wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member Topic Starter
14 years ago
Packers finally give some attention to special teams 


Acknowledging a problem is one thing. Doing something about it is another.

In Ted Thompson's six seasons, only one National Football League team, the Indianapolis Colts, has been worse on special teams than the Green Bay Packers. Earlier this week, the general manager conceded the area has been a sore spot.

Coach Mike McCarthy has paid mostly lip service to improving his special teams. Last year, his units ranked 29th in the Dallas Morning News' annual survey of performance after ranking 31st in 2009, 26th in '08, tied for seventh in '07 and 32nd in '06. The Packers also were dead last in '05 under Mike Sherman.

"I was disappointed in the ranking," McCarthy said after last season. "I understand why."

The rash of injuries affected Shawn Slocum's second season as the coordinator. To what degree is hard to say.

In April, the Packers did something by selecting wide receiver Randall Cobb in the second round and tight end Ryan Taylor in the seventh.

Cobb could be considered the first player chosen by Green Bay in the first two rounds since Terrell Buckley in 1992 with his ability to return kicks playing a key part in the selection.

Taylor was regarded by several coaches as one of the five best special-teams players in the draft, a so-called "special-teams ace" that Thompson and other recent general managers in Green Bay had been scoffing at for 20 years.

"I think we're going to be better," Thompson said, echoing his words before previous seasons. "I know the rankings are the rankings, but I thought down the stretch and in the playoffs our teams played pretty good."

The Packers were more respectable during their six-game winning streak. Punter Tim Masthay was devastatingly effective twice against Chicago's Devin Hester, and Tramon Williams' 41-yard punt return turned the tide toward Green Bay in the regular-season finale against the Bears.

But let's not get carried away. Atlanta's Eric Weems zipped 102 yards for a touchdown in the divisional playoffs. Fortunately for Green Bay, it wasn't like the three long returns in the regular season that led to three close losses.

The Packers did show better discipline and organization in Year 2 under Slocum. They trimmed their penalty total from a horrendous 32 in 17 games to 22 in 20 games and seemed to find a capable punter in Masthay.

"We didn't do anything spectacular, but we play hard and do what we need to do to help field position," said Jarrett Bush, who with departed Korey Hall probably ranked as the top two individuals on special teams.

"Hopefully, we can drop that number (29th) down at least halfway. Regardless of the stats, we got to the big game and ended up winning. As long as we keep winning football games, I don't see it as a problem."

The way Slocum sees it, most of the clubs that have fielded the best special teams in recent years - Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, New England, Oakland - share the common denominator of a top punter and top returner.

After flopping around for two seasons following the bad decision to release Jon Ryan, the Packers found Masthay on the street in January 2010. He started slowly, gained confidence at midseason and took off.

"I'll tell you what," said McCarthy. "I think we've got a real one there."

Now Slocum's primary focus is finding a return man. The Packers rolled the dice and escaped without Williams being injured as the sole punt returner, but the kickoff-return average was an embarrassing 19.5 in 20 games.

Having watched Sam Shields, Jordy Nelson, Pat Lee and James Starks run them back in pedestrian fashion, Thompson went looking for a kickoff man and drafted Cobb. He ranked among the top seven or eight dual return men in the draft.

In three seasons at Kentucky, Cobb averaged 9.8 in 63 punts and 24.6 in 44 kickoffs. Slocum went so far as to compare him to hard-charging Josh Cribbs of Cleveland, another former collegiate quarterback.

"He's a good catcher of the ball," said Slocum. "He has ability as a punt returner to get vertical quickly. I rarely saw him get hit very hard. He's got good strength and excellent character, too."

The new face on kickoffs also could be running back Alex Green, a 225-pounder with good but not great speed. Cobb runs 40 yards in 4.47; Green runs a 4.52.

Green has just one kickoff return (2009) at any level and had a major fumbling problem at Hawaii.

"No doubt about it," Green replied Wednesday when asked if he wanted the job. "I like to get up field as fast as possible without making too many moves."

Allen Rossum's 92-yard return against the Colts in November 2000 was the Packers' last touchdown on a kickoff return.

"I think it's time to score," Slocum said. "We played well enough to win the Super Bowl, but from a statistical standpoint I always want to improve. I think we need to be more impactful in the return game and more consistent in our kickoff coverage."

Mason Crosby is back for a fifth season, having signed a five-year deal with $3 million guaranteed. Counting playoffs, he has hit 78% of his field goals and all but one of his 219 extra points.

By comparison, Chris Jacke made 76.4% of his field goals from 1989-'96 and Ryan Longwell, the best kicker in club history, made 80.9% from 1997-'05.

"Mason's been very solid," said Slocum. "The one quality I think is really good is he rarely misses two in a row."

Strangely, Crosby has had just four chances in four years for a game-winning kick in the final minute of regular or overtime with a chance to take the lead. He hit one from 42 in his NFL debut before missing from 52, 38 and 53.

"He needs to take the next step in his future making walk-off field goals," said Slocum. "I would like our kicker to be 90% . . . we have a difficult place to kick in Lambeau."

Brett Goode hasn't made an unusable snap in his three seasons. Masthay, also an effective holder, estimated all but a few of Goode's 89 snaps on punts were perfect. The same held true on Goode's 94 snaps for placements.

"What makes him great is when I'm punting, practice or games, I have literally never thought about the snap," said Masthay. "He's on the mark.

"As the holder, I didn't have to spin many at all and I didn't have to reach big for any of them. You don't want (Crosby) to be hitting the laces or a moving ball. When (Goode) gets in a groove, it's coming laces (facing) out 19 times out of 20. Or even better."


