The NFL will hold its supplemental draft on July 15 and the most intriguing prospect is Harvey Unga. At 6-0, 242, the former BYU star is a bruising running back with soft hands. As of today, there’s no guarantee that Unga will even be selected, but that could change if he performs well at his Pro Day on Thursday. Should the Utah native run under 4.7, he could go as high as the fourth or fifth round. Unga is eligible for the supplemental draft because he voluntarily withdrew from BYU in April after breaking the school’s strict honor code. According to reports, the 22-year-old was having premarital sex with his girlfriend of three years. This violated the “live a chaste and virtuous life” tenet. There’s a difference of opinion as to what position Unga will play at the next level, but he would probably project to fullback in Green Bay (I know what you’re thinking – “another freakin’ fullback” – but this guy would be a significant upgrade over both John Kuhn and Korey Hall). That said,...
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Fanhouse Senior NFL Writer Dan Graziano posted an interesting article last week about the Packers defense. He quotes a number of players and coaches, and not surprisingly, their expectations for the upcoming season are very high. “We want to be the No. 1 overall defense,” proclaimed Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins. “We want everybody to talk about us, not talk about what we could be.” This quote got us to thinking. Is Collins’ goal to be the No. 1 ranked defense or the best defense? Because those can be two entirely different things. The former is attainable. The latter seems unlikely. Forget about the No. 2 ranking last season. While the defense was much improved under new coordinator Dom Capers, it hardly resembled a great unit. Well, that’s not entirely true. The Packers played stifling defense against Detroit (twice), Cleveland, Dallas, Baltimore, Chicago and Seattle. They, however, were anything but stifling against Cincinnati, Minnesota (twice), Pittsburgh and Arizona II. You don’t have to be an expert to see a pattern. You also don’t have to be an...
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Daryn Colledge punctuated a disappointing regular season by committing a costly holding penalty on the penultimate snap of the playoff loss to Arizona. At the time, that miscue seemed destined to be the former Boise State star’s swan song with Green Bay. But the lack of a collective bargaining agreement, combined with injuries to Jason Spitz and T. J Lang, has given Colledge a new lease on life and a legitimate chance to retain his starting job. “It’s not that far-fetched,” said a former scout. “Remember, he was arguably the line’s best player in ’08. Plus, who’s going to replace him? Left guard is Spitz’ third-best position and Lang has virtually no experience inside.” So who would pose the biggest threat to Colledge? Probably a player that very few people are even considering for the job – rookie Bryan Bulaga. “Why not,” asked the scout? “If the goal is to get the five best offensive linemen on the field, wouldn’t it make sense to see what Bulaga could do? I happen to think he would be a really good guard. His strength,...
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In life, spring is a time for love to bloom. In the NFL, spring is a time for players to complain about their contracts. Fortunately, players whining over money hasn’t been much of an an issue for Green Bay as of late, and GM Ted Thompson is the reason why. He’s done an amazing job of paying his players fairly. Think about it – how many Packers are underpaid? Jermichael Finley? Maybe, but remember, he’s only in the third year of his rookie contract. Ditto right guard Josh Sitton. And aside from those two emerging stars, there’s not a single member of the team who’s being paid below his worth. By filling his roster with young (i.e. cheap) backups, Thompson has been able to take care of his best players, and in the process, keep angry agents at a distance. Even players who had gripes about their contract (safety Nick Collins, corner Al Harris and receiver Donald Driver) kept relatively quiet. That’s because they knew Thompson would ultimately take care of them – if they handled things...
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We like Pat Kirwan, but every once in a while he writes something that clearly shows why he’s working for NFL.com and not for an actual NFL team. Case in point is last week’s article on the best secondaries heading into the 2010 season. Somehow, Kirwan placed Green Bay at the very top of the list. He justified his rankings by using eight criteria. It didn’t take us long to find a fly in the ointment. Kirwin lost us at No. 1 – the belief that the Packers have “three excellent cornerbacks.” They don’t. They have one excellent cornerback Charles Woodson), one very good cornerback who’s coming off a devastating injury (Al Harris), and one pretty good cornerback with the potential to get better (Tramon Williams). Could this secondary be the best by the end of the season? Maybe, but a lot of things would have to fall into place. Harris would have to make a near miraculous comeback, Williams would have to step up his game, either Pat Lee or Brandon Underwood would have to go...
