Even with the couple weak areas this is a Superbowl caliber team when it's fairly healthy. So ultimately they need better health and some improvements in a couple areas would only help. This team got through this season in what pretty much were the worst potential circumstances yet still made the playoffs and lost on a last second FG to what was probably the 2nd best team in the NFC.

I don't know that good health is a reasonable expectation at this point anymore so here's to having more starting-quality back up players next year.

as a few have said , staying healthy is the # 1 answer, and then i hate to say it get some new blood at defensive coordinater, capers has outlasted his stay !!

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Why do you go completely out of your way to be a sniveling little pussy? Usually a dude likes to be masculine. We all know what you really think about this subject.

I don't think we will be sniffing a Super Bowl until we develop a solid Dline and acquire a much better safety to team up with Burnett. Why they didn't use Hyde more at safety this season is confusing.

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Heck. They're really close. Only three things need fixing:

1. OL OL OL.
2. Between the hashmarks on defense: NT, ILB, S.
3. Another pass rusher.

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They do need some depth on the DL. It'd like to see us nab a hard core super NT type dude like Haloti Ngata, who for the record, I wanted us to draft rather than AJ Hawk. I talk shit about Hawk all the time, but I'm not saying it was a bad pick. Just saying. ;)

This team was far better than it seemed this season.

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This team was a fricken train wreck this season, but the Cowboy, Bears, and playoff 49er game - they showed a lot of character.

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If Rodgers doesn't go down, they win 12 games.

If they had Flynn as soon as he became available, they go at least .500 during that time.

Either way, they're not even playing WildCard weekend.

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Nice to see that the bulk of the emphasis here is on personnel rather than coaching.

Obviously, as long as we have Aaron Rodgers, we will be a contender; Obviously, injuries messed us up severely, although I would attribute that to bad luck more than anything else.

How much improvement is needed depends a lot on how things go with the other quality teams in the NFC and the league in general. It's not out of the question we could get to and win the Super Bowl with not much more than we have - if healthy - and what we can be expected to get in the draft. To become the super team we all crave for, however, we need more than we can realistically hope to add in one off-season.

In order of priority, IMO, we need a quality Safety to pair with Burnett, an athletic tough ILB to pair as a starter with either Hawk or Lattimore, help at OT - unless Bulaga and Sherrod BOTH suddenly shape up and play like first rounders. I think we could stand pat at G and C, considering various other needs. I think we also can stand pat at TE. Quarless, honestly, impressed me more than Finley when he was healthy, and Bostick and/or Stoneburner have a lot of potential as receivers - considering who is throwing it to them. I also think we could stand pat on the D Line. Just getting rid of the fat slobs Raji and Pickett will do wonders. I really don't want to use a high draft pick for some other possible Raji clone who just might show toughness - but probably not. I'd rather have the mobility of Daniels or Worthy rotate at NT and DE, with Boyd available for the occasional need for more bulk. I still have hope that a healthy Datone Jones will be something special at DE; I think Neal, if we keep him at all, would be better used at DE. Ideally, we get another pass rushing OLB, but considering the higher priority needs, we may need to take a chance that Perry or Mulumba can be the bookend we need.

The most direct route to improvement would be a quality free agent cover Safety - Byrd if healthy, Ward, or somebody similar, and draft the best ILB available - Borland or better. Other than that, it's just reinforcement of what we've got.

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I'm glad others are more optimistic than I am.

But, compared to this time a year ago, I just don't see it.

Position by position, as I see the roster going into the free agency period:

Offense:
WR -- surprisingly, no change. I thought Jennings loss would be bigger, but Bostick stepped up.
TE -- also a surprise. improvement.
RB -- clearly the major accomplishment of the year with Lacy. One draft pick I am really glad to have been really wrong about.
QB -- same. The one place where, IMO, an injury explanation holds. On the other hand, I and others have been pointing out for years that with the Packers OL, its a real risk to happen again. Because:
OT, OG, C -- no change. I thought Newhouse would finally step up, but was not to be; I was wrong there. OTOH, I fail to understand the great optimism re: Bahktiari. He showed me virtually nothing to warrant it. And I've never been as sold on Bulaga or Lang as other people. EDS showed as serviceable long term player, but overall I see no grounds for thinking this unit has any more going for it than it did a year ago. I thought it was (excluding Sitton) a mediocre/serviceable unit then, and I think it is a mediocre/serviceable unit now. Same possible unproven potential as before. Until it gets better, I expect to lose Rodgers for some games every year.
Backups: QB slightly better, RB slightly better prosects, TE wash, WR wash, OL no change.
Overall: better because of Lacy.

