Packers Preseason Opponents Announced

While it doesn’t have the same gusto or flair as the opening weekened Sunday night game against the Bears at Lambeau or Thanksgiving in Detroit, the Packers found out their four opponents for the 2009 preseason today.  The NFL released the preliminary schedule for the late summer cash derby today with the specific dates and times to be announced.

Despite getting some  nationally-televised games over the past few years, the Packers won’t be landing a national audience until their season-opener, which won’t garner many, if any complaints from fans. 

The Packers will open up with two straight home games, the first when former Favre boss, Eric Managini makes his Cleveland Browns coaching debut.  The game is slated for sometime between August 13 – 17.

Then about a week later the circus comes to town, with Terrell Owens as head ringleader when the Bills take Lambeau Field.  Although it will be only preseason, ESPN will make sure to highlight something Owens does.  Even if it is only filling up his paper cup with Gatordade on the sideline or sit-ups in K-Mart parking lot in front of a bunch of tailgaters.

The team closes out the preseason with back-to-back road games.  They travel Arizona for game three against the defending NFC Champions.  In the game where the starters usually get the most action, the Packers’ new 3-4 defense will get a good test against the vaunted Cardinals aerial attack.

In their final dress rehersal, the Packers travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans for what it seems to be like the 18th year in a row.  Now, it is only the preseason and I kind of dig the whole tradition thing (if that is the case), but can anyone explain why the Packers and Titans have meet every preseason for eight straight seasons?  I’m being serious, let us know.  It is more curiousity than anything, but please send any thoughts on this subject to olbagofdonuts@gmail.com or post a comment below.

2009 Green Bay Packers Preseason Opponents

August 13-17
Cleveland Browns (Midwest Shrine Game )
TV: state

August 20-24
Buffalo Bills (Bishop’s Charities Game )

August 27-31
at Arizona Cardinals

September 3-4
at Tennessee Titans

-Adam Somers

Grading Ted Thompson's Drafts: 2005 Edition

Since Wednesday marks the start of April, and April marks the month of the NFL Draft, we’ve decided to start a weekly series, in which we will review the previous four drafts of the Green Bay Packers.

Perhaps we’d better start at the beginning….

The Scene: Prior to the 2005 NFL Draft, fans of the Packers did not know much about their new general manager, Ted Thompson – and what little we knew, we didn’t much like.

In less than four months on the job, Thompson had taken a 10-6 team coming off its third straight NFC North Division title and seemingly torn it apart.

He decided to pass on bringing back two-fifths of the team’s very good offensive line by not re-signing guards Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle (the latter of those two decisions brought an especially high amount of heat on Thompson). He then released arguably the team’s leader on defense, free safety Darren Sharper.

Fans thought the team still had enough firepower on both sides of the ball to make a run at yet another division title, provided our new GM could have a good draft class. But we were a very unsure bunch on the morning of April 23, 2005.

The Draft: One of the draft’s biggest questions was answered right away as the San Francisco 49ers nabbed quarterback Alex Smith (Utah) with the first pick in the draft. That left the draft’s other big-name QB, Aaron Rodgers (California) wondering when his name would be called. And wondering. And wondering.

As Rodgers kept plummeting, Packers fans began to ask the unmentionable: Could Thompson actually take a quarterback in the first round? Surely not, right? The team needs too much help in other areas if it is to make a run! Besides, Brett Favre has at least another two or three years left in the tank!

Then, it happened.

Minutes before the Packers’ selection, ESPN cameras caught a smiling Rodgers on his cell phone, presumably talking to Thompson.

He was as Green Bay selected him with the 24th overall pick.

A reeling fan base continued to watch in horror as Thompson used the second round-pick acquired from New Orleans in the Mike McKenzie deal to select a 1-AA free safety (Bethune Cookman’s Nick Collins) and a wide receiver (Texas A&M’s Terrence Murphy). The Murphy pick was the team’s original pick and made little to no sense as the Packers already had Donald Driver, Javon Walker and Robert Ferguson at the position.

If all of that indignity wasn’t enough, Green Bay then traded its final pick of the day, a third rounder, to Carolina for two fourth round picks the following day.

Thompson wasn’t done trading down on day two, either, making two more deals with Philadelphia and New England. Those trades turned two picks into four. Seven of eight Green Bay selections on day two came via the trade route as it had two late-round picks from when it traded defensive back Marques Anderson to Oakland early in the 2004 season.

The only pick that was actually Green Bay’s to begin with was a fourth round selection, used on BYU linebacker Brady Poppinga.

The two picks obtained from the Anderson trade were used on guard/center Junius Coston (fifth round, North Carolina A&T) and defensive end Mike Montgomery (sixth round, Texas A&M).

