My Take -> Preseason Week 2

Greetings, G-Force.

It was great to see the Lambeau faithful receiving some preseason electricity! Heightened voices. A crowd that appeared to be fun loving and enjoying the short sleeved Titletown, U.S.A. weather.

My energy for the Packers is in Regular season mode. I sit with in a pair Packers shorts and a Packers t-shirt. I just slugged down an iced Vietnamese coffee. Ever since I got back from the Phish Baker's Dozen at Madison Square Garden in NYC, I have had difficulty getting Phish out of my ears. I'm listening to the 7/22/17 show. It was the Strawberry Donut night. My 11th anniversary night. Yeah, most people go to a beach for their Anniversary. My wife, Star, and I go to see Phish. Three years in a row, we've taken in Star's favorite band on our anniversary. It was great fun to hear Phish play Brothers Johnson. Though it's written by Shuggie Otis, I think of it as a Brothers Johnson tune and the Strawberry Letter 23 from 7/22/17 is a memory I'll hold forever.

Here are my quick vibes from the win over the Eagles:

* It's clear to me that the Packers have zero confidence in their ability to apply pressure from their front 4. We are going to see a large multitude of blitzes this year. The Packers will attempt to bring pressure from all over the field. We cannot afford any injuries in the secondary. Teams are going to attack the Packers with the pass and it feels uncertain as to whether the Packers will be equipped to get to the QB. It feels like Dom Capers has studied the Arizona Cardinals defense with the wide array of blitz packages that were shown in the first preseason game. Normally, the preseason is a time to show a vanilla defense. Not this year. Capers showed all of his cards. The Packers defense will be in attack mode. I just hope that we have the horses to get home. It feels like the Packers are going to need Vince Biegel and Montravius Adams making plays as pass rushers this year. I'm really concerned about our pass rush and my gut tells me that the Packers are also worried about it. To me, that was the #1 takeaway from the preseason opener.

* Really sloppy start with all of the penalties and missed tackles. But, when you can't practice in pads, what brand of football do you expect to get at this stage in the season? I'm not concerned about those issues continuing. But, I didn't like seeing Bulaga and Perry jumping offsides.

* Brett Hundley. Loved the dude's swagger. Looked like a California kid. Carried himself with poise. Great confidence. Smiling in the huddle. Cool as a cucumber in hot sauce. Liked to see him muscle through the pass to Adams when his arm got hit as he stood near his own goal line. Good to see Adams adjust to the ball as well and come down with the catch. Hundley was really impressive. That pump fake on the TD pass to Janis had me giddy!

* Speaking of Janis. It's the preseason, so of course he's catching a TD pass. Janis is in a heavy contest to make the roster. Feels like it'll be tough to keep both Janis and Trevor Davis. Neither is much of a play maker as a receiver. And, while the Packers are likely to keep 6 WR's, you have to believe that Nelson, Cobb, Adams and Allison are locks. So, after Allison returns from his 1 Week suspension, there will only be two roster spots left. Barring injury, it's hard to imagine TT cutting both Yancey and Dupre. Therefore, I envision the Packers releasing either Janis or Davis. Both have special teams prowess. And both showed it in the preseason opener. Janis was solid as a gunner on Vogel's first punt. And, Davis was responsible for the most exciting play of the game with his punt return for a TD. Additionally, I'd argue that his second long return was even more impressive than the TD return as I didn't think his blocking was as good on the 24 yard return as on the TD. Janis vs Davis. It'll be an interesting competition. Both had bad drops. It's important to remember that when the Packers lost Micah Hyde, they lost their PR man as well. Davis took the first step in winning that position. It'll be tough to get rid of Davis after that showing as a PR.

* What were the Packers doing with the run game? It felt like they were handing out participation trophies. There was absolutely no way that anyone RB could've been evaluated. Ty Montgomery fumbles and then gets another touch on a reception and he looks really explosive on the play, but then we don't really see him again. That's fine because we need to see the rookies. I was really hoping that they'd give Jamaal Williams a minimum of 7 touches. Instead, he got 4. And, he looked pretty good. He plowed forward upon contact. He got thin through the hole. He displayed good vision. But, we didn't see much of him. Then, it was Aaron Jones' turn and it was clear that the Packers wanted to see him in the pass game, but the Packers attempt at running a screen was laughable. Jones finished with 3 touches for zero yards. Then, they gave Devante Mays a look. But, he only got one attempt and it came on a swing pass on 4th and 2. Mays caught the ball short of the marker and made a defender miss with a shifty move and then he sought contact and fell forward for another yard. It was the last play of the 3rd Quarter. I anticipated that Mays would get the 4th Quarter. Especially since you can know hold onto players until after the final preseason game. So, I figured Mays would get the bulk of the 4th Quarter action. I wanted to see his big body barreling through the tackles. Instead, he gave way to William Stanback. Stanback yawned his way to 0 yards on 2 carries. Finally, Stanback was replaced with Kalif Phillips. Phillips actually looked OK on one 10-yard carry, but other than that run, his blocking was terrible and he was eaten up. In total, he had 3 carries for 4 yards. And, yes, that total included a 10 yard gain. I was shocked by the Packers approach. They under utilized each back and because of it no one got into the rhythm of the game. Ultimately, we learned nothing about any of them. I'm really hopeful that the Packers just give the bulk of the 1st half carries to Williams and the bulk of the 2nd half carries to Mays with Jones being utilized as the 3rd down back.

