RealGM

I NEVER guessed the Pack would be 7-1 at midseason. Don't think anyone else did either. For all their wobley success they must be doing something right.

Some random thots

Biggest Positive surprises --

David Lee - With all his drops last year who would have thot?
Brett - Many said he still was good, Many did not think so. No one predicted this good.
James Jones - a couple guys saw something - to most he was just unknown.
Atari Bigby - slipping recently but he's given our best safety play in years

Biggest disappointments --

Jackson - likely still develop but most of us hoped for more sooner
Harrell - likely still develop but most of us hoped for more sooner
Popp - hi energy but still cannot cover fortunately he is often not on field
Colledge - likely still develop but most of us hoped for more this year
ZBS - sure it needs more time but bummer

Biggest Positve NON-surpises --

Corey Williams - some doubted - but I and others could see and value his interior pass rush and versatiltiy to play end.
Kampman - after big pay day delivers - again
Barnett - after big pay day delivers - last season some wanted to let him walk and start Hodge - I did not want to loose him.

Best expected development --

Greg Jennings - many saw his talent and no surprise -he's delivered

MOST Critical players --

Brett
Harris & Woodson

Hmmm. You made that whole post without mentioning Brett Favre or Charles Woodson. Johnny Jolly should be given a shout out too.

You mentioned Brett. Short word, I skipped it I guess.

And you mentioned Woodson in the end portion. What ever. Johnny Jolly has been awesome.

Coming into the season I thought three things were going to doom the Packers:

1 - Poor QB play
2 - A propensity to give up big plays on defense due to bad safeties
3 - A tough schedule

I expected the lines to be strengths of the Packers.

Pass protection wouldn't be a problem. Favre has never had a problem getting enough time to throw the ball. Part of that is the line but its also because Favre's got that strong arm and sixth sense as to when to get rid of the ball.

Run blocking looked good at the end of last season. I expected that to continue.

The defensive front seven was never a question mark either. Good at worst, elite at best. I thought we'd see something in the middle.

The WR corp was also a unit I had no questions about. It's rare you see a rookie come in and make plays. Very rare. Jennings did so last season so you can only imagine what he might accomplish in year two. Then you had Jones, who by all accounts was following in Greg's footsteps. That gave us three legit targets, with Robinson coming back mid-season and Martin holding down the #4 spot until then and he's got one of the best pairs of hands on the team. WR wasn't an issue.

I had no confidence in Bigby out of not knowing what he would bring, and Collins, though an outstanding athlete, hasn't yet shown to be anything more than an average but replaceable starter.

Well...

1 - Favre's played incredible.
2 - The safeties aren't giving up the big plays (though the penalties have hurt) and the ones they have given up aren't killing the team at the worst possible time like they did in '06.
3 - Teams that looked tough on paper to start the season have looked terrible in the first half. You could say that Philly, San Diego, Chicago and Denver have all underperformed. KC, NY and Minnesota are about where people thought they would be. Washington is perhaps doing better.

The pass protection, defensive front seven and WRs have all gone as expected. Run blocking has been a nightmare and is by far my big disappointment.

I didn't know what to make of the RBs (young and inexperienced) or TEs (which Bubba will show up, will Lee finally make good on all that natural ability). Jury is still out on the backs while Lee may represent the NFC in the Pro Bowl.

Brett and McCarthy have come up huge thus far.