It’s that time of the year when the revolving door of NFL assistant coaches is spinning the most. According to Tom Silverstein, defensive back coach Jason Simmons is leaving to join the Carolina Panthers.
Can confirm that #Packers DBs coach Jason Simmons is headed to Carolina to join his former college DC Phil Snow. Packers are lining up candidates to replace him.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) January 25, 2020
He will be joining the staff of new Panthers head coach, Matt Rhule, who was hired on January 7th to replace the departing Ron Rivera. Simmons has been with the Packers since 2011 when he was an administrative assistant.
Simmons made headlines in 2007 when he teamed up with former Packers RB Ahman Green to help purchase a home for a needy family.
Rob wrote about his quick ascension up the coaching position ladder in the past:
Jason Simmons, age 41, has gone from being an administrative assistant (2011-14), to assistant special teams (2015-17), to having a full-fledged coaching position. That’s a speedy progression. He formerly had a 10-year career as a safety with the Steelers and the Texans.
Obviously, the Packers are going to begin interviews for replacements, but there is no word yet on who is potentially lined up.
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The Packers could have stopped the lateral move if they really valued Simmons body of work this year. Allowing the lateral move to another team may have avoided the Packers of relieving Simmons of his duties.
There were a lot of receivers from the opponent’s teams running free (again) in the secondary this year. That hurts when you are focused on, and put your resources into stopping the pass before the run.
I’ll tell ya what Howard…the off season moves by Gute are going to be huge this time around. Sometimes, and rightly so, the 3rd year is a judgement year.
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Gutes problem now is the same problem Rodgers has. The bar (standard) has been set. In a way it’s a curse for him ending at 13-3. The same as people keep referring to Rodgers 2011 and 14 season in comparison. But….i believe in my heart the offense gets better next season in year two and gets back to winning games scoring points. A lot of things went right this season, defense closing games with timely play making, lack of injuries that seem to plaque this team almost every season. If the defensive scoring can stay under 20 next season, and the offense increases it’s scoring 6 points a game (which i think is doable) then this team could repeat, or come close with 11,12 wins.
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One thing i want to run by you and get your thoughts. Maybe i’m off base…but this is how i see the offense. When was Rodgers at his best?….when he created plays. How did he do that….When they moved the pocket, when he scrambled buying time. Opposing teams had one major strategy against Rodgers, keep him in the pocket. I guess when his passer rating was 130 outside the pocket, that strategy seems sound. Now…..they are trying to keep him under center more. So in essence, take away what he does best. My view point is…they haven’t found that happy median. I think the reason is two-fold. One being it’s very new and it takes time, the other is needing better personnel. What say you.
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Random thought…at the beginning of the 9er game, it seemed clear the Packers wanted to negate the pressure of the 9ers by quick releases. But there was just one problem. The first pass to Adams, caught at the line of scrimmage (managed 6 yards). 2nd pass to Marcedes Lewis, caught a yard behind the LOS, (managed 3 yards). 3rd pass Williams caught at the LOS (managed 1 yard). 4th pass..Allison caught the pass 1 yard past the LOS, got dumped instantly. 5th pass…Moving pocket, Lazard catches perfect throw 13 yards past LOS.
These little quick release passes around the LOS do nothing, they don’t have the players fast and elusive enough to make that work. It reminded me back to the play calls McCarthy was giving Hundley
I agree about moving the pocket. If you go back and read my comment in Rob’s article titled “Pass Rush is what Makes the 49ers Defense Special”. I commented about a few things I thought the Packer offense needed to do. The biggest one was move the Pocket. I specifically mentioned the Rams week 16 game against the 49ers. The Rams moved the pocket on the majority of pass plays. They used outside run motion with blind rollouts, misdirection, jet fly sweep motion and runs, etc. to keep the 49ers eyes busy, and their minds and legs hesitant.
I know some may not be able to see that game, but it was masterful what the Rams offense did in that game to keep the 49ers off balance. Goff was outside the pocket by design on several pass plays. Rodgers can move just as well as Goff. The Packers ran some of the same things as the Rams, but only a small portion.
