Packers Stock Report: Young Safeties Rise, Spriggs Freefall Continues
By ChrisWanless
With the official dress rehearsal that is the third preseason game in the rearview mirror, the Packers are just days away from locking in their first 53-man roster of 2017. While a few “non-stars” have impressed to the point of not having to worry, there are plenty of players who will still be hoping a strong performance in Thursday’s preseason finale will sway the odds of making the team in their favor.
As the regular season starts to appear on the horizon, here is this week’s stock report.
Rising
Second-year safeties: Kentrell Brice and Marwin Evans have made it a virtual certainty the Packers will keep five safeties when they trim the roster to 53. Brice recorded four tackles and an interception against Denver on Saturday night, and his hard-nosed style of play coupled with his big hit potential only add to his allure. Evans is the bigger surprise of the two sophomore safeties. What has impressed me most about Evans is that he always seems to put himself in the right spot, despite dropping what should have been an interception against the Broncos.
Ty Montgomery: Really, you could point to the running game as a whole here, but you’ve got to feel good about what Montgomery did in Denver after missing the second preseason game in Washington due to injury. Not that his position atop the running back depth chart was every really in doubt, but his 25-yard tote on the Packers’ first drive reminded everyone of his ability as a ballcarrier.
Trevor Davis: After finding himself in the “falling” category following a muffed punt in Washington last week, Davis lands on the opposite side of the line this week. While his 27-yard punt return helped his cause, his three receptions on offense probably did him a bigger service. Davis wasn’t likely to be a cutdown casualty in the first place, but being reliable in the passing game as well as proving serviceable on special teams will tighten his case.
Falling
Jason Spriggs: I’ll be the first to admit that Spriggs showed some nice things in the run game against Denver. The problem is that this team is powered by the man wearing number 12, and Spriggs has consistently failed to show that he can reliably protect the Packers’ biggest asset. Even with Mike McCarthy saying he believes Bryan Bulaga will be ready to go for week one, the head coach and his staff have to be wringing their hands thinking about the other possibilities.
OLB depth: Nick Perry left Saturday’s game with an ankle injury, and while McCarthy also stated that he’s not worried about Perry’s availability come September 10, the situation underlines the almost shocking lack of depth at outside linebacker. Throw in reports that Clay Matthews was also nicked up against the Broncos, and it’s full blown panic mode, so much so that the team is bringing in veteran Ahmad Brooks for a visit Tuesday. The Packers are clearly, if nothing else, aware that their edge position measures pretty close to “Kiddy Pool” on the depth scale.
Comments (27)
dobber
August 29, 2017 at 11:15 am
Spriggs has not looked good overall, but the guys playing G next to him on most of his snaps have done him few favors.
Andrew Lloyd Peth
August 29, 2017 at 01:35 pm
It's been a team effort of suckage.
RCPackerFan
August 29, 2017 at 11:34 am
To much negativity everywhere. I'm keeping this all positive. Theses players I would add to the rising.
Aaron Jones- He had a really good game against Denver. That cut and run for 28 yards was very impressive.
Williams - Also looked really good. His pass catching out of the backfield showed that he could be a valuable player coming out of the backfield.
King - He really started to flash to me. That deflection of his showed his size and athleticism. Also he really started to get his hands on WR's at the LOS.
Randall - He really played a good game overall. They kept going after him and he really didn't give up much. The one back shoulder throw he played about as well as you can play that.
billybobton
August 29, 2017 at 01:17 pm
Generally all in favor of the PMO>>> go team
but if you think Randall was good you need to go back and re watch and count the plays he was beaten like a dog, out of position and bailed out by bad passes and drops
RCPackerFan
August 29, 2017 at 02:49 pm
I thought he was good.
And he was rising because he got to play 1 series the first game and didn't play in the 2nd.
Outside of 1 big play down the field in which he was right there and another that he fell down on, he didn't give up much. Also he came up and made solid tackles.
Ibleedgreenmore
August 29, 2017 at 12:25 pm
I thought I would never say this but Barclay as bad as he is plays better than Spriggs is now.
Packer_Fan
August 29, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Now is the time for TT to assess the roster and fill in where the positional depth is weak. If there is one thing learned from last year was the CB story. TT never went after veteran help. Result was a championship loss that was brought on mostly by weak CB play. Yes others didn't play well in the defense that game, but the Falcons took it to the Packers. If they can bring in Brooks, that is one answer for the OLB position. OL needs helps. Having players in there that put too much pressure on Rodgers is a recipe for disaster if ever Rodgers gets hurt. Then the whole season is blown. Rodgers said he wanted to have home playoff games. That means the Pack need to start fast. Without Rodgers running for his life every game.
dobber
August 29, 2017 at 02:46 pm
Watching the transactions column, there seems to be a higher number of player trades this season than in the past. Even some player-for-player. Maybe the MLB/NBA mindset is starting to creep into the NFL.
Packer_Fan
August 29, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Now is the time for TT to assess the roster and fill in where the positional depth is weak. If there is one thing learned from last year was the CB story. TT never went after veteran help. Result was a championship loss that was brought on mostly by weak CB play. Yes others didn't play well in the defense that game, but the Falcons took it to the Packers. If they can bring in Brooks, that is one answer for the OLB position. OL needs helps. Having players in there that put too much pressure on Rodgers is a recipe for disaster if ever Rodgers gets hurt. Then the whole season is blown. Rodgers said he wanted to have home playoff games. That means the Pack need to start fast. Without Rodgers running for his life every game.
WKUPackFan
August 29, 2017 at 01:04 pm
What veteran CBs do you suggest that TT should have acquired in the middle of last season? Very few street FA's were available, and the available ones were available for a reason.
cuervo
August 29, 2017 at 03:02 pm
Ditto.......some seem to think that there were quality CB's standing around waiting for a phone call last year. Just because you need players at a position doesn't mean there are any worth signing.
