensus #8 pick here? I agree he started to decline in terms of impact toward the end of the season but cripes people.

We lauded Clay Mathews as the #2 player on here for years and years and years and his best two seasons were basically the same as Preston's season last year.

Clay Matthews
2010 - 13.5 sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 INT and 25 QB hits.
2012 - 13 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 0 INT and 24 QB hits.

Again. These are Clay Matthew's BEST YEARS. As in these are the years that made fans think, "wow. he is a hall of famer"

Preston Smith should be ahead of Alexander and he certainly should be ahead of Amos and Jenkins.

I agree that he is the pick here for sure, but it is close with Jaire. If Preston was more vocal ala Z, I think more people would have voted for him already. Not sure why Jenkins is this high, or in the conversation with Preston.

[go pak go]

How is it that Preston Smith has 12 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Interception and 23 QB hits and yet he is not the consensus #8 pick here? I agree he started to decline in terms of impact toward the end of the season but cripes people.

We lauded Clay Mathews as the #2 player on here for years and years and years and his best two seasons were basically the same as Preston's season last year.

Clay Matthews
2010 - 13.5 sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 INT and 25 QB hits.
2012 - 13 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 0 INT and 24 QB hits.

Again. These are Clay Matthew's BEST YEARS. As in these are the years that made fans think, "wow. he is a hall of famer"

Preston Smith should be ahead of Alexander and he certainly should be ahead of Amos and Jenkins.

I agree that he is the pick here for sure, but it is close with Jaire. If Preston was more vocal ala Z, I think more people would have voted for him already. Not sure why Jenkins is this high, or in the conversation with Preston.

But that makes no sense either. Like we love that Kenny is the quiet guy who just produces. But we don't like that Preston is the same?

[Packfntk]

But that makes no sense either. Like we love that Kenny is the quiet guy who just produces. But we don't like that Preston is the same?

Oh, I don't think that way, but saying that maybe Z gets more attention because he is a leader and more vocal. Stats wise they are not far off.

[Pckfn23]

How is it that Preston Smith has 12 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Interception and 23 QB hits and yet he is not the consensus #8 pick here? I agree he started to decline in terms of impact toward the end of the season but cripes people.

We lauded Clay Mathews as the #2 player on here for years and years and years and his best two seasons were basically the same as Preston's season last year.

Clay Matthews
2010 - 13.5 sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 INT and 25 QB hits.
2012 - 13 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 0 INT and 24 QB hits.

Again. These are Clay Matthew's BEST YEARS. As in these are the years that made fans think, "wow. he is a hall of famer"

Preston Smith should be ahead of Alexander and he certainly should be ahead of Amos and Jenkins.

I am OK with Jenkins here too, but Smith 100% belongs here as well.

[YoHoChecko]

I read somewhere Jenkins allowed 11 hurries (pressures) last year, no hits, no sacks, if true thats pretty dang good for any G, let alone a rookie.

the plan has to be for Gary to take snaps from P Smith in big chunks this year, other wise why draft him, that drops his stock for me a slot or two, I went with Jenkins, he plays so squared up, I don't see a 2nd year decline coming with him at all

Wow, I disagree with that a lot. The plan has to be to play Preston Smith! Otherwise, way pay him $13M/year?

Last year Z and Preston each played about 83% of the snaps (stunningly similar snap counts). Fackrell played 40% of the snaps. Gary played 23% of the snaps. I'd guess that Gary will get all of Fackrell's snaps while retaining a few of his own. Barring injury, I don't see any reason to drop the Smiths' snap counts below 75%, so worst-case, we're looking at a 10% reduction. Maybe he gets 11 sacks instead of 12.5

Anyway, there are plenty of snaps to go around for versatile pass rushers. Gary and Z can both be inside/out guys. Preston can rush or play in space. They're all generally solid against the run, though Preston does less freelancing and generally may be a little better for that.

There's no reason to believe that having thee OLBs with high upside makes any one of them any less valuable.

[NCF]

I read somewhere Jenkins allowed 11 hurries (pressures) last year, no hits, no sacks, if true thats pretty dang good for any G, let alone a rookie.

the plan has to be for Gary to take snaps from P Smith in big chunks this year, other wise why draft him, that drops his stock for me a slot or two, I went with Jenkins, he plays so squared up, I don't see a 2nd year decline coming with him at all

Wow, I disagree with that a lot. The plan has to be to play Preston Smith! Otherwise, way pay him $13M/year?

Last year Z and Preston each played about 83% of the snaps (stunningly similar snap counts). Fackrell played 40% of the snaps. Gary played 23% of the snaps. I'd guess that Gary will get all of Fackrell's snaps while retaining a few of his own. Barring injury, I don't see any reason to drop the Smiths' snap counts below 75%, so worst-case, we're looking at a 10% reduction. Maybe he gets 11 sacks instead of 12.5

Anyway, there are plenty of snaps to go around for versatile pass rushers. Gary and Z can both be inside/out guys. Preston can rush or play in space. They're all generally solid against the run, though Preston does less freelancing and generally may be a little better for that.

There's no reason to believe that having thee OLBs with high upside makes any one of them any less valuable.

Yep. That's the way I see it, too, although, I do think a slight reduction in snaps might actually lead to MORE production as the season weighs on. Despite their durability, it seemed both of the Smiths were nicked up frequently to the point that I had to hold my breath on multiple occasions.

[go pak go]

Yes we relied on the Smiths making plays far too often last year.

From an impact standpoint, Preston and Z Smith were the most important Packers in 2019. We don't make the playoffs without them. No other player or players made a larger impact in terms of wins and losses and the direction of our season.

[Packfntk]

Yes we relied on the Smiths making plays far too often last year.

Most defenses rely on their two best players to make plays for them often.

Just giving you crap.

[Labrev]

How is it that Preston Smith has 12 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Interception and 23 QB hits and yet he is not the consensus #8 pick here?

Because we have other really good players, too. Namely, Jenkins.

Smith was good for us last season, no question. He had some quiet games, though, and I do think a lot of his success can be attributed to Z being the priority.

Elgton played at as high a level if not more and did it every week for pretty much the whole season.

[Waldo]

Not sure why Jenkins is this high, or in the conversation with Preston.

Josh Sitton was in the top 3 of this thing its first two years, before falling to #6 his last year with the team.

Many of use remember what Sitton was like early on, and how quickly he became one of the league's best guards.

Jenkins' rookie year was better than Sitton's first year starting (2nd year overall). As good as Sitton was, Jenkins can be even better.

I mean there is some projection involved, but many people (myself included) believe he's the next Steve Hutchinson and will be regarded as the best guard in the NFL sooner rather than later. There are no flaws in his game, he's a shutdown pass protector and an absolute bulldozer of a run blocker. He had some penalties and was bested by inexperience a few times, but those issues won't last long.

[NCF]

Not sure why Jenkins is this high, or in the conversation with Preston.

Josh Sitton was in the top 3 of this thing its first two years, before falling to #6 his last year with the team.

Many of use remember what Sitton was like early on, and how quickly he became one of the league's best guards.

Jenkins' rookie year was better than Sitton's first year starting (2nd year overall). As good as Sitton was, Jenkins can be even better.

I mean there is some projection involved, but many people (myself included) believe he's the next Steve Hutchinson and will be regarded as the best guard in the NFL sooner rather than later.

I truly applaud what he was able to do as a rookie, but he's not in Josh Sitton territory for me, yet. I did go back and look at the rankings, myself, and was reminded at all the wars I had over the years advocating for TJ Lang to be slotted higher. This isn't about positional value for me, its just, I'm not quite there, yet, on Jenkins... even with projection.