The Green Bay Packers announced 10 roster moves to shrink down to 75 players by today's deadline. Most of the transactions involved injured players and only one healthy player was released.
DE Jarius Wynn. This isn't the first time he's been released by the Packers, so it's not a big surprise. He was re-signed during the great injury rush of 2010, after Justin Harrell's annual season-ending injury. He's also one of the few players I've actually interviewed, so I'm disappointed to see that he's gone, but his play on the field didn't earn him a roster spot. He had a strong couple months down the stretch in 2010, and he was useful during their playoff run to the Super Bowl, but he was a non-factor last season after recording 3 sacks in their first three games. He was involved in a couple plays last week against the Bengals, but he was clearly behind other players like Philip Merling. The Packers might have to release three defensive lineman by the end of the week, so the final game will be very important for Merling, Lawrence Guy, and Mike Neal.
FB Jon Hoese was released, but he's also been out with a hamstring injury, so it's a release related to an injury. The former undrafted free agent was released last season too, and then brought back onto the practice squad late in the year, so we might see him again.
TE Andrew Quarless and LB Frank Zombo have been hurting all training camp, but they both have a chance to return after six weeks on the PUP list. I'm a little surprised OL Derek Sherrod wasn't listed here too, which may be a sign that he'll be ready to play soon.
It's too bad to see LB Desmond Bishop's season end before it began, but his hamstring injury was serious and he'll be out for the season on I.R. A few other players were also placed on I.R. (RB Du'ane Bennett, TE DeMarco Cosby, G Ray Dominguez, DE Johnny Jones, and WR Shaky Smithson) but I wouldn't have expected any of them to make the roster if they had been healthy. Rob Demovsky expects those last five players will "receive settlements and be waived."
There are a few other players that I expected to be released (OL Shea Allard, OL Greg Van Roten, and WR Diondre Borel all stood out in a bad way against the Bengals) but they still need players for the final preseason game against the Chiefs. The starters aren't likely to play, and Aaron Rodgers might not play at all. The front office might have a good idea of their final roster, but some guys will get at least one more chance to make a good impression.
Showing posts with label Johnny Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny Jones. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The Packers 90-man Roster: Defensive Line
While the Green Bay Packers have created competition on the defensive line by drafting and signing several new players, there aren't enough roster spots for all of them. Most of the competition will be at defensive end, and these are the players from Packers.com that are considered at that position:
I'm expecting three of these players will make the 53-man roster, so the competition should be fierce. Guy was stuck on injured reserve last season, and now (assuming he'll return healthy), he has to fight for a spot on the 53-man roster, though he still may be eligible for the practice squad. Hargrove and Neal are staring down suspensions. While Hargrove may have no chance of changing the commissioner's mind over his participation in the pay-for-performance scheme while he was with the Saints, Neal might have his suspension lifted on appeal because his situation is similar to Andre Brown's. Based on what I read during the open OTAs, Worthy might be considered the top defensive end because of his ability as a pass rusher. Merling, Wilson, and Wynn are going to have to give the team a reason to keep them this preseason, but they all have potential.
Here are the defensive tackles (plus Jones who's listed as a "DL"):
Three-and-three: the Packers should keep three defensive ends and three defensive tackles. Jones spent 2011 on the practice squad, and that's his only hope of staying with the team again in 2012. Muir only played in 4 games in 2011 before the Colts released him, so he'll have to prove that he still belongs in the NFL, which I don't expect he'll be able to do. That could make it easy to keep Pickett, Raji, and 4th round pick Daniels (assuming his lingering shoulder injury doesn't land him on the I.R.).
The wild card is former Packer Johnny Jolly. Reading between the lines on a recent comment from team president Mark Murphy, who mentioned that he just wants Jolly to "lead a productive life" and notes that Jolly's been out of football for a couple years, it looks like the Packers aren't including Jolly into their plans. He might have some football left to play, but it seems they don't want to take back a player who could easily provide more headaches.
Overall competition level: high at defensive end, low at defensive tackle. Other than Pickett, Raji, and Worthy (Daniels will stay either on the active roster or I.R.), the other three positions could be made up of any combination of these players. These two positions will be ones to watch this preseason.
| Player | Height | Weight | Age | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guy, Lawrence | 6-4 | 304 | 22 | 2 |
| Hargrove, Anthony | 6-3 | 282 | 28 | 8 |
| Merling, Phillip | 6-5 | 315 | 27 | 5 |
| Neal, Mike | 6-3 | 294 | 24 | 3 |
| Wilson, C.J. | 6-3 | 290 | 25 | 3 |
| Worthy, Jerel | 6-2 | 308 | 22 | Rookie |
| Wynn, Jarius | 6-3 | 285 | 25 | 4 |
I'm expecting three of these players will make the 53-man roster, so the competition should be fierce. Guy was stuck on injured reserve last season, and now (assuming he'll return healthy), he has to fight for a spot on the 53-man roster, though he still may be eligible for the practice squad. Hargrove and Neal are staring down suspensions. While Hargrove may have no chance of changing the commissioner's mind over his participation in the pay-for-performance scheme while he was with the Saints, Neal might have his suspension lifted on appeal because his situation is similar to Andre Brown's. Based on what I read during the open OTAs, Worthy might be considered the top defensive end because of his ability as a pass rusher. Merling, Wilson, and Wynn are going to have to give the team a reason to keep them this preseason, but they all have potential.
Here are the defensive tackles (plus Jones who's listed as a "DL"):
| Player | Height | Weight | Age | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jones, Johnny | 6-4 | 310 | 23 | 1 |
| Daniels, Mike | 6-0 | 291 | 23 | Rookie |
| Muir, Daniel | 6-2 | 322 | 28 | 5 |
| Pickett, Ryan | 6-2 | 340 | 32 | 12 |
| Raji, B.J. | 6-2 | 337 | 25 | 4 |
Three-and-three: the Packers should keep three defensive ends and three defensive tackles. Jones spent 2011 on the practice squad, and that's his only hope of staying with the team again in 2012. Muir only played in 4 games in 2011 before the Colts released him, so he'll have to prove that he still belongs in the NFL, which I don't expect he'll be able to do. That could make it easy to keep Pickett, Raji, and 4th round pick Daniels (assuming his lingering shoulder injury doesn't land him on the I.R.).
The wild card is former Packer Johnny Jolly. Reading between the lines on a recent comment from team president Mark Murphy, who mentioned that he just wants Jolly to "lead a productive life" and notes that Jolly's been out of football for a couple years, it looks like the Packers aren't including Jolly into their plans. He might have some football left to play, but it seems they don't want to take back a player who could easily provide more headaches.
Overall competition level: high at defensive end, low at defensive tackle. Other than Pickett, Raji, and Worthy (Daniels will stay either on the active roster or I.R.), the other three positions could be made up of any combination of these players. These two positions will be ones to watch this preseason.