There’s no doubt the pass rush was a major liability for the Green Bay Packers this season.
A lot of people want to point to the departure of defensive end Cullen Jenkins as the reason for that, never mind for a moment that the outside linebacker spot opposite Clay Matthews generated absolutely zero pass rush.
Jenkins’ seven sacks in 2010 were missed this season. The guy who was supposed to be his replacement, Mike Neal, was injured most of the season and did absolutely nothing when he finally got on the field. The Packers went from 47 sacks in 2010 to 29 in 2011.
While Jenkins didn’t exactly set the world on fire after signing with the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent, he did record 40 tackles and 5.5 sacks while playing in all 16 games. Those are certainly better results than Neal.
The thing is, Jenkins has a somewhat restrictive contract, which has led several people to believe he could be a free agent again this season. The lineman is due a $5 million roster bonus in April, when he’ll be 31.
Philadelphia may deem that price too high to pay and if they decide not to, Jenkins will be free to sign with any team. In all, the Eagles would save $7.75 million if they released him.
So, why not bring him back to Green Bay?
Signing Jenkins would provide insurance if DE Mike Neal doesn’t pan out and Thompson isn’t able to get an end in the first round of the draft. Even if Neal and a first-round pick were added, Jenkins was highly respected in the locker room and would definitely be a good tutor for the younger players.
This could all be wishful thinking, of course. The Eagles have enough salary cap room to pay Jenkins and he doesn’t seem to think they’ll do anything but that.
“You kind of move on. Right now, I’m an Eagle, and that’s my mindset. I’m going to continue to be an Eagle until they don’t want me to be an Eagle anymore. That’s my main focus right now. I’m not worried about any of the other ifs, ands or buts.”
We’ll keep an eye on this one, but Jenkins’ return to Green Bay seems like a long shot right now.
[polldaddy poll=5854893]
TT needs to focus on completely overhauling this defense, whether that includes bringing back Jenkins and moving Woodson to SS or whatever, the defense clearly needs to be addressed.
I know TT doesn’t like diving into free agency to fill needs but in order to really shore up the D he might have to. DE, OLB, CB and Safeties all need to be addressed, from there the O-Line needs work as well — this is where free agency would really help.
He’ll never sign a 30+ year old Jenkins when he’s got a stud like Mike Neal waiting in the wings. I hope he recovers from the stress of all 6 of those tackles he made over the last 2 seasons. Better throw him on the PUP list and give him the first 8 weeks of 2012 off as well, just to make sure he’s 100% for the stretch run.
Lol. Gold winner.
Maybe we should put Zombo on the PUP to keep him fresh also.
I don’t even have to give my two cents…I’ve been saying this all along. I was proven right in the playoffs…but really all season.
I can’t see TT patching up the defense simply through draft picks this year. He’s gonna have to break the mold and sign a free agent or two. Might as well be someone who knows our system.
VJ, the playoffs didn’t prove you right about anything. The defense didn’t cost us the game against the Giants.
Jenkins was good for 5.5 sacks, and now he is a year older. Great. I hardly see that being worth $5 mil a year.
Anyone expecting TT to suddenly dip big into free agency is delusional.
We’ll draft defense as usual. It isn’t like we need more offense.
We’ll draft defense as usual. It isn’t like we need more offense.
===============================
Well we certainly couldn’t hurt having a few receivers who can makes catches in big games. And by “big games” I mean games that actually matter. I vaguely remember Jordy Nelson (3 drops in the Super Bowl) and James Jones dropping god knows how many passes in the playoffs last year and this year wasn’t much of a difference except the drops by Jermichael Finley and Nelson resulted in getting embarrassed by New York. But I’m sure we’ll all be mesmerized by this core again next year when they amass huge totals against sub-par defenses and we all saw how valuable some of these “big time” receivers are when the going gets tough. What was it? Seven drops against the Chiefs and eight drops against the Giants last week by this so-called “great” receiving core? Looks to me like Nicks, Manningham and Cruz all stepped up and delivered in big games without costly drops.
And anyone who doesn’t think the Packers need a two-dimensional running back late in the season, especially in the playoffs, is delusional. How horrendous was the tandem of Ryan Grant/James Starks this year? Yes, I understand this is a pass first offense but even good teams in passing offenses have multi-talented running backs who can catch out of the backfield, which neither Grant or Starks is able to do, and neither is capable of making big plays out of the backfield and are dangerous enough to keep defenses honest.