The other five selections obtained from the Carolina/Philadelphia/New England trades were defensive back Marviel Underwood (fourth round, San Diego State), cornerback Mike Hawkins (fifth round, Oklahoma), wide receiver Craig Bragg (sixth round, UCLA), linebacker Kurt Campbell (seventh round, Albany) and offensive guard Will Whitticker (seventh round, Michigan State).

The Results: Turns out we might have been wrong on Rodgers. Dead wrong.

After sitting behind Favre for three seasons, Rodgers finally was given the reigns  as the team’s starter for the 2008 season. All in all, he played very well, throwing for over 4,000 yards, 28 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions. He has plenty of arm strength, good decision-making skills, can make plays with his feet and is a solid leader. He’s already one of the league’s better quarterbacks and could become one of its top passers very shortly (fingers crossed).

Same goes with Collins. After showing some flashes, both good and bad, during his first three seasons, the light really came on for him in 2008.  He recorded 72 tackles and seven interceptions (returning three for touchdowns) in earning his first Pro Bowl selection. He’s a free agent after next season and locking him up long-term is key for the Packers.

Murphy – we hardly knew ye. The wideout looked to be showing some real potential before suffering a helmet-to-helmet hit in a game against Carolina early in his rookie season. The hit ended his season. Murphy was later found to be suffering from a narrowing of the spinal column near his neck. He was born with this condition and it was responsible for ending his pro career. He finished with five catches, 36 yards and a lot of untapped potential.

(Update: I originally wrote that the hit on Murphy caused the narrowing of his spinal column. Reader Scott M. correctly pointed out that Murphy was born with this condition. Sorry for the error.)

As for the day two picks, Poppinga and Montgomery are the only players left on the roster. Poppinga shows some potential as a run-stopper and pass rusher, but has shown almost no coverage ability. He’ll be in the mix for a starting linebacker spot in the new 3-4 scheme. Montgomery hasn’t done much of anything outside of a few instances, but the team liked him enough to re-sign him to a two-year contract – despite my pleas for them to do otherwise. He figures to be in the mix at end or outside linebacker next season.

Coston, Underwood and Whitticker – at one point or another – all either started or had potential to become starters. All ended up fizzling out, though, and are no longer around.

Hawkins, Bragg and Campbell never did much of anything and are also all gone.

The Grade: B+

Despite all his numerous trades down, which started a trend with him, Thompson failed to gain much from it in 2005. That being said, he landed two big-time talents, one on each side of the ball, in Rodgers and Collins and any time you can do that, you’ve had a nice draft for yourself. Had Murphy panned out like I think he would have, this draft would have been even better. But if that had happened, we might not have ended up with Greg Jennings so I digress.

–Chris Lempesis

Grading Ted Thompson’s Drafts: 2005 Edition

Since Wednesday marks the start of April, and April marks the month of the NFL Draft, we’ve decided to start a weekly series, in which we will review the previous four drafts of the Green Bay Packers.

Perhaps we’d better start at the beginning….

The Scene: Prior to the 2005 NFL Draft, fans of the Packers did not know much about their new general manager, Ted Thompson – and what little we knew, we didn’t much like.

In less than four months on the job, Thompson had taken a 10-6 team coming off its third straight NFC North Division title and seemingly torn it apart.

He decided to pass on bringing back two-fifths of the team’s very good offensive line by not re-signing guards Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle (the latter of those two decisions brought an especially high amount of heat on Thompson). He then released arguably the team’s leader on defense, free safety Darren Sharper.

Fans thought the team still had enough firepower on both sides of the ball to make a run at yet another division title, provided our new GM could have a good draft class. But we were a very unsure bunch on the morning of April 23, 2005.

The Draft: One of the draft’s biggest questions was answered right away as the San Francisco 49ers nabbed quarterback Alex Smith (Utah) with the first pick in the draft. That left the draft’s other big-name QB, Aaron Rodgers (California) wondering when his name would be called. And wondering. And wondering.

As Rodgers kept plummeting, Packers fans began to ask the unmentionable: Could Thompson actually take a quarterback in the first round? Surely not, right? The team needs too much help in other areas if it is to make a run! Besides, Brett Favre has at least another two or three years left in the tank!

Then, it happened.

Minutes before the Packers’ selection, ESPN cameras caught a smiling Rodgers on his cell phone, presumably talking to Thompson.

He was as Green Bay selected him with the 24th overall pick.

