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Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent

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Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#1 » by ReasonablySober » Mon Aug 9, 2010 3:13 pm

or something.

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They ranked the 25 and under talent on all the NFL teams and the Packers came up 24th. Houston is #1. Other north teams are Detroit (9th), Minnesota (16) and Chicago (27).

Packers:

No team seems to hit higher peaks or lower valleys than the Packers, who alternate busts (A.J. Hawk) with franchise-caliber players (Greg Jennings) during draft weekends. They had eight picks in Rounds 1-3 in 2007-2008, though, and their eventual haul appears to be tight end Jermichael Finley and whoever wins the wide receiver battle between James Jones and Jordy Nelson. A team that currently relies on well-aged tackles Chad Clifton (34) and Mark Tauscher (33) undoubtedly hopes to see signs of development from second-year man T.J. Lang and 2010 first-round pick Bryan Bulaga this year; with the historical injury woes of Clifton and Tauscher, the young guys may need to hold their own at some point this year. Combining that with another great year from linebacker Clay Matthews would help push the Packers well up these charts.


and #1 Houston

Not only are the Texans at the top of our rankings, but they could be even further ahead of the pack if we included players who are currently 25 and turn 26 before September 1. That would allow us to add star middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans to the Texans' haul. Even without him, though, the Texans are downright spoiled for talent. No one can match their one-two punch of Mario Williams and Brian Cushing, the best young players at their respective positions in the NFL. Add Ryans into the mix, and the Texans have three guys in their starting 11 who should be starting in the Pro Bowl every year. They're that good.

Those three players aren't the only talents on defense, either. Defensive tackle Amobi Okoye has been inconsistent as a pro, but consider that he's just 23; Okoye is more than six months younger than Ndamukong Suh, who hasn't played a pro down. Safety Bernard Pollard was gifted by the Chiefs and immediately shored up the team's biggest weakness. The versatile Connor Barwin had 4.5 sacks in limited time last year. Zac Diles benefited from playing alongside two elite linebackers, but held his own in coverage on the weak side. The team may start second-year corner Glover Quin across from rookie Kareem Jackson and would not regret it. The Texans go deep. Throw in their troika of young running backs, led by Steve Slaton, and Houston is an organization at the peak of its developmental work. General manager Rick Smith doesn't get much attention nationwide, but since he took over for Charlie Casserly in 2006, it's hard to find anyone who's identified and acquired young talent as well as Smith has.


Considering we have a pretty young team and we're supposedly Super Bowl contenders, this seems to be a pretty rough ranking. That said, I don't know I agree or disagree. Part of their justification for Houston's ranking is Mario Williams and Cushing being the top players at their positions. By the end of the season I think we may be saying the same thing about Matthews and Finley. Raji is poised to have a big season too. I like Nelson quite a bit. We'll see what we have in Burnett. I don't know. I like our future.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#2 » by Kerb Hohl » Mon Aug 9, 2010 3:20 pm

So do they factor in that Cushing probably won't be the best young player at his position? I'm sure Bonds could come back and jack 50 next season if they let him keep putting the needle in his ass.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#3 » by LUKE23 » Mon Aug 9, 2010 3:32 pm

Wow, that is a pretty tough ranking. But I guess I question what the definition of "young talent" is.

To me, if we look 26 and younger, we have:

Rodgers
Jennings
Finley
Matthews
Bulaga
Collins
Burnett
Jones
Nelson
Sitton
Raji

as players that can be anywhere from above average starters to pro bowlers.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#4 » by chuckleslove » Mon Aug 9, 2010 3:38 pm

Football Outsiders has something against the Packers in general. I saw one of them getting into an argument with several of our beat writers/bloggers(Jason Wilde, Aaron Nagler, and I think maybe even Bedard) on twitter a few weeks ago. At least I think that is who it was, my memory could be off but I'm about 95% certain it was one of them getting into it with our guys over something on the Packers.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#5 » by eagle13 » Mon Aug 9, 2010 3:40 pm

LUKE23 wrote:Wow, that is a pretty tough ranking. But I guess I question what the definition of "young talent" is.

To me, if we look 26 and younger, we have:

Rodgers
Jennings
Finley
Matthews
Bulaga
Collins
Burnett
Jones
Nelson
Sitton
Raji

as players that can be anywhere from above average starters to pro bowlers.