Defense:
DT: Weaker. I've been a Pickett fan forever. But, alas, I think he declined last year. And as for Raji, well, it's past time. I don't know whether Daniels should be considered DT or DE at this point, but I've always put him at DT and so does the Packers roster list, so I'll put him there. And he was a real positive, one of very few on the defensive side last year. So Daniels a big up; Pickett a down and Raji a down, so I'd say weaker overall, since this is a position that needs rotation during games.
DE: No change. Boyd -- flashes suggesting cautious optimism warranted. Jones -- I didn't like the pick, and I'm still underwhelmed. The rest -- bleh.
OLB: No change. Didn't like the Perry pick, still don't. Matthews, injuries notwithstanding, still IMO is a stud. The rest -- same potential, different year.
ILB: Slight improvement, but still mediocre. Improvement: Lighter Hawk looked better; Lattimore definitely looked better. Jones -- don't know if he belongs here or at OLB; regardless, looked, if anything, more underwhelming.
CB: Same. Hyde this year's pleasant surprise after last year's pleasant surprise of Hayward. OTOH, Hayward was disappointing -- I didn't like the draft pick two years ago, last year I thought I was wrong about the pick, and now, well I don't know what to think of the guy anymore. (Since this "before free agency" assessment, I'm counting Shields as still there. If Shields is lost, this position takes a major hit.)
S: Worse. McMillian didn't even last the year and MD Jennings looked worse; a year ago, he still seemed, to me anyway, to offer some potential. Not as optimistic about Burnett either. Richardson -- more optimistic, because with the injury frankly I never expected anything from him before.
Depth? Only at CB and even there it could be better.
Overall: Worse.

Special teams:
P Same. Masthay still a stud.
K Better. But I was never really that down on Crosby, despite last year.
PR/KR: Okay. I'm not as gungho on Hyde as some, but he's good enough for my taste. Blocking still leaves something to be desired IMO.
Punt/kick coverage: Jarrett Bush still a stud. Rest -- ho hum to mediocre.
Overall: Same.

A healthy Rodgers can carry this team into the playoffs. But even he isn't enough to carry it to the level of serious Super Bowl contender.

I've been harping on OL so long, I find it hard to get enthusiastic about this or that players "potential improvement/growth" or "return from injury" anymore. Much as I like Lacy and much as he is my kind of Jim Taylor/John Brockington-type back, that kind of back behind a mediocre line takes a even more horrible pounding. Taylor lasted longer, but he had an all-world OL; Brockington, well he had three great years and then fell off.

And, the defense to me is getting worse, not better.

If I thought Thompson might be more risk-taking in free agency rather than gambling the entire hand on draft-and-develop-potential, I might be optimistic. But I'll believe that is a possibility when I see it.

Sorry, but the Pickett and Woodson examples are no longer credible examples that Ted Thompson is interested in playing anything other than bargain-basement and third-tier free agency. Both are among my all time favorite Packers, but both were 8 frigging years ago. Two major free agent acquisitions in 9 years -- that is not, IMO, a serious commitment.

I'm sorry, but the "at least he's not Dan Snyder or Jerry Jones" doesn't make it for me. There's a helluva middle ground between those two and where Thompson operates in free agency -- where most of the other 27 teams operate. Saying "would you rather have Snyder?" as a affirmation of Ted Thompson's approach to the draft is almost as bad as saying "would you rather have Bush" as a justification for voting for Obama. I don't want either of those bastards for President and I don't want the Packers to choose between "virtually no major free agent action" and "moronic billionaire buy every big ticket player".

The Packers are closer to serious Super Bowl contention than I am to getting out of debt, but not a whole lot closer.

Hell, no, I'm not optimistic.

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Good Analysis, Wade. I'm pretty sure you meant Boykin at WR instead of Bostick. I agree about the O Line, especially the lack of positivity so many have for Bakhtiari. Ditto for Bulaga last year anyway. As for D, I'm still hopeful for Datone Jones, but I share your pessimism for Perry. I disagree with you on Hayward - still good hope if he can stay healthy, and Richardson - I saw nothing good in him.

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