* Joe Callahan. He reminds me of Doug Flutie. Just a gamer. Put him on the field and he'll perform. Outside of the time he missed McCaffrey down the sideline, I really thought Callahan looked like a guy who could play in this league.

* After the Packers added Taysom Hill, I wrote: "Taysom Hill. I'm really animated to see Hill play at the NFL level. He has a great arm. Plays with field awareness. Terrific mobility. Smart QB. Can make all of the throws. Was somewhat surprised that he went undrafted. He fits the Packers scheme of a targeted QB. I'd think that he'll outperform Callahan in camp. Hill has all of the tools to be an NFL QB. He's tough. He has NFL size. Really like his pocket presence. Good accuracy on the deep ball. Not afraid to gun it into traffic. Throws receivers open. A true gamer at the college level. He could sneak onto the 53-man roster and if he doesn't make the roster, I'll be really surprised if he doesn't make the practice squad." Hill played exactly the way I'd expect him to. He knew where the yardage marker was when he was on the run. He was mobile. He put the ball where his guy could catch it. He engineered a TD drive. A joy to watch.

* Jason Spriggs. You have to be better than that. He was disappointing in both the run and the pass game.

* Kyle Murphy. Wanted to see him at Guard. Liked his run game effort. Finishes the play. A little too stiff as a pass blocker. Want to see him continue to develop.

* Martellus Bennett. Fantastic to see him running the slot and picking up yards after contact. Looking forward to being a more dominant blocker than he showed in the preseason opener though.

* Liked the two TE looks. Going to give Rodgers options as he surveys the defense at the line of scrimmage.

* Max McCaffrey really looked like his Dad. Crisp route runner. Smooth hands. Great strides. Always open.

* Malachi Dupre. Hated seeing him get hurt. Looked like our most athletic WR. Hope he's OK and that he isn't held out for an extended period of time.

* DeAngelo Yancey. Good to see him making the play on the deep ball. Wanted to see him power through the tackle and walk into the end zone, but fun to see him haul in the 46 yarder.

* Michael Clark. Book it. He'll be on the practice squad. A treat to watch a big bodied Packers WR in the preseason winning a jump ball.

* Joe Kerridge saw a lot of snaps. He played well. But, I don't feel like the Packers can keep 2 FB's on the roster this year. Need numbers elsewhere. Is he trade bait?

* Trevor Davis. Speed. Wow. Riveting!

* If only Clay Matthews had brought Carson Wentz to the floor. If so, we'd be thrilled with the performance of the first team defense. We wouldn't have seen Kevin King tossed to the turf on a stiff arm by Mack Hollins, a rookie who is a 4th round pick. We'd also be viewing Kevin King differently who played really well outside of that play. I liked the way he turned his hips and saw the field. I enjoyed seeing him playing bump and run coverage. It was fantastic to see him stick multiple receivers when the play was in front of him. Not only was he physical, but he was aware as each time he came off of his receiver to make the play. Yes, there was the miscommunication, but that sort of thing doesn't worry me at this stage.

* Josh Jones showed his speed and quickness. Loved seeing him force the 4th and 1 when he beat the back to the spot and kept him short of the first down. It was also thrilling to see him step up and make the play on Pumphrey on 3rd down with roughly 4 minutes left. 3rd and 11. Dump off to the back. We're so accustomed to seeing that become a first down and once again, this appeared to be on it's way to a first down, but Jones came flying in - off the TV screen - to step up and make the play 4 yards short of the first down. He did overcommit once on a dump off to Clement in the open field, but overall, a really impressive initial performance from Jones.

* Kenny Clark looked like the real deal. He could be a dominant figure on the DL this year. I'm expecting him to be a monster. Other than Marwin Evans, Clark was the most impressive Packer for my eye.

* Dean Lowry appears to be ready to make a big time impact.

* Ricky Jean Francois showed why he was brought in as added depth to the DL.

* Blake Martinez showed aggression in pursuit. He is being challenged for playing time and he really responded well.