The offense on this team is far from perfect
The infamous “games that matter” argument where the arguer arbitrarily picks the games that best suit the argument. That is a good one.
If we are talking about “games that matter”, then why bring up the Chiefs’ game? That was actually the LEAST important game of the entire season.
The WRs on this team have had plenty of big catches in big games. They’ve had bad games too, but the majority of the drops on Sunday were by the RBs and TEs.
I’m all for drafting another RB, who obviously is going to need to be able to catch the ball, someone with speed, hopefully. But that can be found in the 4th round or later. MAYBE the 3rd round pick we get for Flynn.
The best 2-D back in the league, Arian Foster, wasn’t even drafted.
Teddy put together a great dome team that unfortunately has to play home games outside. Even New Orleans isn’t as soft as these powder puffs and it shows.
That “dome team” was 8-0 at home this year.
Pretty good for a “dome team.”
8-1 I thought?
Regular season.
No one says we were 7-5 on the road last season.
But 8-1 is pretty damn good for a “dome team” as well.
The 2 biggest areas the Packers need help offensively are on the Offensive (and in this case its a perfect simile as the offensive line in Green Bay is indeed “offensive”) and we need a speedy back aka Darren Sproles to give us a weapon on screens and dump offs.
As for our defense, well I expect our corners to come back healthy and ready to go next year, with Woodson moving to safety. Really that leaves us with the need of one good OLB and a couple of decent interior linemen.
A tall order no doubt, but doable.
1- get a pash rusher opposite CM
2- a running back… Similar to Mershawn would help immensely
3- win 2 super bowls or more
4- have another hit off the pipe… Easier said than done
D needs help to win consistently in the playoffs
This past year I kept waiting for the D to wake up. We have too many big names to play as inconsistent as we did. I wondered if Capers schemes were to blame for our secondary looking like chickens without heads big play after big play. Tackling was atrocious. Zero pass rush enabled quarterbacks of any caliber to put up huge numbers, case in point the one guy who only weeks earlier had been a high school coach. I also think the guys lost that hunger they had when they proved everyone wrong buy winning the S.B. I know we’ll turn it around though. Draft defense, especially pass rushers because any secondary would get lit up if the QB has enough time to make a sandwich before throwing the ball.
I can just see it now, sign Jenks back….he gets hurt after finally playing a whole season….And you know…China doll Neal will probably get hurt again….wouldn’t that be a nightmare….But then again…Neal is about effective on the inactive list, as he is in a game… I’m running out of faith in TT…Yea i said it…2nd round pick Brian Braham…Bust…1st round pick (Justin Harrell) (Bust)…2nd round Mike Neal (Bust),,,,,1st and 2nd round picks…Need to be starters in this league. I have no faith with TT drafting defensive lineman. Last year i was secretly hoping TT was going to go after Jason Babin. If he did, i wouldn’t be writing this right now, i’d be writing about how the Packers are going to kick the Patriots ass in the Super Bowl.
I agree rebelgb…I think were gonna need another lineman…I saw nothing positive in Derick Sherrod…Who will prove to be yet another 1st round bust….I think Woodson moving to safety…is just dreaming….cornerbacks aren’t hitters. Sure, woody can tackle around the line of scrimmage….but it’s a far cry from playing safety…yes i know he plays safety in the nickle package, but how did that work out this season?
i almost forgot….TT drafted another bust….2nd round Pat Lee (useless)…Christ…the more i think about it….TT is losin it.
Fire TT!!!!!! and he’ll have as many SB’s as the greatest GM in packers history… Ron “fart in the wind” Wolf! Your a fuckin idiot! Rodgers was a 1st round bust, Jennings 2nd, Matthews, bulga… Yep those guys fuckin blow!
Nick Collins, Cobb, jordy! Brohm was a bad pick but he did draft Finley 31 picks later… You should be our GM Mxz…you obviously know who isn’t a very good NFL player 4-5 years after the fact… Brav fucking O!
Mike Neal..2 years, Pat lee..3 years….Derrek Sherrod..1 year………..4-5 years apeshit?…really?////tell ya what apeshit…finish getting your GED, then we’ll talk.
Educated just fine!!! Your right you know more than TT… If you think listing a few busts who everyone else can plainly see suck makes you some sort of an expert….get fucked! Sherrod is way way to early to evaluate… But I’m sure, with your advanced scouting expertise from the school of Nastrodamas will prove true!
State all of the facts….fuckhead!!! When you pull your head out of your fuckin ass///// get back to me…we’ll talk!