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While any story written in late June should be taken with a grain of salt, we couldn’t help but notice this article from the Buffalo News about offensive tackle Jamon Meredith. You remember him, don’t you? He was last year’s fifth-round pick from South Carolina whose conditioning was so poor that he was released by the Packers on Sept. 5. He was later re-signed to the practice squad, where he lasted until the Bills plucked him away on Sept. 23. The 24-year-old started four games for Buffalo, and while he allowed only 2 sacks in 264 snaps, few members of Green Bay’s front office were lamenting the loss. That might be about to change. Meredith, who resembled a tight end more than an offensive tackle as a rookie, is now carrying 311 pounds on his chiseled frame. And while he’ll never look huge, he now looks like a player who might stand a fighting chance against some of the league’s bigger and stronger right defensive ends. The Packers, of course, re-signed Chad Clifton and drafted Bryan Bulaga in...
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It happens almost every summer. Some player comes out of nowhere to grab a spot on the final 53-man roster. And while the majority of these players fail to ever establish themselves in the NFL, a few, like Tramon Williams and Cullen Jenkins, go on to forge successful and lucrative careers. We asked a former scout to assess this year’s crop of no-names and come up with a list of players who might be able to buck the odds. The following are his six choices: WR PATRICK WILLIAMS – “He’s been around for a few seasons, so you know the coaches see something. Looks stronger and a lot more confident than he did a year ago. Nothing stands out about Williams, but he does enough things well to have an outside chance of sticking as the No. 5 receiver. The fact that he doesn’t have experience as a returner works against him.” WR JEFF MOTURI – “Undersized and overaged , but he was awfully productive in college. Quick little receiver who seems to have a...
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If safety Atari Bigby chooses not to sign his tender and report to training camp in late July, his absence would have to be considered one of the most bizarre in NFL history. Truth is, you’d have to think long and hard to come up with a veteran player – in any sport – who decided to withhold his services despite accomplishing so little in his chosen profession. Bigby should be thrilled that the Packers even want him back. Other than a good stretch late in the ‘07 season, he’s been a very marginal starter. Agent Drew Rosenhaus is a smart guy, but  he’s making a mistake in this instance. The truth is, he has very little leverage. General manager Ted Thompson doesn’t see Bigby as the long-term answer at safety, and with rookie Morgan Burnett continuing to impress, he may soon not even regard the 28-year-old as a short-term solution. Speaking of Burnett, the ex-Georgia Tech star has easily been the most impressive rookie during the offseason. “You never want to get too excited in June,...
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The Packers paid Ryan Pickett $25 million in March, and while fellow defensive lineman Johnny Jolly was far more deserving of that kind of money, general manager Ted Thompson decided long ago not to tempt fate with the talented but troubled former Texas A&M star. There have been character questions surrounding Jolly since his high school days, but he was worth rolling the dice on in the sixth round. And the gamble certainly paid off for Green Bay. Jolly was a useful player for his first three seasons in the league and he blossomed into a very productive player in ’09. But Thompson knows when to hold them and knows when to fold them, and it might be time to do the latter now. Jolly was arrested on drug charges back in July 2008. Since then, his trial has been delayed numerous times. The 27-year-old has steadfastly professed his innocence – and he could well be telling the truth – but his actions as of late do not make him look good to either the judicial system...
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Organized Team Activities (OTAs) are usually noteworthy more for who’s not there than for anything that actually happens on the field, but that wasn’t the case yesterday. Some big news came out of Wednesday’s practice and it had absolutely nothing to do with no-shows Atari Bigby, Johnny Jolly and Tramon Williams. The team has decided to move Ryan Pickett to left defensive end – a decision that will allow B.J. Raji to take his rightful place as the starting nose tackle for the Green Bay Packers. No disrespect to Pickett, who did a solid job in the middle last season, but Raji has a chance to be one of the NFL’s premier nose tackles and it was almost sad to see him flailing away at end as a rookie. Here’s some more news and notes from practice: -In another position change, Will Blackmon will move from cornerback to safety. This makes sense for a couple of reasons. One is that the former Boston College star has undergone surgery on his foot and his knee, so he’s probably lost...
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Rarely does the workout of a street free agent in May raise even an eyebrow – unless, of course, the player in question threw for 15,793 yards and 134 touchdowns in a record-setting collegiate career that ended just 16 months ago. That’s why there figures to be at least a modicum of interest when former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell tries to impress Green Bay’s brass later this week. The 25-year-old spent last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL after failing to stick with Cleveland as an undrafted free agent. Harrell possesses the size, intelligence and work ethic that teams covet, but his pop-gun right arm may keep him from ever making it in the National Football League – even as a backup. “He was a system quarterback in college whose lack of arm strength and athletic ability will be significant problems at the next level,” opined a former scout. “That said, I’m not ready to completely write him off just yet. I’d still like to see what he could do with some quality coaching...
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