David Carr Prophetically Laid Out Packers 2017 Decline

David Carr was a star quarterback at Fresno State. Drafted first overall in 2002, Carr played professionally for the Texans, Panthers, Giants, and 49ers from 2002 to 2012, though never living up to expectations. He’s now an analyst.

While surfing the net, I just ran across a lengthy article Carr did for the Fresno Bee newspaper. It ran on October 25 last year, 10 days after Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collar bone against the Vikings. It can be viewed in full here.

Playoff Hopes Ride on the Coach

First off, Carr says that if the Packers want to stay in the race, “it’s really not up to Brett Hundley. It’s up to coach Mike McCarthy.”

His first bit of advice: the coaches need to adapt the offense to fit Hundley, and if they do this they’ll gain a competitive advantage over teams used to seeing the typical Green Bay offense. Said Carr: “This is an opportunity to be creative.”

Carr had just watched Hundley’s first game as a starter, the loss to the Saints. His observation:

“I was disappointed… it was the same offense that I’ve seen Aaron run forever… (F)rom a creative standpoint, out of 32 teams in the league, I’d put them in the bottom half and that’s being nice. They line up in the same sets all the time, and it works because Aaron is just better than everybody. He’s able to play at a higher level.”

Carr goes on to say that Hundley’s skill set is similar to that of the Texans’ DeShaun Watson, and he praises the way the Texans and coach Bill O’Brien changed their offense when Watson came in midseason. “(The Packers) have to create offense for Brett and the game has moved in such a way that the run-pass option, the zone read involving your quarterback in the run game, it’s in Tennessee, it’s in Houston, it’s in Carolina. Kirk Cousins runs it in Washington.”

Carr said the Packers didn’t need to revamp their whole system or throw away the playbook. He said though that “they can also be a little more cutting edge and they can make it easier on their quarterback… After a bye this week, they should come back and do something that showcases Brett, that gives him more of a chance.”

Carr, bless him, was quick to point out: “They have a talented running back… (T)his young kid, Aaron Jones, has come in and given them a spark in the run game. Now, involve the quarterback in the run game and let’s get a couple of easy throws to the outside with one-on-one situations to Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams and let those guys go make plays.”

Carr concluded by putting the accountability where it belongs: “The Packers have the weapons. They can still make something of (the season) and I think they will, but it’s on Mike.”

I couldn’t agree more. Too bad none of this good advice was taken. Too bad the Packers made little use of the timely bye week. Too bad Aaron Jones barely got to play. Too Bad Big Mike set Hundley up to fail.

Too bad YOU didn’t prepare him, coach – and too bad you won’t accept the blame!