It used to be – and especially so for the Packers – that Green Bay players saw little action in their rookie year. That’s been changing, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
On defense against the Detroit Lions, here are the rookie snap counts: Kenny Clark (42), Kyler Fackrell (37), Blake Martinez (30), Christian Ringo (24), Kentrell Brice (12), Dean Lowry (11), Brian Price (10), and Josh Hawkins (7). With the exception of Hawkins, the youngsters held up very well.
At week 3 in 2015, our first two draft choices, Damarious Randall (54 snaps) and Quinten Rollins (17) got substantial action in the defensive backfield. The other defensive rookie who got playing time was linebacker Jake Ryan, with four snaps.
On the offensive side, the only rookie to see action on Sunday was receiver Trevor Davis, with 12 snaps. I compared this with week 3 of last year, the 27- 17 win versus the Seahawks. Rookies were used even less on offense: Alonzo Harris had four snaps and Aaron Ripkowski had three.
Of the 13 rookies on the roster (I’ve included Christian Ringo, a first-year player, though technically not a rookie), the only ones who didn’t get on the field, other than on special teams, were offensive linemen Jason Spriggs and Kyle Murphy, backup quarterback Joe Callahan, and safety Marwin Evans. Spriggs and Evans did get some work on special teams.
There’s an upside to the Packers’ recent spate of injuries: the quality playing time these young players are getting will help to speed up their development and make them more reliable when called upon in the future.
There is one other noticeable difference this year with the rookie playing time. Maybe the difference is due to the injuries, but usually once a rookie receives a few snaps in a game they sit for 2, 3, or 4 weeks before they see action again. I believe that sitting time is to correct their mistakes. This group of rookies might be better prepared than previous rookies. As a safety Brice cannot let a receiver get behind him like he did at the end of the half. Hyde appeared to make the same mistake on the last Detroit TD. So maybe it is more than a rookie error.
I shit my pants
Rob is correct that playing time pays off in the long run with a shortened learning curve to achieve full potential. It does not increase the overall potential, it just brings it closer sooner.
That said, the real question here is this: Is the increased playing time of rookies due to an exceptional rookie class, a change in team philosophy, or is it due to injuries and poor depth? This is an important question because the first is bragging rights, the second is meaningless, and the third would be an indicator of random bad luck and/or poor team management.
This is an easy question to answer with the use of logic. Let’s eliminate the middle one, a change in team philosophy. Same GM, same HC, it is not a rebuilding team looking to quickly develop rookies for success a few years down the road. This team has never believed in utilizing free agency or giving players fair contracts and nothing has changed there.
That leaves two possibilities.
If this was an extraordinary rookie class then the players, getting playing time, would be making lots of plays. In other words, they force their way onto the field by performance. Let’s look at performance=
Clark = playing like a journeyman, a stopgap
Lowry = playing like a candidate to maybe be kept on a practice squad
Fackrell = OK/unknown
Martinez = he does not make plays. Not a difference maker. At all.
Brice = Two tackles. Two! Wow!
Ringo = One tackle. One! Stupendous!
Great or even good players make plays. These guys don’t, at least not yet. If this type of performance forced the coaches to put them in the game the low quality of their competition on the roster boggles the mind.
That leaves injuries/poor depth. The facts make this evident.
Clark = Did nothing in preseason, played because Guion was injured, Pennel suspended, no competition. At all.
Lowry = No competition, Pennel suspended. Playing time accrued by default. He is on the field because he happens to be on the team. Lucky guy as he would not have made most rosters in the NFL and, if the Packers had not drafted him in round 4 or at all he likely would have finally gone in round 7.
Fackrell = Injuries to Matthews and Datone Jones are the only reasons he saw the field.
Martinez = In order to justify this reach in round 4, MM and TT, co-dependent enablers of one another, conspired to cut Bradford and Barrington who each outplayed Martinez in the preseason. This forced the team to start Martinez. No other team in the league would be starting him. Well, maybe the Browns but is that reassuring?
Ringo = Injury to Guion, suspension of Pennel
Brice = he is a 3rd string FS… when most teams do not even keep 3 FS!
In short, the playing time of these rookies is not earned time and is nothing to brag about.
I drink only my own urine, nothing else. It is called the true “Circle of Life.” I wear an adult diaper ONLY to have the liberty to squeeze one out any where I want. I ALWAYS jar or drink the fresh urine on the spot. Next time I’ll tell you all what I do with my dirty log filled hankies.