Packers Legacy:
Sounds like I need to be watching these.

Draft Capital:
While they may have gotten some good bang for their buck, the truth is under Thompson in the 2010's, he was not nearly as good as he was in the 2005-2009 drafts.

Jace Sternberger:
I think Sternberger is going to break out big time in year 2. There were a number of times he ran some sort of a wheel route and was running wide open. Had Rodgers been able to find him on any of those plays, they would have been big plays.
I think Sternberger will play a bit more of a traditional TE role wheres as Deguara will be more of a H-back type of role. Last year Graham I thought was better as a blocker then what he was given credit, but both Sternberger and Deguara should be upgrades there. And both won't be nearly as stiff as Graham has been. I think TE will have a bigger impact on the offense this year.

Raven Greene:
The defense never was the same after Greene got hurt. yes it was only 6 quarters but, he made a huge difference in how they played defense. His ability to play in the box and deep really made the defense play on another level. It gave Pettine a guy that he could do whatever he wanted to with. I believe the injury to Greene really changed what Pettine wanted to do on defense. And he never really adjusted after he got hurt. He tried running the same style without the player he needed to run it that way.
Greene is definitely one of the players that I am looking forward to seeing in camp.
Greene, Gary, Savage, Keke, Sullivan, Jackson, Burks are all guys that I think could take a major jump this year. I think any and/or many of those guys could be the breakout player in 2020.

If Greene can stay healthy and not need to play if banged up due to lack of depth, I think you are right on his potential this year.

I don’t think Deguara will compete with Sternberger. At least I hope not. That is Tonyan’s role. Deguara was signed as an Hback if you think about what has been said. Sternberger should be focused as a classic TE. He was game in his attempts to play HBack when asked, but we need him to play to his strengths and establish himself as a TE.

AL - Packers Legacy is an excellent docu-series. I’ll be interested to read your thoughts on the remaining decades. I found it all to be very well done.

The fact that the Packers did very well with their draft capital just strengthens the argument that if TT had added some FAs, especially when injuries hit, it m just may have been enough to put the Packers over the top.

Looking forward to seeing both Sternberger and Deguara in their roles.

Our defense definitely felt the loss of Greene last season. I hope that he is ready and able to play a full season in 2020. Our defense is better with him on the field.

Everyone stay well. Thanks, Since ‘61

Put that in your pipe and smoke it , all TT deniers. If Gary improves even nominally and Greene stays healthy, two reachable goals, the D could be stifling. First I heard of this documentary, where can I view it?

“Over that 10-year period, only one team, the Seattle Seahawks, got more return on their draft capital than the Packers. “

To all you TT and to some extent Gutey haters.......maybe you exude unwarranted, non substantiated criticism.....over expectations is what feeds pessimism. IE: Don’t expect a top 5 player with the 22nd pick. I’ve always felt we were lucky to have TT who learned from one of the best Ron Wolfe. I also believe if you don’t draft and develop players well you will not be consistent winners.

There’s a reason Packers are one of the most successful teams over the past 25 years and it’s not only QB’s, it’s called great leadership. Keep in mind, before you criticize the picks remember that all teams have their draft duds and the reality is their picks bust more often then our beloved Packers.

The packers rarely draft the player who the pundits have next on their draft board. This irritates some Packer fans and so they immediately criticize the pick(s). Sure, criticism is warranted at times, but continuous criticism is annoying. Give the draft a few years before you want to fire the GM for what you think is a lousy draft. The GM deserves more.

I'm different than Al...I started with the Ron Wolfe years which was AWESOME. Gotta get back to it and watch the rest from start to finish AND in the order of the series, but what I've watched has been enjoyable.

I'm looking forward to especially Sternberger this season. I was bummed about his injury last year because this kid could turn out every bit as good or better than Fant or Hockenson were taken in the 1st round. He's already a better blocker than Fant IMO.

