Packers Huddle

A tiny bit sad to see DuBose go, but even I have to admit Heath won that camp battle despite me not being a big fan of his. Besides, I don't think DuBose is really ready to play extensive snaps anywhere. I mean he fizzled out in preseason alone. He needed another offseason.

Relieved that Newman is gone. GB stuck by him for a while and could have brought him back on the PS, so I am glad TB took that option away from us.

So who is the unlucky sap who only yesterday was elated to be a Packer?

I know he was a 7th rounder, but not happy about Anthony Johnson. I liked him and thought he earned a spot and will continue to improve.

I think there is a chance we carry 2 kickers week 1. If the new claim works out, maybe he kicks XP's and Joseph kicks longer FGs if needed. See who's best over the next couple of weeks with kickoffs. Not likely, but I could see it happen. Bissacia's nuts.

Merriweather and Clifford back on the PS.

paco wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 12:02

I know he was a 7th rounder, but not happy about Anthony Johnson. I liked him and thought he earned a spot and will continue to improve.

Try looking at it this way:

The Giants got Anthony Johnson Jr from GB
The Packers got Xavier McKinney from the Giants

paco wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 12:02

I know he was a 7th rounder, but not happy about Anthony Johnson. I liked him and thought he earned a spot and will continue to improve.

I think there is a chance we carry 2 kickers week 1. If the new claim works out, maybe he kicks XP's and Joseph kicks longer FGs if needed. See who's best over the next couple of weeks with kickoffs. Not likely, but I could see it happen. Bissacia's nuts.

I would still assume and prefer we go with the new kicker. We're keeping Hale on the International pathways program so we'll have two

As for AJJ. I just don't see him getting playing time ahead of the top 3 safeties right now. Obviously he is ahead of Oladapo right now in terms of defensive capabilities, but I'm ok with it. I do think he'll emerge as a starter/role player type player in this league, and maybe pretty soon in New York, so it'll look like one that got away. But he was both far down our depth chart and not proven enough to merit trade consideration. Just works how it works.

I'm stoked we have a shot at King on the PS though. He was the only one I was worried about.

Pretty underwhelming kicker added. His college statistics are pretty awful after a 93% year he dropped down to 79, 71, and 78% to finish his college career. His final year he made just single 50+ yarder. Looks like there is plenty of leg but the inaccuracies and inconsistencies are just the same as what we had before.

The new kicker’s college stats suck but he did well in the preseason so hope that continues. I’m happy they aren’t rolling into 2024 with Anders Carlson or Greg Joseph.

Good news here



for now, at least.

Gutey says they have agreements with a couple players and will be adding the others based on workouts or players that are released during the waiver claim process... "some decisions will have to be made"

He thinks that'll have the full squad by tomorrow's practice.


No one asked him why if he thought there were more than 53 players that earned a spot (which was borne out by having 3 claims) that he chose to keep Zayne freaking Anderson (I will never let this go that player is a zero value add over any other core special teamer)

Zayne Anderson is the only guy on the team who has sniffed a Superbowl. I don’t see his value on film either but maybe there’s more behind the scenes.

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 14:12

No one asked him why if he thought there were more than 53 players that earned a spot (which was borne out by having 3 claims) that he chose to keep Zayne freaking Anderson (I will never let this go that player is a zero value add over any other core special teamer)

I really don't have much of a problem with it if the team knew going in they had 52 spots + 1 ST guy. I actually kind of appreciate the notion of having one guy concentrate on nothing but ST.

NCF wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 14:31

I really don't have much of a problem with it if the team knew going in they had 52 spots + 1 ST guy. I actually kind of appreciate the notion of having one guy concentrate on nothing but ST.

That's what I think is happening AND that's exactly my problem precisely because a) our ST stinks; b) Anderson has never sniffed any sort of pro bowl recognition or anything as a special teamer; and c) we had a ton of guys who play all the STs units who have upside and developmental potential from scrimmage.

