Cheesehead to Cheesehead: First Letter
To My Fellow Cheeseheads,
This will be the first of many letters, rants, reactions, and all around rambling on about the Packers. Feel free to turn back now, but if you’re as crazy about the Packers as I am, this is your place to be. I’ll make this one brief since we are a few weeks out from the real meat and potatoes of pre-season talk, but there’s no holding back once that starts up. A few things I’m thinking about as camps start opening up:
With Jaire Alexander’s re-structured deal, will GB make any moves before the season at WR given Davante’s departure?
It doesn’t seem to be the case, but according to Sportrac, Green Bay currently is $16M under the cap for the 2022 season. There are still some viable free agent wide receiver options for Green Bay without running the risk of a long term deal with the likes of Beckham Jr, Julio Jones, Will Fuller, or TY Hilton. These would be great options for Rodgers to stretch the field and get an extra playmaker to replace Davante Adams production, which will be a group effort between Cobb, Lazard, newly-added Sammy Watkins, and newly-drafted Christian Watson.
So if they don’t make a move for WR, what does the offense look like this season?
With a healthy offensive line back after losing Bahktiari & Jenkins last year as well as tight end Rob Tonyan, I expect to see a heavy dose of the run game with the two headed monster backfield of AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones, maybe seeing both in a shotgun backfield with the chance to audible Jones to the slot for another receiver option. Christian Watson was one of the better WR options left in the draft after a crazy first round, but he was very involved in the blocking schemes for run-heavy North Dakota State. I don’t think it will be the sexiest offense to watch, but it will relieve some of the pressure off Rodgers to make plays and open up play action opportunities for the handoff magician downfield.
But our defense will be fun to watch, No?
Absolutely, with the first round draft capital going solely to defensive players this year, we should expect a terrific defense this season. Devonte Wyatt and Quay Walker are two great additions and National Champions from Georgia, guys who will fit nicely with their counterparts in Kenny Clark and Devondre Campbell. Walker can play both outside and inside linebacker which gives defensive coordinator Joe Barry plenty of flexible packages, and Wyatt provides a monster in the middle of the defensive line and will play alongside Clark until his contract runs out, and likely to step right in if the Pack decide not to re-sign him.
Thanks for reading, and as always, GO PACK GO!
Sam
