Thank goodness it’s the preseason. Sunday night’s game is meaningless in the final stat sheet for playoff positioning in the 2024 season. But for some young players it may well be as close as they come to seeing a roster spot on the Green Bay Packers.
While some coverage of the game claimed not much could be learned from Sunday’s whipping by the Broncos, this writer disagrees. Watch the game again if you can stomach it. There were clear lessons to be learned. The Packer run game was nonexistent.
Repeatedly, Packer tight ends missed or could not sustain blocks against Denver’s first team. Joel Wilson and Tyler Davis were abused by Denver’s front seven. They were not helped by the Packers backup offensive line. The Royce Newman experiment is close to an end.
He struggles on run blocking as is inconsistent pass blocking. On Green Bay’s fourth and inches play he was driven backwards, blowing up the play. And that was in the second half against Bronco backups. Sean Rhyan as a center is a work that needs progress.
Multiple times when Rhyan was asked to pull or find a target to block in space he ran hesitant and let defenders run right past him, ending the play.
The quarterback play was not helped by poor pass blocking and no run game. The most concerning plays by the quarterbacks were the turnovers. Clifford’s interception was thrown off his back foot. If he throws the ball two seconds earlier, as Wilson makes his break, he in open. But Clifford can’t trust it yet. At least not with the receivers on the field Sunday. But Clifford did have some good throws in tight windows. His initial long pass would have been caught by Watson or Doubs.
Pratt you give a pass on his performance. He is still adjusting to NFL speed. He must eliminate turnovers. Pratt’s best play was his scramble. He went through his progressions. Every receiver was covered. He showed good judgment and athleticism.
On defense, the linebacker play was poor. Hopper looked like a guy who hadn’t practiced much. He was slow to react. His eleven tackles were a product of Denver repeatedly running and passing straight at him.
While many have raved about Kalen King looking good in practice, Sunday’s film was not kind to him. Kristen Welch did put up some good tape. Fast straight pursuit angles and decent tackling highlighted his night. Johnathon Ford seemed to have decent initial movement but could not get off his blocker to move laterally to make a play.
The Packers held out 31 players. Basic math says that means at a minimum, 22 players that played in this game will make the final 53. Only a few players benefited from the film they put on tape Sunday. There is one game left for these players to prove they belong.