Yes and add
Lang, BJones, Underwood, Lee, Crosby & rookie Neal as guys with solid starter potential -
our young is looking pretty good
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#6 » by eagle13 » Mon Aug 9, 2010 3:42 pm

oh and Tramon is only 26 i think
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#7 » by chuckleslove » Mon Aug 9, 2010 3:47 pm

eagle13 wrote:oh and Tramon is only 26 i think


Turned 27 in March
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#8 » by Newz » Mon Aug 9, 2010 4:02 pm

I guess I don't see how anyone couldn't like our youth... A majority of our team is young and we are going to (most likely) be a playoff team.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#9 » by Turk Nowitzki » Mon Aug 9, 2010 4:10 pm

I falt out refuse to believe that 23 teams in the league have better young talent than the Packers.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#10 » by jakecronus8 » Mon Aug 9, 2010 7:14 pm

I think the ranking has a lot to do with how many guys we've missed on.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#11 » by Kerb Hohl » Mon Aug 9, 2010 7:27 pm

jakecronus8 wrote:I think the ranking has a lot to do with how many guys we've missed on.


Didn't know that affects play on the field. We've missed on quite a few given our bulk of picks. Who cares? I'd rather hit 10/50 than 6/25.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#12 » by El Duderino » Mon Aug 9, 2010 8:37 pm

Newz wrote:I guess I don't see how anyone couldn't like our youth... A majority of our team is young and we are going to (most likely) be a playoff team.


The by far biggest key to that youth is Aaron Rodgers. A still young franchise QB is worth more than multiple good players at other positions.

The NFL today is clearly a passing league. Franchise QB's are worth their weight in gold. Teams can have good players elsewhere, but until they have a top 5-10 QB, they have only a slim shot at best to compete for a Super Bowl.

Remove Rodgers though and instead have the Packers with only a mediocre QB, we'd likely have a ceiling of 8-9 wins if things went well.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#13 » by TheMadMongoose » Mon Aug 9, 2010 9:50 pm

I guess these guys haven't focused much on how the league has been trending over the last decade or so. Remember when teams felt real confident in their depth? Remember when teams could have a Montana, with a guy like Young there as a back up? A lot of the NFL is young, and it will continue to be that way. I don't really lose much faith in our team for being one of the leading teams in this example.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#14 » by LarryHarris » Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:48 am

Crosby sucks, I thought we all agreed on that, eagle...
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#15 » by Rockmaninoff » Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:40 am

Packers should be #1 on this list for Rodgers alone. The NFL is all about the QB. How many teams have one as good, and as young?

I can actually imagine Rodgers going 5000/500/50, and it's not unbelievable.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#16 » by jakecronus8 » Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:05 pm

Rockmaninoff wrote:Packers should be #1 on this list for Rodgers alone. The NFL is all about the QB. How many teams have one as good, and as young?

I can actually imagine Rodgers going 5000/500/50, and it's not unbelievable.


When they switch to a 18 game season?
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#17 » by Newz » Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:21 pm

Rockmaninoff wrote:I can actually imagine Rodgers going 5000/500/50, and it's not unbelievable.


I'm pretty sure that is unbelievable. That would be the best season any QB has ever had by far... At least any QB I can remember. :D
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#18 » by jakecronus8 » Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:24 pm

Wrong thread.

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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#19 » by LUKE23 » Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:25 pm

Brady had 4,800 yards and 50 TD (with only 8 INT), 398 completions a couple years ago in what is likely the best season ever for a QB. 50 TD and 5,000 yards would be the best season of all-time most likely. I can see him getting around 35 TD and 4,600 yards, but 50 TD and 5,000 yards is really pushing it.
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Re: Football Outsiders doesn't like our young talent 

Post#20 » by Newz » Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:26 pm

LUKE23 wrote:Brady had 4,800 yards and 50 TD (with only 8 INT), 398 completions a couple years ago in what is likely the best season ever for a QB. 50 TD and 5,000 yards would be the best season of all-time most likely. I can see him getting around 35 TD and 4,600 yards, but 50 TD and 5,000 yards is really pushing it.


I think the 500 stands for rushing yards too.

I think those numbers would be possible if the Packers just dropped him back to pass 80-90% of the time... I don't think that's going to happen though.

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