UserPostedImage
nerdmann
14 years ago
Last year we finally found a punter. This year, it really looks like we finally got a returner.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
nyrpack
14 years ago
heres hoping cobb a great career !!
jimmy b.
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (7h) : new site, text editor gooder even on phone
beast (8h) : Oh yes, sometimes they make using a cellphone tough. I just wanted to make sure it was the correct article, & thank you for pointing it out.
jdlax (9h) : I can't believe one of my teams went out and wablammo just up and acquired one of the best players in the world overnight
dfosterf (14h) : I do very much appreciate when Beast and others pick up my slack 😊
dfosterf (14h) : I accept Beast's admonishment regarding my failure to link stuff I reference. I simply never learned to link from my cell phone.
beast (14h) : That's not what your she said 😌, she said keep going 😏
Mucky Tundra (17h) : Anything over 4 hours means he needs to get to the hospital
Mucky Tundra (17h) : Someone might want to check on Hafley and make sure his erection has gone down
Zero2Cool (19h) : LaFleur texts "bleep me I cannot sit down"
Zero2Cool (19h) : YouTube has had me last hour or two lol
Mucky Tundra (20h) : Ugh this trade happened right as my shift started and it's killing me
Zero2Cool (20h) : Parsons wore 23 in high school.
Zero2Cool (20h) : Packers just cost Lions more money with Hutchinson too huh
Zero2Cool (21h) : That is fair by me.
buckeyepackfan (21h) : Kenny Clark is the player, 2 1st rnd picks
Zero2Cool (21h) : umm... what?
wpr (21h) : I am stunned
Mucky Tundra (21h) : RICKEY SCOOPS WAS RIGHT AGAIN!!!
Mucky Tundra (21h) : ITS HAPPENING
buckeyepackfan (21h) : DEAL IS DONE
buckeyepackfan (21h) : MICAH IS COMING TO GREEN BAY!!!!!!!!!
wpr (28-Aug) : Me do-ed it gooderly,
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Bahah, I was like WTF why isn't anyone posting on PP.com ... oops no one has permissions
dfosterf (27-Aug) : tell her I reckon
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Micah Robinson cut. Probable PS player tomorrow. Has to call mom back and t
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : New site so much better. Might make switch and deal with it.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Mecole Hardman to our practice squad
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Nick Nieman from Texans our 5th linebacker. Special teams signing
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Looks like we signed Clayton Tune as QB3
wpr (27-Aug) : TKT people lose their minds over QB3. Point is almost none of them are ready that's why they are on the PS and other teams don't take them.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Unfortunately he doesn't seem ready to be an emergency QB.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : As a Canadian and a follower of Canadian University football. I am rooting for him
dfosterf (27-Aug) : I bet a lot of us will follow the Taylor Elgersma journey with interest. Personally, got a Kurt Warner vibe goin' on. I like him
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Not sure if either will be claimed though.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Tune or Hooker would make sense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Clayton Tune cut by the Cards? Don't know if that's the guy, we shall see
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Per Bill Huber, the Packers will not be bringing back Taylor Elgersma or Sean Clifford on the practice squad, so a new third quarterback
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : Schefter must have deleted his tweet
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Hopefully Jerry reaches under the seat cushions and ashtrays of his jet and scrapes up the 45 million apr and spares us further nonsense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Have to admit the PO'd Cowboy fan videos would be fun to watch. Problem with draft picks is half their fanbase barely knows what that is
beast (27-Aug) : I think Cowboys fans are ready to get their pitch forks and burning sticks if Jerry were to trade Micah
dfosterf (27-Aug) : If Jerry traded Micah to GB, here in northern Va. they would have to quick build yet another data center to handle the internet hate traffic
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : its signing and trades that you don't hear about, other then announced
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : If you hear rumors about Packers sign or trade, won't happen. Not how they work
dfosterf (27-Aug) : 19 players in a contract year. Jones called loss to us worst loss in Cowboy history. Forget Parsons trade. Not happenin' Cap'n
packerfanoutwest (27-Aug) : The Packers, meanwhile, are the youngest team in the league for the third consecutive year.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : That it was darkest before the dawn in Bengals and Commanders before they got deals done
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : what is Schefter saying?
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He was getting Dorito infusion therapy
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He's outta shape. Why, just the other day I saw him splayed out on the trainers table
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2025 Packers Schedule
Sunday, Sep 7 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Thursday, Sep 11 @ 7:15 PM
COMMANDERS
Sunday, Sep 21 @ 12:00 PM
Browns
Sunday, Sep 28 @ 7:20 PM
Cowboys
Sunday, Oct 12 @ 3:25 PM
BENGALS
Sunday, Oct 19 @ 3:25 PM
Cardinals
Sunday, Oct 26 @ 7:20 PM
Steelers
Sunday, Nov 2 @ 12:00 PM
PANTHERS
Monday, Nov 10 @ 7:15 PM
EAGLES
Sunday, Nov 16 @ 12:00 PM
Giants
Sunday, Nov 23 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Thursday, Nov 27 @ 12:00 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 7 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Dec 14 @ 3:25 PM
Broncos
Friday, Dec 19 @ 11:00 PM
Bears
Friday, Dec 26 @ 11:00 PM
RAVENS
Saturday, Jan 3 @ 11:00 PM
Vikings
Recent Topics
6m / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

19m / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

1h / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

4h / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

17h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

17h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

22h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

28-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

28-Aug / Feedback, Suggestions and Issues / Zero2Cool

27-Aug / Fantasy Sports Talk / Zero2Cool

27-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

27-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / Cheesey

26-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

26-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

25-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.