Packers are NFL's youngest team 4-years running

Captain Erv · Post #1 » by **Captain Erv** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:28 pm

Definitely thought this was noteworthy. Despite the number of haters he has and his unconventional style as a GM, TT has really done a great job with this roster.

Packers NFL's youngest team for 4th-straight year
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Sept. 16, 2009 4:07 p.m.

Green Bay - Packers coach Mike McCarthy said after last season that his team would be "hard-pressed" to be the youngest squad in the NFL again in 2009.

Well, he was wrong.

The Packers opened the season with the league's youngest roster for the fourth-straight season. After being tied with the Kansas City Chiefs last season, the Packers took the outright lead again by posting an average age of 25.70 years.

The Indianapolis Colts are second at 25.89.

The league average is 26.61.

"That's not on my statistics board when we set goals for the year," McCarthy said on Dec. 31. "I think the most important aspect of our football team is our experience level is increasing, and they're still young, and I think that's exciting."

Packers lead the NFC and are a close second in the NFL in average years of experience (3.81). The Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday's opponent, have the least amount of experience in the league at 3.77.

NFL average is 4.48.

Packers have the lowest number of players 30 and older (four). Of the league's 31 other teams, 18 (42%) have double-digit numbers of players over 30. League average is 10.6.

wichmae · Post #2 » by **wichmae** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:44 pm

somewhat surprising. TT doubters seem to really be hiding in the woodwork recently.

Newz · Post #3 » by **Newz** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:54 pm

wichmae wrote:somewhat surprising. TT doubters seem to really be hiding in the woodwork recently.

That's because they are finally starting to realize that there is absolutely no reason to hate on Thompson... Either that or they are too busy cheering for the Vikings.

LUKE23 · Post #4 » by **LUKE23** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:55 pm

TT's the best GM in the state and it is nowhere resembling close. This team is set up to succeed for several years. There are still some holes to fill, but there aren't many. At this point it will come down to choosing the right players to re-sign (that is why we don't blow money on FA's, we'd rather draft well and keep our own players), and continuing to draft well.

Newz · Post #5 » by **Newz** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:05 pm

LUKE23 wrote:TT's the best GM in the state and it is nowhere resembling close. This team is set up to succeed for several years. There are still some holes to fill, but there aren't many. At this point it will come down to choosing the right players to re-sign (that is why we don't blow money on FA's, we'd rather draft well and keep our own players), and continuing to draft well.

In my opinion, that is the best part about what TT has done with the Packers. A lot of our talent is young... So we are set up to compete over a long period of time.

I'm not saying we will be as good, but I think we can put together another extremely long string of .500+ seasons and compete for some championships along the way in the mold of the Favre Packers, Patriots, Colts, Steelers, etc. (Assuming health to Rodgers)

I do think that TT will eventually have to turn to free agency though. When Woodson and Harris are both gone, we are going to need another very good corner. I also think we may have to turn to free agency to sure up our offensive line as well, especially at the tackle spot(s) when Clifton is done.

I think Raji, Matthews, Collins and Williams will be staples of our defense for several years to come... And I think Rodgers, Jennings, Nelson and Finley will be staples of our offense for several years to come.

Ayt · Post #6 » by **Ayt** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:03 pm

There are a lot of guys to lock up this year, but I'm confident he'll get those guys signed. Our FA list is long.

He should try to get Collins done at the bye week. Then you have Colledge, Spitz, AK, Pickett, Chillar, and more.

Newz · Post #7 » by **Newz** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:09 pm

Ayt wrote:There are a lot of guys to lock up this year, but I'm confident he'll get those guys signed. Our FA list is long.

He should try to get Collins done at the bye week. Then you have Colledge, Spitz, AK, Pickett, Chillar, and more.

I would like to get those guys locked up.

For some reason I don't see Pickett being part of our team next year though. I believe he is thirty or will be thirty shortly and I just don't think it's Thompson's style to hang on to him, especially when he just invested a first round pick at the NT position. If he can get Pickett on the cheap, I could see him around... Otherwise I think he's as good as gone.

Ayt · Post #8 » by **Ayt** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:44 pm

Jolly is also a FA. Forgot about him.

Newz · Post #9 » by **Newz** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:45 pm

Ayt wrote:Jolly is also a FA. Forgot about him.

Does anyone know Jolly's exact legal situation? Is he going to be able to play next year? Is that whole thing over with?

Post #10 » by **ReasonablySober** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:55 pm

The best thing (at least in the short-term) to happen would be an un-capped year. All of the sudden the only two free agents the Packers would have to worry about are Kampman and Pickett and we could use both the Franchise and Transition tags on them.

jakecronus8 · Post #11 » by **jakecronus8** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:33 pm

I think Ted is good at acquiring talent in the mid to late rounds. He's made some good early picks too, but for every Jennings and Rodgers there's also a Hawk or a Harrell type. I don't know if Ted will ever have the stones to sign a big name guy to put the packers over the top if/when they are championship caliber.

Newz · Post #12 » by **Newz** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:37 pm

jakecronus8 wrote:I think Ted is good at acquiring talent in the mid to late rounds. He's made some good early picks too, but for every Jennings and Rodgers there's also a Hawk or a Harrell type. I don't know if Ted will ever have the stones to sign a big name guy to put the packers over the top if/when they are championship caliber.