TKWorldWide
August 29, 2017 at 07:04 pm
No, not "standing around"; they grow on the Shutdown Corner Tree. All TT has to do is pick them off.
dobber
August 29, 2017 at 07:57 pm
The Worry Bus drives by the Shutdown Corner Tree daily.
TKWorldWide
August 29, 2017 at 10:02 pm
Touché.
Packer_Fan
August 29, 2017 at 05:22 pm
Well, I can't go back. But the Pack did trade for a running back last year in mid season. And I remember the Pack picked up Andre Rison in mid season in the 96 Super Bowl year. They went and got James Jones when Nelson went down. Point is, when they put Shields on the IR and with Rollins and Randall both hurt, it may have been time to go looking. Maybe they did and decided there wasn't anyone worth getting. After 5 or 6 weeks on the injury list, it was getting obvious to me Shields would never play again. I don't know. But it sure stinks to end the season the way it did.
Fire_Gute
August 29, 2017 at 06:33 pm
Still had to try. Who would have thought Howard Green would have been a difference maker? Not saying there was a all pro, or a starter on a average team. But the Packers weren't average, and someone was better than Randall or Rollins last year, and it wouldn't have hurt to look. Should have looked the second Shields went down. I knew he'd never play again immediately, many others did to. Maybe Randall and Rollins wouldn't have been hurt all year if there was somewhere else to turn and they could have taken more time to come back.
Jaypack
August 29, 2017 at 01:08 pm
I agree with the previous fan who said too much negativity. I'm excited about our defense. We are much faster, tackle better, cover better and have an attitude with the addition of Josh Jones and Kevin King in particular. Keep an eye on Ringo too.
Thegreatreynoldo
August 30, 2017 at 04:22 am
Well now, there are posters who think virtually any degree of negativity is too much, and others who are all gloom and doom, even excluding posters who are not packer fans and are just trolling. Now, I on the other hand, manage to strike precisely the correct chord on the continuum between optimism and negativity. [I am trying to maintain a straight face as I type this.]
Handsback
August 29, 2017 at 01:55 pm
Just a reminder....during the last SB win, the Packers had CMIII and who else as the OLB? It was split between one UDFA and a FA that was picked up off the bonepile.
So we can gash our teeth, but in reality having two steady OLBs with playmakers in the front and back end of the defense may be all we need.
RCPackerFan
August 29, 2017 at 02:43 pm
A few things we had on that defense to that tends to get forgotten. We had a really good DL. With Jenkins, Jolly, Raji, Pickett. Raji and Jenkins were really good rushers in the middle of the D and they had Bishop who was a really good blitzing ILB.
This years front 7 probably has a very good DL, and with the hybrid ILB/S role they have, they could have a dangerous front 7.
TXCHEESE
August 29, 2017 at 02:11 pm
I'm not excusing Spriggs 100%, but he would not look near as bad when working with the other starters. Nor, would the other backups. Here's hoping for a healthy season for the front five. The defense has some pretty good pieces, if they can avoid the injury bug at the position groups, it could be a pretty good unit as time goes on.
MarkinMadison
August 29, 2017 at 02:28 pm
He was playing with starters in Denver, and he still looked bad. He's just bad right now. I don't think that he CAN'T move his feet, but he isn't moving his feet. That leads to all sorts of bad stuff - vulnerability to counter-moves, reaching for blocks, bad hand placement, you name it. I don't care who he lines up next to, right now, he is just bad.
RCPackerFan
August 29, 2017 at 02:46 pm
To be fair, he was going up against Von Miller. Arguably the best pass rusher in the league.
I do think he looked worse when playing with the backups. I don't think he was as bad when he was with the starting OL compared to with the backups.
Not that its an excuse, but it does deserve some recognition too.
dblbogey
August 29, 2017 at 03:58 pm
It takes most OL 2-3 years to really learn how to play the position. T.J. Lange was pretty bad in his early years. Bakh came into his own in year 3, Lane Taylor looks much improved in his 3rd year. Spriggs has great physical ability. I still believe he'll develop into a quality tackle.
lou
August 29, 2017 at 04:14 pm
Brian Bulaga his first day of camp everyone knew he was a starter, once Bahkt got his chance the same thing, the "really good ones" do it almost immediately. Some like Marco Rivera do need a couple of years, he was barely adequate his first 2 years and became a Pro Bowler, Mike Whale on the other hand just needed a move inside from Tackle and when he did was an All Pro soon. Did Sprigg's play better at RT, yes but they paid a price and moved up to draft him in the 2nd round for the key LT spot. The difference between him and Bahkt in their 2nd year is alarming, if he has to play LT for any amount of time this year the team will be back in the boat they were when Bahkt went down (they even tried Sitton at LT). Hopefully the coaching staff can excelerate his develpment because of his athletic ability which got him drafted in the first place, if not he will be remembered as "Tony II".
egbertsouse
August 29, 2017 at 05:15 pm
I personally think Spriggs is horrible and won't get much better. I'm already calling him Mandarich. However, if you optimists are right and it's going to take him 3 years
to develop, how do we keep AR alive this year if Bakh gets injured?
Turophile
August 30, 2017 at 03:33 pm
In response to egbertsouse: "What do we do if Bakh is injured ?"
How do we keep the playoff chances alive if Aaron Rodgers is injured ? How do the outside linebackers fare if Perry is injured ? How is the D line without Daniels ?
Every good team has guys you really don't want to lose. Turn that 'magic coin of +2 negativity' over to the other side (the positive side) and you can enjoy having the guys that are good enough to be hard to replace.