Deguara is my sleeper from the 2020 draft. This kid is athletic as hell and gives 100% on every play that I've watched from College. Obviously those u-tube videos on draft picks are all the GOOD stuff, but effort was always something that really stuck out with Deguara.

I don't know how many read the piece by Cory about Aaron Rodgers trade rumors but I took a look. Got to say this Grant Cohn who wrote the piece is a real WEINER. He takes his shots at the Packers and comes out and says MLF is a bad coach.

Hmmm...14-4 in year one on a team that had 2 straight losing seasons, hardly anyone to work with from the 2015, 2016, & 2017 drafts on your roster, and doing it in the first year of a new offensive scheme doesn't suggest that at all. Now I did notice he only had 2 followers so it seems his own fan base knows he sucks too!

I started watching the Packers during the Lombardi era. Love the team and always hope for the SB but understand when they fall short.
TT made some mistakes, but drafting in the bottom and limited FA pick ups really crimped MM in his coaching. JMHO. Now that he's with the Cowboys we will see if he gets another SB.
MLF will have another playoff run this season if they play. It's just common sense in that they got the crap beat out of them by the 49ers. Outside of that, they can play with the best if they play tougher against the run. Yes they were lucky last year...but they will also be more focus with better understanding of both offense and defense. Of course injuries can still play a negative part in the season's outcome but expect great things this year.

TT was good drafting until 2010. From 2011 until 2017 got more than average hits on lower round picks but the first 3 rounds where very bad in general. According to the statistics they got a lot of return from the draft picks because since TT was averse to improve the team with FA they have to play good or bad.
A look at the 1st round since 2011 Sherrod, Jones and Perry are out of the league, Dix two 1 year deal for very reasonable money an average player, Randall 1 year deal with the Raiders and the Browns let him walk with no attemp to negotiate, very average and problems in the locker room. Clark a beast. The second round Cobb good player, Worthy, Lacy, Rollins out of the league, Adams a great hit, Spriggs, Josh Jones both a bust. King solid player when healthy. Third round, Green bad player, Hayward very good player just not for Capers system, Thornton out of the league, Montgomery average at beast, Fackrell a one year wonder, M.Adams looks like a bust.

I know that you can make almost anything look good with numbers but I don't buy the Draft Capital message. Recently, I heard Vic Ketchman refer to the Packers as "Aaron Rodgers and a bunch of guys". He went on to add that our high round draft picks have been below average. I think our performance over the last decade reflects this summary. Through injury and decreased performance from Rodgers, this team has become increasingly average. I think that Gutekunst is reversing that trend but too many prime Rodgers days were wasted in the process. Unfortunate.

Football must have been fun to watch in 1932; the Packers threw six shutouts, the Bears, eight. The three head-to-head contests: 0-0, Packers 2-0, Bears 9-0. The Bears' first three games all resulted in scoreless ties--jeez.

But the few official programs left from the championship game are worth a bundle.

Al, Great article.

When I was about 16 or 17 years old and happened to be in the little town of Oconto, WI at one of the hangout we kids used, Arnie Herber drove up in a truck and hauled in a case of beer. Pretty famous delivery man who made the day for a couple of starstruck kids who loved football and the Packers.

Kind of misleading to say TT gets credit for drafting a player that TT refused to offer a 2nd contract and who became a pro bowler on the next team. Hyde? Would SD be higher if they got credit for ted's considerable failings as a GM and with veteran players. Ted was GM if he had been limited to the draft and not had authority over the nfl side his tenure and that of packers history would be fairly different.

Over that 10-year period, only one team, the Seattle Seahawks, got more return on their draft capital than the Packers. Truthfully; No Team should have been ahead of the Packers. TT loved his picks. He made a lot of them. ( I believe more then any other team.) But you only have to look how many switched positions since 2010. Let alone the defensive failures in the 2nd round. I believe TTs problem was Capers. Listening to the coaches more then your own intelligence, was his Failure. The failure of development will happen. But his second biggest mistake was being cheap. MM had Rodgers. While others like New England signed cast-offs. And Traded picks. TT believed in Rookies. And if Sam Shields or Nick Collins, could develop. They surely could. Well that just didn't happen. The result was a defense that was a revolving door. IMO Gutey is making the same mistakes TT Made. Reaching for players that fit a scheme, switching positions, being cheap, won't help the team or the coach in the long run. Failure to get/Keep the best Players available, will cause turmoil in Green Bay. Grasping for straws will Dash the Hopes of the Faithful.

