Training Camp Thread

[Kerb Hohl]

Fire Thompson.

[Allanon23]

Fire Thompson.

And bring back Sherman!

[Wilford Brimley]

http://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/gut-reacti ... nt=Twitter

Speaking of rookies - D.J. Williams and Randall Cobb are crazy impressive.

T.J. Lang looks like a new man - a man on a mission. He split times with Derek Sherrod, but he was light years more impressive than the rookie.

Erik Walden is your leader at OLB opposite Clay Matthews. He has gotten bigger during the offseason and was absolutely destroying guys in one-on-ones. At one point, he ripped through Scott Wells and Kevin Greene exploded with joy. It was awesome.

ames Starks is the best back on this team.

[Kerb Hohl]

Using talk-to-text software to post. Hands unavailable after fapping.

[Ayt]

Could Newhouse be the one who starts at LG and kicks outside next year? I don't see why not.

He didn't look good at OG last year at all then looked great when they switched him to OT. I can't see him moving back to OG if he looks even better at OT this year compared to last.

If Newhouse hypothetically has a great camp and Sherrod, Lang, or McD don't look good at LG, we could see Bulaga back at LG with Newhouse starting at RT. That is large string of things to have happen, but I think it is more likely that Bulaga would move to LG if Newhouse looks like he needs to be on the field somewhere.

[wichmae]

This offense is going to be (Please Use More Appropriate Word).

[BUCKnation]

Sherrod playing at LG is just stupid. He has played LT his whole life, why change him now? It isnt like we have had OTAs and stuff. LT is the most finesse lineman position. You cant be finesse playing G, it is a whole different set up. Let Newhouse and Lang compete at LG, and keep sherrod behind Clifton. Stop screwing with this kids mind!

[wichmae]

LOL on the Packers website they have interviews and during Morgan Burnett's Ricky Elmore is at the wrong locker taking DJ Smith's warmups and putting them on...

[OBF-MKE]

Sherrod playing at LG is just stupid. He has played LT his whole life, why change him now? It isnt like we have had OTAs and stuff. LT is the most finesse lineman position. You cant be finesse playing G, it is a whole different set up. Let Newhouse and Lang compete at LG, and keep sherrod behind Clifton. Stop screwing with this kids mind!

?

[LUKE23]

I kind of wish we'd just let Sherrod develop at LT over force feeding him LG, which he doesn't appear suited for. Let Lang, McDonald, Newhouse battle it out at LG.

[trwi7]

This offense is going to be (Please Use More Appropriate Word).

[LUKE23]

Teams are really going to have an issue with the amount of different formations we can run with this offensive talent. The amount of varying formations we can run with these skill position players is ridiculous. We don't drop off in talent whether it is 5 wide, Finley + 4 WR, a two TE set with Finley and Williams, or throw Starks or Green in the backfield. I think the biggest offensive playbook in the league just got bigger. Just need the OL to be solid.

[LUKE23]

Also interesting to read that on Walden. He has the most pass rush potential of Jones/Zombo/Walden, the question is whether or not he can hold up against the run. It will be interesting to see if they rotate that position out based on the down/distance, or try and focus on one guy there.

[LUKE23]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/1538 ... in-nfl/rss

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It was hours before the Green Bay Packers' first practice of training camp when tight end Jermichael Finley stepped in front of reporters and announced that if he makes it through this season without missing a game he would "change the tight end position."

Then came the exclamation point.

"I guarantee it," he said.

I didn't know what he meant then, but I do now. I attended practice the next two nights and saw the future of the tight end position in jersey No. 88 for the Green Bay Packers. It is Jermichael Finley, and he is part wide receiver, part tight end and All-World at one of the game's most important positions.

Not since Tony Gonzalez appeared on the scene have I seen a tight end with hands this sure. In fact, during Sunday's 7-on-7 drill, Finley did the improbable and caught two passes at once -- one with each hand.

I'm serious.

He circled to the right flat for a sideline pass when, suddenly, a second ball appeared on his radar. Apparently, quarterbacks Matt Flynn and Graham Harrell got their signals crossed, and both aimed at Finley at the same time.