Anderson is a wasted roster spot. If you replaced him with Rochel or with AJJ or with Welch or with DuBose the team would have absolutely zero negative downside and more potential upside down the road. I won't back down unless he, like, forces two fumbles and down three punts inside the 5. If we had someone who was truly a STs ace, absolutely, keep him. But at this point, our STs coach and units have not earned a spot to themselves.

Bissacia deserves less control and less of a say. He's had too much. He doesn't get to pick a keeper to continue to stink. And when 4 of our toughest cuts (and 2 of the guys who got claimed) are also STs guys, it makes absolutely no sense to give the edge to a guy who is just slightly preferred on teams.

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 14:38

NCF wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 14:31

I really don't have much of a problem with it if the team knew going in they had 52 spots + 1 ST guy. I actually kind of appreciate the notion of having one guy concentrate on nothing but ST.

That's what I think is happening AND that's exactly my problem precisely because a) our ST stinks; b) Anderson has never sniffed any sort of pro bowl recognition or anything as a special teamer; and c) we had a ton of guys who play all the STs units who have upside and developmental potential from scrimmage.

Anderson is a wasted roster spot. If you replaced him with Rochel or with AJJ or with Welch or with DuBose the team would have absolutely zero negative downside and more potential upside down the road. I won't back down unless he, like, forces two fumbles and down three punts inside the 5. If we had someone who was truly a STs ace, absolutely, keep him. But at this point, our STs coach and units have not earned a spot to themselves.

Bissacia deserves less control and less of a say. He's had too much. He doesn't get to pick a keeper to continue to stink. And when 4 of our toughest cuts (and 2 of the guys who got claimed) are also STs guys, it makes absolutely no sense to give the edge to a guy who is just slightly preferred on teams.

That is your opinion. Obviously Bissacia disagrees with you. And obviously Bissacia knows more about his ST players than any of us on this forum. Otherwise we would be coach and not Bissacia. Look. I respect your opinion more than almost anyone else on this forum. But you are out of line in saying what you did about Anderson. Like it or not, he is a Packer and he deserves our respect, which you deny.

Bisaccia having final say is a cute excuse but I don’t think it is the reality. I do understand @YoHoChecko’s argument about the lack of results. It’s 100% true. From a process standpoint, though, it’s tough for me to understand how it wouldn’t generally benefit ST improvement in the long term. I also believe the process is an organizational decision. If Gutey wanted anyone over Zane Anderson he would have kept them.

I don’t know where else to put this. I want a championship and I want it now. Not next year, not in 5 years. It’s been 14 years ok? This 53 should have what it takes. To quote some guy from the 2010 squad (forget who), “why not us?” $%@# the Chiefs, $%@# the Ravens, and $%@# with a capital F the San Francisco 49ers. Let’s get it done.

TheSkeptic wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 16:04

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 14:38

That's what I think is happening AND that's exactly my problem precisely because a) our ST stinks; b) Anderson has never sniffed any sort of pro bowl recognition or anything as a special teamer; and c) we had a ton of guys who play all the STs units who have upside and developmental potential from scrimmage.

Anderson is a wasted roster spot. If you replaced him with Rochel or with AJJ or with Welch or with DuBose the team would have absolutely zero negative downside and more potential upside down the road. I won't back down unless he, like, forces two fumbles and down three punts inside the 5. If we had someone who was truly a STs ace, absolutely, keep him. But at this point, our STs coach and units have not earned a spot to themselves.

Bissacia deserves less control and less of a say. He's had too much. He doesn't get to pick a keeper to continue to stink. And when 4 of our toughest cuts (and 2 of the guys who got claimed) are also STs guys, it makes absolutely no sense to give the edge to a guy who is just slightly preferred on teams.

That is your opinion. Obviously Bissacia disagrees with you. And obviously Bissacia knows more about his ST players than any of us on this forum. Otherwise we would be coach and not Bissacia. Look. I respect your opinion more than almost anyone else on this forum. But you are out of line in saying what you did about Anderson. Like it or not, he is a Packer and he deserves our respect, which you deny.