AV is not a great system, but it, DVOA, and PFF are probably the best available. PFR's system is flawed for defensive players and deeply flawed for offensive players. An average offensive team gets 100 points to be distributed to its offensive players as AV. A team like the 2000 Rams got 170 offensive points. The 2013 Cleveland team got about 85 points distributed to its offense. [The 1992 Seahawks team got 44 points to distribute to its 24 to 28 offensive players: probably not going to fare well even if you are a good player on that Seahawks team.]

Now let's make the system worse. PFR distributes 45.5% of Cleveland's 85 points (39 points) for blockers. OL are 100% blockers, while a TE's AV is 30% due to blocking (70% receiving) and a FB's (if there is one) AV score is 70% blocking (20% Rec., 10% running, IIRC). WR's get zero for blocking, btw. It doesn't matter whether blocking was the strength of the team or the biggest weakness: blockers get 45.5%.

Now let's compound the problem. Players who start or play on offense in X amount of games automatically get X amount of points even if they suck to high heaven. That's how Byron Bell for GB got 4 AV points despite an horrendous 40 PFF grade (which was well-deserved). Bell started 9 games and played in 12, and had 527 offensive snaps.

Four of Cleveland's backup guards combined to start 7 games and play 456 snaps in 2013, led by the incomparable Oniel Cousins, who once received a PFF grade of negative 3.4 (that's -3.4) for one of his starts. These four nonentities combined to get 4 points. TE Gary Barnridge (74.4 PFF grade), who is a very good blocker but had just 127 receiving yards, snagged just one point (probably from the blocking points) despite playing 529 snaps (because there were no points left). 2013 Pro Bowler TE Cameron Jordan snagged 6 points based on 80 Recs for 917 yds and 7 TDs, two of which probably came from blocking. Roughly 32 points left to distribute among the 5 starting OL, including LT, pro bowler, First Team All-Pro Joe Thomas (PFF grade 90.2), and Pro Bowl OC Alex Mack (85.1 PFF grade), and a good LG in John Greco (73.5 PFF grade but played 83% of possible snaps). What to do? Slight Joe Thomas and award 11 points to him when great LTs get 15 to 19 or so. Slight Mack by giving him 8 when he deserves 12, and slight Greco by giving him 3 when he deserves 6 or 7. This is getting too long, so I will skip the rest of the offense and just note that WR Josh Gordon, pro bowler, first team All-Pro, with 1,646 receiving yards, an elite 18.9 yds/rec, an elite 10.4 yards per target, a stupendous, almost never duplicated 117.6 receiving yards per game stat gets a paltry 11 points.

The problem is that QB is so important on offense. Clevelands QBs were McCoy (8 games), Weeden (4) and Senaca Wallace (4) in 2010, McCoy/Wallace in 2011, Weeden in 2012, Jason Campbell/Weeden/Hoyer in 2013, Hoyer (13)/Manziel (3) in 2014, McGown/Manziel/Austin David in 2015, Kessler/McGown in 2016, and Kizer (15) in 2017, with Baker Mayfield in 2018 and 2019.

Good luck getting any CarAv points as an offensive player if drafted by Cleveland between 2010 and 2019. [Joe Thomas in his 6 years as a 1st Team All-Pro only got 11 points per year in those years on average playing for the horrible Browns - what's a decent to good player going to get?] Things might be looking up a bit with Mayfield, though with a 93.7 passer rating in 2018 which went down to 78.8 in 2019 and under 10 yards per game rushing, the jury is still out on Mayfield.