A reeling fan base continued to watch in horror as Thompson used the second round-pick acquired from New Orleans in the Mike McKenzie deal to select a 1-AA free safety (Bethune Cookman’s Nick Collins) and a wide receiver (Texas A&M’s Terrence Murphy). The Murphy pick was the team’s original pick and made little to no sense as the Packers already had Donald Driver, Javon Walker and Robert Ferguson at the position.

If all of that indignity wasn’t enough, Green Bay then traded its final pick of the day, a third rounder, to Carolina for two fourth round picks the following day.

Thompson wasn’t done trading down on day two, either, making two more deals with Philadelphia and New England. Those trades turned two picks into four. Seven of eight Green Bay selections on day two came via the trade route as it had two late-round picks from when it traded defensive back Marques Anderson to Oakland early in the 2004 season.

The only pick that was actually Green Bay’s to begin with was a fourth round selection, used on BYU linebacker Brady Poppinga.

The two picks obtained from the Anderson trade were used on guard/center Junius Coston (fifth round, North Carolina A&T) and defensive end Mike Montgomery (sixth round, Texas A&M).

The other five selections obtained from the Carolina/Philadelphia/New England trades were defensive back Marviel Underwood (fourth round, San Diego State), cornerback Mike Hawkins (fifth round, Oklahoma), wide receiver Craig Bragg (sixth round, UCLA), linebacker Kurt Campbell (seventh round, Albany) and offensive guard Will Whitticker (seventh round, Michigan State).

The Results: Turns out we might have been wrong on Rodgers. Dead wrong.

After sitting behind Favre for three seasons, Rodgers finally was given the reigns  as the team’s starter for the 2008 season. All in all, he played very well, throwing for over 4,000 yards, 28 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions. He has plenty of arm strength, good decision-making skills, can make plays with his feet and is a solid leader. He’s already one of the league’s better quarterbacks and could become one of its top passers very shortly (fingers crossed).

Same goes with Collins. After showing some flashes, both good and bad, during his first three seasons, the light really came on for him in 2008.  He recorded 72 tackles and seven interceptions (returning three for touchdowns) in earning his first Pro Bowl selection. He’s a free agent after next season and locking him up long-term is key for the Packers.

Murphy – we hardly knew ye. The wideout looked to be showing some real potential before suffering a helmet-to-helmet hit in a game against Carolina early in his rookie season. The hit ended his season. Murphy was later found to be suffering from a narrowing of the spinal column near his neck. He was born with this condition and it was responsible for ending his pro career. He finished with five catches, 36 yards and a lot of untapped potential.

(Update: I originally wrote that the hit on Murphy caused the narrowing of his spinal column. Reader Scott M. correctly pointed out that Murphy was born with this condition. Sorry for the error.)

As for the day two picks, Poppinga and Montgomery are the only players left on the roster. Poppinga shows some potential as a run-stopper and pass rusher, but has shown almost no coverage ability. He’ll be in the mix for a starting linebacker spot in the new 3-4 scheme. Montgomery hasn’t done much of anything outside of a few instances, but the team liked him enough to re-sign him to a two-year contract – despite my pleas for them to do otherwise. He figures to be in the mix at end or outside linebacker next season.

Coston, Underwood and Whitticker – at one point or another – all either started or had potential to become starters. All ended up fizzling out, though, and are no longer around.

Hawkins, Bragg and Campbell never did much of anything and are also all gone.

The Grade: B+

Despite all his numerous trades down, which started a trend with him, Thompson failed to gain much from it in 2005. That being said, he landed two big-time talents, one on each side of the ball, in Rodgers and Collins and any time you can do that, you’ve had a nice draft for yourself. Had Murphy panned out like I think he would have, this draft would have been even better. But if that had happened, we might not have ended up with Greg Jennings so I digress.

–Chris Lempesis

The Brian Brohm Conundrum

After trading defensive tackle Corey Williams and trading out of the end of the first round in the 2008 draft, Ted Thompson armed himself with three second-round picks, not a bad scenario for a team that was an overtime away from the Super Bowl.

While not a big area of need, the selection of Jordy Nelson worked out as he contributed nicely in the recieving corps and special teams last season and showing a lot of promise.  The selection of Pat Lee also is justifiable, even if he hasn’t done much yet.  Cornerback was an area that needed youth and depth (the resigning of cornerback/safety/bain of my existence Jarrett Bush does not improve this). Thompson drafted the right choice of position, now Lee just needs to prove himself.

But the move that scrated the most heads then and even more so now is Brian Brohm.  The move could have been defended on draft day.  Recalling a draft-day phone converstation with Chris, the facts brought up were:  Best player available, which Thompson follows like scripture; Trade bait for future; Better than any free agent on the market at the time to back up Rodgers; Don’t know 100% what you have in Rodgers yet.  Chris wasn’t entirely talked off the ledge, but at least now he had to get a running start.