I really think LaFleur will incorporate much more into the offense this off season and training camp. Everyone will be more comfortable in the offense including LaFleur and Rodgers. I don’t think Rogers is as comfortable under center as in shotgun and I think LaFleur would like to see Rogers under center more. Add in hurry up offense and you have at least a couple of things for LaFleur and Rodgers to work out this off season.
I really think Gutekunst is going to need to add a veteran #2 receiver and draft a receiver high. I also think the Packers need to draft a couple of offensive linemen fairly high. I get the feeling that Gutekunst will double hit on problem positions. It appears to be his SOP. 2 WRs, 2 ILBs, 2 OL, 2 TEs(maybe 1), 2 DL, 1 RB, 1 OLB, etc. Not enough draft capitol or free agent dollars, but I think Gute will as much as capital allows, try to replace as many players with better players as possible. Murphy is already slacking on what he felt was a very important item two years ago.
I know there are not enough high draft picks and free agent $’s to fix all the problem areas, even if Gute hits on all the moves, and that is not likely. Gutekunst is also going to need to hit on some later round picks or low priced free agents in order to try and fix or put bandaids on most of the positions of need.
If you are going to through quick passes to the outside you need to have more hats out there than the opponent. It also helps to have your receiver moving forward or across the field with speed rather than at a stop, or moving backward/sideways with reduced speed toward the first down marker.
Double hit?…triple hit (receivers). Yea…touching on your last comment first, the Packers just don’t have the talent to shake defenders at the LOS, especially fast teams like the 9ers. Those play calls reminded me of the calls McCarthy used to make when Hundley was here.
On what Gute needs to do, to me, starts with what he should have done. #1) If you have a TD scoring machine, don’t show him the door while insulting him (creating this problem). #2) Don’t replace him with a tight end that 99.9% of the people viewed as old news, THEN make him the highest paid in the NFL. Really?
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Receivers (with very rare exception) need a year or two to get acclimated to a NFL offense. He SHOULD have realized Graham didn’t have it after his first year instead of handing him 5 mill last March. He shouldn’t have put all his eggs (faith) in the basket of receivers he drafted. He SHOULD have possibly got a receiver with the 12th pick, or traded down and got 2 additional picks in the 2nd, and/or 3rd round (instead of drafting a player he knew would be sitting on the bench wtf?, win now?). He should have refrained against giving a (average at best) right guard 11 million instead of making sure the offense had enough talent. Guards are plentiful. My point is he was derelict in duty, or at best, was wrong judging our receiving core talent, either way…..
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Since i’m here already, lets touch base on signing Bulaga, or moving on. SINCE…the Packers sold to us that Turner was versatile and could play across the line. My thinking is…because were sitting here scratching our heads about needing receivers, instead of giving Bulaga a lottery ticket, lets use that money for an established receiver. IF….Turner can play across the line, then we don’t have to sign Bulaga do we? Slide him over to right tackle. Talk the talk, walk the walk. Don’t hand me any bs.
I remember the last time we had a right guard that we were told was versatile enough to play across the line. His name was Don Barclay and rumor has it he’s now applying for a job at Janis Tire and Auto.
Too bad Al Harris just got hired to coach the secondary in Dallas. Maybe Bhawoh Jue is available? Mike McKenzie? Ahmad Carroll?
The thought of Ahmad Carroll is giving me PTSD
Player coach, Tramon Williams
So i turn on the Pro Bowl, Bree’s gets the snap, the def. line of the AFC walks back 10 yards, leaving the NFC O line standing around there alone scratching their asses. I’ve seen enough.
RIP…Kobe Bryant
You see how many lives Kobe touched, you see the respect and emotion drawn from those who knew him, and even those who didn’t. You think about his daughter that he doted over that meant so much to him.
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You imagine and think about the pain and suffering of all (not just Kobe’s) the victims families and friends whose loved ones perished in that crash and your heart just melts and you can’t help but break down as a human being with compassion.
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Godspeed to all the families and friends……