NCF wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 16:46

Bisaccia having final say is a cute excuse but I don’t think it is the reality. I do understand @YoHoChecko’s argument about the lack of results. It’s 100% true. From a process standpoint, though, it’s tough for me to understand how it wouldn’t generally benefit ST improvement in the long term. I also believe the process is an organizational decision. If Gutey wanted anyone over Zane Anderson he would have kept them.

Ok so sure, we don't know how much control Rich has on the cuts. I was responding to the "52+1ST" suggestion and regardless of who "controls" it, it does feel like that's the vibe. That approach makes sense when you have a STer worth keeping. We've had those guys before over the long term, but they're pretty rare. Bush was borderline. Travis Jervy was a mench. Zayne Anderson doesn't even get noticed. He isn't busting things up as a gunner. He isn't making much impact. He's a guy who probably completes his assignments and tries really hard. That's valuable. It's LESS valuable than someone who is close to that on STs and might be a contributing scrimmage player in a year or two.

And yes, that is simply my opinion. That's sort of the point of a forum. We come and share opinions. Anderson deserves nothing more than my honest assessment. I would never insult his personal life or wish him harm or injury or anything like that. I'm here to give my opinions about football. Anderson is a waste. He doesn't move the needle. He isn't the glue to keeping our teams units together. I've literally never even heard another player mention him in any interviews, which is less than I can say about virtually anyone else. Not even those hallway videos where players give random opinions about things. He is a non factor. There's a whole oke on Packers internet that he doesn't really exist because he never makes any sort of impact.

We kept him for his STs play--on units that were bad. He isn't making visible noticeable plays on teams, so the only conclusion is that he is consistent or something. We cut three guys who got claimed and a couple others who make noticeably good plays on special teams AND from scrimmage are PS guys. Anderson is a bad decision in my opinion. The real coaches make the decisions. Saying that we can't question it or else we should be the coach means we should delete this forum. That's the whole point. If Rich wants to make a case that he's right he can a) come post on the forum or b) field a halfway decent ST unit. Until either of those happens, my opinion belongs on this board and I'm happy to share them.

lupedafiasco wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 12:35

Pretty underwhelming kicker added. His college statistics are pretty awful after a 93% year he dropped down to 79, 71, and 78% to finish his college career. His final year he made just single 50+ yarder. Looks like there is plenty of leg but the inaccuracies and inconsistencies are just the same as what we had before.

Thought I read somewhere this kid didn't miss a single extra point his entire college career...? That's impressive, if true.

I guess I'm ok with this swap out. Carlson wasn't the guy and Gute did something about it. Joseph also proved to be a liability and the likelihood of him improving from what his career stats already told us was, well, unlikely. I'm ok with going an entirely new direction with a fresh leg that shows potential.

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2024 20:24

We kept him for his STs play--on units that were bad. He isn't making visible noticeable plays on teams, so the only conclusion is that he is consistent or something. We cut three guys who got claimed and a couple others who make noticeably good plays on special teams AND from scrimmage are PS guys. Anderson is a bad decision in my opinion. The real coaches make the decisions. Saying that we can't question it or else we should be the coach means we should delete this forum. That's the whole point. If Rich wants to make a case that he's right he can a) come post on the forum or b) field a halfway decent ST unit. Until either of those happens, my opinion belongs on this board and I'm happy to share them.

some perplexing decisions this cut down for sure, no one would have claimed Anderson, we probably could have gotten him back on waivers, Rich has had one season where he made improvements and a lot of that was Nixon, since his units are not impressive at all, and he makes to much money to just fire. but I tend to believe this season is a make or break deal, and he now has a nother new kicker, Lafleur wanted nothing to do with discussing teams play yesterday, even said thats a Bisaccia question.

I just want to say that the decision to keep Anderson over a few roster-able candidates likely does not matter in the long run at all and I am and have remained aware of this. I just hate it so much I am wasting our time posting about it. My posts are just as wasteful as Anderson's spot on the roster. I know this. I'm just perplexed by it. It speaks to a process that is flawed at the back end.