Fast forward one year later and almost of those above-mentioned points have fallen through.

Best Player Available:  Hardly, especially when seventh-rounder Matt Flynn beat Brohm out for the #2 job.  There is no point going through a list of rookies drafted after Brohm who had more  impact last season because Rodgers was the starter all year.  However, Chad Henne, selected one pick after has shown more promise in Miami than Brohm in Green Bay.

Trade bait:  If Thompson looked at Brohm as soley as trade chip for the future, that’s could be somewhat justified.  There have been enough scenarios where this has happened, most notably in Green Bay with Matt Hasselbeck and recently with Atlanta trading Matt Schaub to Houston.  However, Brohm’s value has dipped so low that it would be hard to anything close to equal value in return right now.  Best case scenario is that he lights up training camp and preseason the next two years and ups his value to at least the level he was drafted at.

Better than any free agent back up:  This is the only point that hasn’t gone bad.  At the time Brohm showed a lot of promise and remember that shortly before the draft the team was interested in bringing in Daunte Cullpepper.  Seeing what was out there, Thompson made the right move to gamble on Brohm instead of brining in any retread or washed up quarterback.

Don’t know what you have in Rodgers:  There were plenty of question marks with Rodgers going into last season.  How would he handle the pressure of following Favre?  Has he had enough live game experience?  What if he is a bust?  Is he an injury-risk?  And the list goes on.  However, from the beginning Thompson and McCarthy showed ultimate faith in Rodgers suceeding.  If that is the case, why draft a quarterback in the secon- round for competetion?  Well, as it turned out there was no competition, Rodgers had a border-line Pro Bowl season, and Thompson and McCarthy misjudged badly that Brohm could have an impact.

All is not lost for Brohm.  In reality, he is only a second-year quarterback and rookie seasons like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco had in 2008 are very rare.  However, with Flynn beating Brohm out for the #2 position does raise some red flags.  This is not a shot at Flynn, who may develop into a solid NFL quarterback, but Brohm was once considered a can’t miss prospect and far from being raw out of college.

After his junior year at Louisville, Brohm was talked about in the breath as first-round picks JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn, and some ranked him ahead of one, if not both players.  Playing in an NFL-style system in college, Brohm earned Orange Bowl MVP honors after leading the Cardinals to victory over Wake Forest as a junior.  It was widely speculated that he would enter the NFL draft and be among the top picks selected, but decided to return for his senior season.

A player coming back for his senior year shouldn’t be looked down on, but like Matt Leinart, Brohm saw his draft stock worsen his senior year despite setting numerous school and Big East Conference records, including most career passing yards, completions and attempts.  Brohm also said on draft day that returing for his senior year helped him improve and mature as a player, so at the time some could say the Packers got a steal.

Well, it is only a steal if they can trade him for equal or greater value than when they drafted him.  The day Rodgers signed his new exentsion, Brohm’s value dropped even more and don’t think other NFL teams in need of a young quarterback didn’t take notice.

The question has never been about talent with Brohm, who has as much upside as almost any young quarterback in the league.  The questions are is if he can put it all together and if he will get the opportunity in Green Bay.  With Flynn as the #2, Brohm is getting less reps with the team’s top unit.  Also, if Rodgers gets hurt Flynn is the first off the bench, as was seen in the Tampa Bay game last year.

The Packers need Brohm to be the #2 this year in more ways than one.  While Rodgers stayed relatively healthy last season, he isn’t Favre and fans will have expect him to miss some time in the future.  Flynn has been solid in his back-up role, but Brohm presents more talent and potential.  If Rodgers goes down (God help us that he doesn’t), it could give Brohm the chance he needs.  However, he needs to prove himself first in the pre-season where he was awful last year.  The front office also need him to improve his trade value, so it doesn’t look like they wasted a second-round pick.

Coaching plays a vital part in this happening.  Can McCarthy, offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements coach Brohm up enough to take over as the #2 and prove to the rest of the league that he isn’t a bust?  With Rodgers entreched as the Packers starter for the foreseeable future, Brohm’s stay in Green Bay will not be long.  When a quarterback is drafted in the second-round the hope is that he will be a future starter, or they can show enough to garner a high return in a trade. 

Right now Brohm and the team can’t do either, which means the 2009 season is arguably as critical to Brohm as it is to any current Packer.

-Adam Somers

Packers sign Preston, add depth to o-line

The signing of free safety Anthony Smith early in free agency helped the Green Bay Packers add some depth to their secondary.