* I like the look of Morgan Burnett at ILB. We feel like a faster defense.

* Kentrell Brice might've missed a handful of tackles, but I really like the way he attacks. Brings intensity to the defense. He'll get those missed tackles cleaned up.

* Damarious Randall. Is he tough enough to play in the slot? Really like his playmaking ability. And, yes, it appeared to be a cheap shot that knocked him out, but man, he's often injured.

* Quinten Rollins. By all accounts, his play has improved in the preseason. It's great to read. I'm hoping that our Week 1 perimeter CB's are King and House.

* Ladarius Gunter. Interesting to see him operating in the slot. Looked good on the blitz. Showed his length. Liked the forced fumble and recovery. Guy gives his best.

* Lenzy Pipkins. Gangsta goodness. Confidence. Athletic. Treat to watch his demeanor. He flashed in a big way. His name has to be in the mix for a roster spot.

* Marwin Evans. The most impressive player on the field. And, that was prior to the interception. He was dynamite on special teams and on defense. A team high 7 tackles. On the interception, I wish he'd have high pointed the ball. A true star of a game from Evans.

* I'm worried about Kyler Fackrell and Jayrone Elliott. We need one of them to be able to play as a regular on defense. I am not sure that I see it from either of them. I was hopeful about Fackrell taking that next step. Didn't wow me.

* Reggie Gilbert had a couple of decent pressures, but he needs to show more if he's going to push for the 53. He looks the part of a 3-4 OLB. We need him to take that next step. He needs to be a bruiser on the edge. I'm pulling for him.

* Really big game from Joe Thomas. He was active. Looked confident.

* Thought Brian Price played well. Made me wonder if he could eat up valuable snaps this year.

* HaHa. Mid season form. I don't need to see him this week. I'd play Evans and Brice extensively at Safety with Josh Jones at ILB against Washington.

* Justin Vogel. The []_[]! He made his mark. Sure, the first punt was bad, but that was just jitters and there was no return. After that punt though, he had 5 punts. All were downed inside the 20 and his average was 44 yards per punt. It's also noteworthy that two punts were dropped. Wonder if he had a spin on those kicks that were tough to catch. It was nice to see the way the ball bounced on those punts that hit the turf. Impressive night from the undrafted rookie. The job should be his.

* Welcome back, Brett Goode!

* The Packers have extra roster space. They need to add a DL for depth purposes only. Maybe a CB as well. Might be wise to get rid of a RB soon and to add depth on the DL to keep those big bodies fresh.

* I have started preparation for my annual Packers mock draft. Yes, I know the draft is nearly 8 months away, but one of the keys to putting together a thorough mock draft prior to the draft is the homework before the season. As always, I'll have an initial Packers mock draft prior to Labor Day weekend. I'm still trying to find out whether the Packers received the Bills 7th round pick in the Lerentee McCray trade. I haven't seen it reported as to whether McCray met the necessary conditions of the trade. If so, the Packers will go into Draft weekend with 12 picks. 7 of their own picks, 4 compensatory picks and 1 pick for McCray. It's fair to estimate that the Packers will get roughly a 3rd, a 5th and two 6 round picks as compensatory picks. Thus far, the only players that I'm committed to having as Draft picks in my initial mock are Iman Marshall, CB, USC and Dee Delaney, CB, []_[]. More to come on them in a couple of weeks. I'm going to be studying CB's and LB's heavily throughout the next 8 months.

This week - the Packers head to the Nation's Capital. A Saturday night treat.

I would not play Aaron Rodgers. There's no benefit. In fact, there's more benefit for the Packers to play Hundley than there is for the Packers to play Rodgers. Hundley needs the reps. It'd also be good for other teams scouts to lay eyes on Hundley and when Hundley performs at a high level, it'll increase his future trade value.

I also wouldn't play Nelson, Cobb, Bakhtiari, Daniels, Matthews, Perry, Bulaga, Linsley, HaHa or Burnett. I'd give Taylor, Evans, and Kenny Clark one series.

This week - we see Ty Montgomery explode early in the game. I think Montgomery will evolve into one of the best receiving backs in the league. We see him in open space. Montgomery burrows forward for yardage.

Then, Williams gets his turn. We see his tools. His vision. His shifty-nature. His underrated power. Williams moves sticks.

Jones catches a screen and flashes quickness.

Mays gets action and pushes the pile forward for extra yardage.

Clark and Lowry win the line of scrimmage.

Brice finishes plays.

It's Callahan to McCaffrey for a TD.

It's Hill to Clark for a TD again this week.

Reggie Gilbert grabs a sack.

Marwin Evans is all over the football again this week.

Packers 27.
Redskins 16.

I love the Green Bay Packers.

Go Pack Go!

Talkin' S-Mac.
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