No problem. He simply stabbed one pass with his right hand, one with the left, then continued downfield as if nothing extraordinary occurred. The play went largely unnoticed by fans, but those who saw it looked at each other as if to say, "Naaaaahhhh I didn't just see that ... did I?"

You did. Welcome to Jermichael Finley's world where everything is possible.

"Just a natural reaction," Finley said later. "It was just one of those things where I saw one ball coming and caught it, then saw another and tried to catch [it]. I just tried to do something different."

Get ready for a lot of that this season, people. Because if Jermichael Finley stays healthy, he fulfills his guarantee. He will raise the bar at the tight end position, and he will establish himself -- not Jason Witten or Gonzalez or Vernon Davis -- as the best tight end in the NFC and the closest thing to Antonio Gates in pro football.

Correction: If he stays healthy, he puts Gates in the rear-view mirror and establishes himself as the premier pass-catching tight end in the NFL.

Notice I said, If. Finley hasn't completed a 16-game season in two years, and he's in the last year of his contract. So 2011 is important for a lot of reasons. He must prove he can stay on the field, and he must prove he's worthy of a long-term deal.

One is contingent on the other, and Finley knows it. If he stays healthy he cashes in big ... with someone. If he doesn't, the Packers are so deep at the position -- with rookie D.J. Williams an early camp hit -- he won't get the big bucks.

But I can't see them flushing him. I mean, how can you? When you see what Finley can do -- play wide, play on the line, make big catches over the middle, make big catches in the end zone, you name it -- it's hard to let go. Plus, the Packers tend to keep their valued contributors, with wide receiver James Jones and fullback John Kuhn this week's examples.

But Finley is in another stratosphere than those guys. I mean it. Seldom has there been a tight end with so much ability, so much promise and so much waiting for him.

"The guy's got it all," said cornerback Tramon Williams. "You have good guys, great guys and some guys who are just gifted. He is gifted."

He is so gifted that I would suggest there is no defense or no defender out there who can handle Jermichael Finley. Only Jermichael Finley can keep him from moving to the A-list of tight ends, and that has nothing to do with character, practice habits or attitude and everything to do with injuries.

He just can't shake them, missing three games in 2009 and all but five last year.

For that reason, the Packers are taking it easy with him, easing Finley into practices slowly. Finley doesn't mind, saying that "if they let me go Sept. 8 [the season opener] I'll be the happiest guy in the world." So will the Green Bay Packers and their legions of fans. Because what you see is the next great tight end in the NFL about to happen ... provided, of course, he stays on the field.

"He's a freak," said coach Mike McCarthy. "Some of the things he does out here you just shake your head at.

"I just had a conversation with James Jones and told him that the 90-catch, 100-catch season in Green Bay is probably not going to happen. And that's a credit to you guys. It would be fun to throw it every snap.

"Trust me, I believe in running the football, and I think about running about as much as I can. But you have some guys who can do things with the ball."

I know of one who can everything. Here's hoping we get to see it.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

mneal96 Michael Neal
Been watching film on @CullenJenkins for a couple hours now...smh...#vicious

[LUKE23]

The DL is going to be interesting to watch. We will miss Jenkins against the pass for sure. I also think that Neal/Wilson/Green are better against the run, however. Some people lauded our run D last year, but it was actually pretty poor, 28th in YPC allowed. That is one area we can improve even if the pass rush suffers some. We're going to need more sacks out of the ROLB spot this year to make up for some of the pass rush loss of Jenkins.

[emunney]

We need somebody to really step up on D and justify the faith TT has in them. If Burnett or Neal blows up, the D is just as good as last year if not better. I'm hoping the ascent of Shields cancels out any possible decline from Woody.

Really going to be watching Burnett, as TT traded up for him specifically to be the starter. That's a lot of faith.

[LUKE23]

I'm really not concerned about the secondary at all, its the strength of this defense. In our nickel package, I see four pro bowl caliber players there (Tramon, Woodson, Collins, Shields) and an up and coming 2nd year guy (Burnett). To me, depth questions at ILB and DE and someone emerging at ROLB are the biggest concerns on D.

[emunney]

I don't think it matters where the playmaker is as long as he emerges.

[Ayt]

Fire Thompson.

If these clowns don't make something happen this year TT and MM need to be fired or this will happen: