Rank the Roster 2020: #13

[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. Preston Smith (58%)[+5]
9. Elgton Jenkins (75%)[+15]
10. Kevin King (47%)[+4]
11. Adrian Amos (78%)[-1]
12. Corey Linsley (63%)[-1]
13. 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've been swayed to go with Kirksey here. As the guy that will take over as QB of the defense, I expect we will get far closer to his 2016 & 2017 seasons than the last two. His familiarity with Pettine is huge and he has all of the intangibles that will make him a great fit in this defense. Darnell Savage is talented, but I think he is still going to take his lumps this year.

[Drj820]

seems we just fell down a flight of stairs here. Not sure who i will go with.
Tempted to start considering the consistent, know what you are gonna get, not gonna fumble, gonna pass block well, gonna lift the teams spirit when its down, gonna contribute to a good atmosphere, and gonna fight for a first down...mr jamaal williams.

[Yoop]

mind numbing that I'am still passing on the highest slotted draft pick we've had in a doz years, but I have to again today, and for a player thats never worn a G&G jersey, or stayed healthy enough to even be a average lber the last 2 years, I hope Kirksey plays like he did his first 2 years, stays healthy.

[TheSkeptic]

For me it is a toss up between Sternberger and Lazard. WR#2 is a critical position and Lazard has less viable competition than Sternberger has so I went with Lazard.

I see Kirksey getting votes. I don't understand how a player that the Browns just cut gets this kind of confidence particularly after a bad hamstring injury. The Browns obviously had no confidence that he would ever be the same player or they would not have cut him to save 7.5 mil in cap. The Packers signed a very unusual contract with him which indicates they don't have a lot of confidence either.

[YoHoChecko]

I am shocked and pleased that Kirksey is winning.

I could quote my post from the old thread, but in short--players come back from torn pecs and play at or above their previous best all the time. There is no* reason to write him off due to health.


*

Spoiler

worrying about his hammies the same way we worried about Clay's, though, makes sense. But that shouldn't tank his value.

[Pckfn23]

So there is a reason to write him off because of his health...

[YoHoChecko]

So there is a reason to write him off because of his health...

What's the lowest Clay ever finished in these polls?

[Pckfn23]

So there is a reason to write him off because of his health...

What's the lowest Clay ever finished in these polls?

LOL, Kirksey is not Clay Matthews.

[YoHoChecko]

At this point, the only guys that we pretty much KNOW are fulltime starters left on the list are

Kirksey, Wagner, Savage, and Turner

Sternberger is penciled in and the likely starter, but Tonyan could also win the job or cut into his play time.

Funchess and Lazard are competing for the 2/3 slots, with plenty of potential that MVS or EQSB could take it.

Jamaal Williams is at best the #2 RB, which is a role player.

Lowry seems more rotational than fulltime, especially with Z and Gary capable of interior rush.

I feel like Kirksey, Warner, and Savage have to be the next (current) tier (since we all sort of agree that Turner as a full time starter may still be less valuable than a variety of part-time players )

[YoHoChecko]

So there is a reason to write him off because of his health...

What's the lowest Clay ever finished in these polls?

LOL, Kirksey is not Clay Matthews.

I'm just saying the injury considerations should be the same. It should affect his value about the same. He had a hamstring injury two seasons in a row (after 4 straight years of health, mind you), and also a pectoral tear one of those seasons after recovering from the hamstring injury. The pectoral tear is generally a 1-time thing with no long-term impact on your level of play, so I subtract that.

The hamstring injury was serious once, and limiting once. Those sorts of things often linger and need to be addressed with changes to your training. Kirksey has had a lot of time off and should be fully healthy. So it's something to monitor, not something to say "he'll probably be injured." And it's likely, if it hits, to cost him a few games not make him useless. Sometimes teams cut bait too early when a player battles an injury. We did it with Casey Hayward. The Browns did it with Christian Kirksey.

Kirksey has led the league in tackles. He's notched 11 TFL in a season. He's nothced 8 PDs in a season, which is great by LB standards. This is a guy who statistically was in the upper level of ILB play when healthy, and whose athletic testing points to someone who should be able to. He's a good locker room person. He's called the defenses before. I din't understand why we're downplaying him here.

[Pckfn23]

I do not believe Clay Matthews ever went on IR as a Packer.

A lot of these things you are arguing against aren't points that are being made.

Kirksey never led the NFL in tackles.

There are knocks on Kirksey, are there not?

FYI, I voted Kirksey here. I think this is a good spot. I just believe there is an overstatement of the case for him. Based on what is being said, he should be top 5!

[Packfntk]

This disrespect for Darnell is absolutely savage.

[Waldo]

I didn't know much about Kirksey, but y'all have sold me on him. I'm not a believer in the "he's not good because he might get hurt" argument. And none of his injuries are the type where recovering to a previous level of play is a huge concern (the three big red flags to me there are torn pateller tendon (Graham), torn achilles, and fully torn hamstring (A. Green)).

Savage is the other on the same tier here for me. Wagner and Turner are a step below. After Savage and Kirksey are gone I'm going Gary then Stern, willing to give development the benefit of the doubt considering the upside with each.

Honestly I hope Cole Madison comes to play this year and plants Turner's butt on the bench. Turners a backup caliber player to me that should not be an safe penciled in starter. Or maybe they give Lane Taylor a shot to unseat him and only keep the winner of that battle.

[Waldo]

This disrespect for Darnell is absolutely savage.

If Savage would have played like he did pre-injury all year I bet he'd be where King is now.

But he was pretty darn bad at times after he returned. MVS's colossal flop last year going into the year in a very similar place to where Savage is now is fresh on people's minds.

[YoHoChecko]

Kirksey never led the NFL in tackles.

My bad; Pro Football reference bolded his career high in some view I was looking at, and usually they bold league leaders. Or maybe I just clicked on it.

Anyway, I misread that one. He was 8th in solo tackles two years in a row.

The rest stands.

[Pckfn23]

If all this are true:

There is no reason to write him off due to health.

He's notched 11 TFL in a season. He's nothced 8 PDs in a season, which is great by LB standards. This is a guy who statistically was in the upper level of ILB play

whose athletic testing points to someone who should be able to.

He's a good locker room person.

He's called the defenses before.

Why isn't Kirksey our top rated defensive player if not top player overall?

[Yoop]

So there is a reason to write him off because of his health...

What's the lowest Clay ever finished in these polls?

Clay is god cripes did Clay ever start a full season, minus the Hammy's and Mathews could have been a HOF player, I thought for sure he would go after the first few seasons, then every year he'd pull one it seemed after that.

so it does give ya pause a little when it comes to another player thats had issues (surgery?) still I read he was a top 10 ILB his 2nd season, I havn't looked it up, but if he can get back to that type production he'll have earned this slotting, there are some questions with Savage to, 2nd year tends to mean more responsibility is expected, more thinking, Kirksey has more experience.

[NCF]

Why isn't Kirksey our top rated defensive player if not top player overall?

Because of the unknown. If he goes out and does it this year you can bet he'll come in a lot higher than #13 next year. This is a fair mark down for the injuries and unknown.

[Crazylegs Starks]

Kirksey. In theory, he has the most proven skill out of the guys left. (If Savage has a nice 2nd year jump though...)

So next, I'd say maybe Savage > Gary > Lazard?

Sullivan, Turner, and Lowry are all going to play a lot of snaps though.