You don't think that we are championship caliber now?

You know multiple sources have predicted us to go to the Super Bowl and some have even picked us to win it, right? I remember Jaws on MNF last year even said Ted Thompson is creating a 'dynasty' in Green Bay.

I've always been confused about the whole "Yeah, Thompson drafted some good players, but he also drafted some bad players too." argument. What GM drafts ALL good players in the first rounds? The GM who built our Super Bowl teams (in the 90's) sucked at picking in the first round.

Post #13 » by **MickeyDavis** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:14 pm

Jolly won't be going to court until next spring sometime. It would have been better to get it over with this past summer. As a pending free agent I can't see us offering him any kind of extension right now. He may get off or get off without jail time but if he's found guilty he'll get some kind of suspension regardless.

El Duderino · Post #14 » by **El Duderino** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:23 pm

LukePliska wrote:
Ayt wrote:There are a lot of guys to lock up this year, but I'm confident he'll get those guys signed. Our FA list is long.

He should try to get Collins done at the bye week. Then you have Colledge, Spitz, AK, Pickett, Chillar, and more.

I would like to get those guys locked up.

For some reason I don't see Pickett being part of our team next year though. I believe he is thirty or will be thirty shortly and I just don't think it's Thompson's style to hang on to him, especially when he just invested a first round pick at the NT position. If he can get Pickett on the cheap, I could see him around... Otherwise I think he's as good as gone.

Yea, my money is on this being the last year here for Pickett unless he'll take a 1-2 year deal at not that much cash, which is unlikely. Pickett isn't anything overly special, but he eats up blockers and someone else will pay him more than Ted is willing to, especially with Raji on the team.

Post #15 » by **Jollay** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:37 pm

LukePliska wrote:
wichmae wrote:somewhat surprising. TT doubters seem to really be hiding in the woodwork recently.

That's because they are finally starting to realize that there is absolutely no reason to hate on Thompson... Either that or they are too busy cheering for the Vikings.

I'm not a hater per se but he has one winning season in four and its one game into the season.

And I'm definitely in the category that the man needs to give us a little vet help when he thinks we're close to the super bowl.

Nobody here that I know of disputes the draft is the way to go, however.

Championship calibur after a five point home win over the Bears minus Urlacher for a half.

Premature much????

Newz · Post #16 » by **Newz** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:48 pm

Jollay wrote:
LukePliska wrote:
wichmae wrote:somewhat surprising. TT doubters seem to really be hiding in the woodwork recently.

That's because they are finally starting to realize that there is absolutely no reason to hate on Thompson... Either that or they are too busy cheering for the Vikings.

I'm not a hater per se but he has one winning season in four and its one game into the season.

And I'm definitely in the category that the man needs to give us a little vet help when he thinks we're close to the super bowl.

Nobody here that I know of disputes the draft is the way to go, however.

Championship calibur after a five point home win over the Bears minus Urlacher for a half.

Premature much????

A lot of people on this board would disagree that it is premature... Look at the prediction thread where a majority of the predictions are between 12-4 and 14-2.

I predicted 9-7... But to say that this team doesn't have the talent to compete for a championship is a bit foolish in my opinion. The Packers are without a doubt one of the most talented teams in the entire NFL.

Ayt · Post #17 » by **Ayt** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:01 pm

If people predicted big things in the preseason it would be dumb to alter those expectations after one game.

Early season games are often wacko, but the important thing is to get the W (see Pats and SD for other examples). You want to work out the kinks as quickly as possible and get into midseason form. Our schedule is set up nicely for us to do that. We have two winnable games the next two weeks, a very tough road game against Minny, then a bye. Our coaches and players should have a very good idea where they are at in the bye week.

Captain Erv · Post #18 » by **Captain Erv** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:53 pm

Ayt wrote:If people predicted big things in the preseason it would be dumb to alter those expectations after one game.

Early season games are often wacko, but the important thing is to get the W (see Pats and SD for other examples). You want to work out the kinks as quickly as possible and get into midseason form. Our schedule is set up nicely for us to do that. We have two winnable games the next two weeks, a very tough road game against Minny, then a bye. Our coaches and players should have a very good idea where they are at in the bye week.

Yeah the first game of our 13-3 a few years back we barely beat the Eagles at home in a game that we had no business winning.

jakecronus8 · Post #19 » by **jakecronus8** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 12:24 am

I have always been cautiously optimistic with this team, even after our ridiculous 3 games of the preseason. My fears with this team are still the same. The defense, no matter how good they looked as a whole versus Chicago, are yet to play against a legitmate offense. And on offense, we have a below average running game, the right side of the line is suspect and inexperienced, and I'm afraid that teams will continue to do what the bears did and make us run the ball.

As far as people who think they are championship caliber NOW go, the whole being the youngest team in the league is probably a bad thing.

Ayt · Post #20 » by **Ayt** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:03 am

I don't think having the youngest roster on average means all that much. We were also the youngest team in the league when we went 13-3 and I don't think anyone could say that wasn't a championship caliber team.