Late last night, the Packers decided to add some depth to their offensive line by signing free agent guard/center Duke Preston, formerly of the Buffalo Bills, to a two-year contract, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

First, some general information on the Packers’ latest acquisition:

• Preston is 6-feet, 5-inches and 326 pounds. His weight is significantly more than that of Green Bay’s two potential starting centers, Scott Wells (303) and Jason Spitz (302).
• He was a fourth-round draft pick by the Bills out of Illinois in the 2005 draft.
• He’s played in 59 games over the course of his four-year career. He’s started 20 of those games, including 11 last season. All of his starts last season came at center.
• His name is pretty cool.

This is not an earth-shattering move by any stretch. Preston probably does not figure to be in the mix for a starting spot, either at center or guard (or right tackle, although the team apparently thinks he could play there).

For example, the Journal Sentinel article points out that Preston struggled in his time as a starter last season, particularly against players like Cleveland’s Shaun Rogers and New England’s Vince Wilfork, amongst others.

That doesn’t bode well for him gaining a starting spot in Green Bay. Six times a year, Packers’ interior linemen have to face the likes of Chicago’s Tommy Harris, Minnesota’s Pat and Kevin Williams and, now, Detroit’s Grady Jackson.

Still, Preston at least has some starting experience and should provide insurance for Green Bay at a couple of different positions.

That’s a good thing because, as of now, the Packers don’t have much depth on the o-line.

Assuming the starters will be Chad Clifton (left tackle), Daryn Colledge (left guard), Spitz (center), Josh Sitton (right guard) and Breno Giacomini (right tackle), that leaves Wells (center), Tony Moll (guard/tackle) and Allen “I was drafted with the pick that could have landed Randy Moss” Barbre (guard/tackle) as the three backups. 

Yikes.

Now, the team will have a little more flexibility. Green Bay can either go into the season with these nine linemen or – should it decide to draft at the position – dump one of the nine currently on the roster (hint, Moll, hint, hint) and still have a better group than it did last year.

And most importantly, the move won’t do much to lower that $21 million of cap space the Packers currently have, money that should go to the likes of wide receiver Greg Jennings and free safety Nick Collins.

Any time now, Teddy…

–Chris Lempesis

The NFL still cares about the Green Bay Packers

On Monday, it was announced the Green Bay Packers would begin the 2009 season at home against the Chicago Bears on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The Packers were also picked to play the Detroit Lions in Detroit on Thanksgiving.

On the surface, you could take this news for what it is: the announcement of dates and times for two pro football games.

But, for the Packers, the news is actually pretty meaningful. By selecting them for at least two nationally televised games – you have to think Green Bay will be on in prime time at least once more in 2009, in some capacity – the NFL is saying it still believes the Packers are one of its marquee franchises, with or without Brett Favre.

Last year, the team opened on Monday Night Football against the Minnesota Vikings. But, really, Favre was a huge reason why the team was selected for that game. Everyone wanted to know how the Packers, and Aaron Rodgers in particular, would respond.

Now, though, with Favre’s specter no longer hanging over the team (combined with the fact Green Bay is coming off a disappointing 6-10 campaign), you had to wonder if the league would forget about putting the Packers on in front of a national audience.

But they haven’t, and that’s good to know.

The league also sent a few other messages by selecting the Packers for these games:

• The NFL understands just how big the Packers’ fan base is. I’ve been saying this for years and it’s true: Packers fans are everywhere. What other fan base rocks their team’s gear at a quasi-hippie music festival, like Bonnaroo in Tennessee? I didn’t see any Pats or Colts gear there – but I saw Packers gear. And, just maybe, the NFL understands that.
• The Packers have become a team – not just a one-man show – that non-fans of the team are interested in watching. Players like Greg Jennings, Charles Woodson and Aaron Kampman are relatively big names that can draw in fans, even if they have no rooting interest in the Pack.
• The NFL cares about old-fashioned rivalries. Yes, it’s always good to create new rivalries, and the league has certainly done that in recent years (Colts-Pats, Pats-Chargers, Steelers-Ravens, etc.). But it’s important to remember the rivalries, and the teams, upon which the league first made a name for itself. Packers-Bears, while lacking some of its old heat in recent years, is one of those rivalries. It’s nice to know the NFL remembers that.
• This last one is entirely personal, but by having the Packers play on Thanksgiving, the NFL is sending a clear message that it does not, in any way, care about the Thanksgiving plans of one Marilyn Lempesis (my mother, if you don’t know). My mom hates, hates, hates it when the Packers play on Thanksgiving. “It’s great if they win, but if they lose, you guys (meaning my father, brother and I) get all upset and the day is ruined,” she’s been known to say. Roger Goodell better watch his ass.

–Chris Lempesis