My Take -> Preseason Week 1

Greetings, G-Force.

The 2021 NFL Season is upon us. It is firmly a Super Bowl or Bust year for the Green Bay Packers. The team has an abundance of expiring contracts and clearly, this will be the final hurrah for this cast of players. It’ll be impossible to afford everyone without the majority of them taking significant pay cuts to play together. The vibrancy of this group of players has been sensational. Now, it's time to finish this run off with a ring!

As I write, I listen to the Goose “Alive and Well” album. I sip a Green Flash West Coast IPA. Lately, it’s been my most sipped hop.

My quick vibes heading into the preseason opener:

I’m unbelievably baffled with how much Gutekunst + Murphy have butchered the Rodgers communication issues. I am not going to get into all the details, but I hope they can remedy all of the issues in time for Rodgers to sign a lengthy contract extension after the Season. I know that there will eventually be a Packers team that is led by someone other than Aaron Rodgers. I’m just not ready for the rebuilding years quite yet. Not when you have the opportunity to have a 3x MVP, sure-fire 1st ballot Hall of Fame QB commanding the huddle. The quickest path to sustained success is to have #12 under center. And, I'd rather have Rodgers under center for 1-year too many. Case in point: look at the Saints last year. Drew Brees was done. But, he was still a Jared Cook fumble away from likely playing in the NFC Championship.

I wasn’t sure what the buzz would be around 1265 Lombardi Ave this year, but from the outside, it certainly appears as though the energy inside the Locker Room is high. The team seems to possess the right spirit. I worry about the lingering Za’Darius Smith injury and wonder if it’s possibly tied to a non-existent future contract. Maybe? But, other than that, everything appears to be bright.

Here are the top 5 things I’m most excited to watch in preseason:

5.) I don’t know if Jordan Love will be a good QB. But, I really enjoy the way he handles himself with a mic in front of him. I’m curious to see how he plays in live action.

4.) The Packers need their DL to be much improved. They were often sieve-like against the run game last year. Kingsley Keke has to take the next step. Dean Lowry must find his form. TJ Slaton is one to pay close attention to over the preseason. He has to be game ready to start the year.

3.) The Packers ILB play has been inconsistent for many years. Krys Barnes gave us glimpses of hope. He’s supposedly trimmed weight and expects to be quicker this year. DeVondre Campbell had been a solid contributor for the Falcons in the past. Can he fit the bill and bring stability to the position? Can Kamal Martin stay healthy and make an impact?

2.) The return game. Will it be Randall Cobb or Amari Rodgers returning punts? Who will win the Kickoff Return duties? Can Kylin Hill play the role? The Packers must have a better return game this year than they did over the course of the last two years, with the exception of a couple of positive Tyler Ervin moments.

1.) If the Packers are going to be Super this year, the depth in the secondary is going to have to be Super. Kevin King has proven to be unreliable from a health perspective. Josh Jackson hasn’t been good enough. Kabion Ento has been someone who has intrigued me in the past. He’s healthy and ready to make a push for a roster spot. Keep your eye on him. I’m eager to see Eric Stokes with the Packers “G” on his helmet. I’m hoping that he can be a reliable fill-in across Jaire if Kevin King is unfit to play. Shemar Jean-Charles is someone that my good friend and NFL Draft fanatic, Craig Forrestal, has spoken highly of prior to the Draft. He swears that Jean-Charles will make an impact on this team. When he speaks, I listen.

This week it’s the Texans to start the 2021 preseason. At Lambeau Field. I can't wait to see a packed stadium through the TV.

Expect Jordan Love to get the first 3 quarters of play. LaFleur will make it easy for him early. Look for play action, Love rolling right and Tonyan open in the flat. I anticipate that Love will mostly show well. He will show his mobility. He will also show his arm strength. My guess is that we will also see that he’s prone to mistakes.

I’m looking forward to seeing how LaFleur uses Kylin Hill. Hill seems to fit the LaFleur offense. In many ways, his college style reminded me of Jamaal Williams. With a little more flash. He was a tough runner with soft hands. I would like to see Hill on a wheel route. My guess is that Love will dump off to Hill multiple times.

Patrick Taylor was a fun player to watch in college. He was a tough runner with a nose for the end zone. He couldn't be arm tackled. He was a solid one-cut runner.

Devin Funchess knows he needs to have a big preseason to make the roster. Davante, Cobb, MVS, Lazard and Amari are locks. Now, he's injured. If he can play, I expect Funchess to be see a lot of action in the preseason. There’s no reason for him to not be a dominant force.

Juwann Winfree has received heightened praise for his play in camp. I was really excited to watch him. Bummed he's injured. It should have been his time to shine under the lights this week.

The Packers have made heavy investments in the OL over the last 2 off-seasons. They’re rich with depth. The competition will be heavy. They’ll be bringing out the best in each other. Expect the Packers OL to dominate the line of scrimmage throughout the preseason opener. They’ll be putting Love in a position to shine. They’ll open up holes for RB’s to burst through as well. I want to see them creating space for Patrick Taylor and Kylin Hill. On the current roster, I'd imagine that the Packers have a minimum of 12 OL that will be on rosters this year: David Bakhtiari, Yosh Nijman, Dennis Kelly, Elgton Jenkins, John Runyan, Josh Myers, Jake Hanson, Lucas Patrick, Ben Braden, Royce Newman, Billy Turner and Cole Van Lanen. At cut-down time, look for one of them to get traded for a pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Kabion Ento grabs an interception on a deep ball.

The Packers win this one handily.

Packers 27
Texans 13

Go Pack Go!

Talkin’ S-Mac.
talkins-mac.blospot.com