wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member Topic Starter
6 years ago

With a crowded backfield, added tight ends, and tough decisions elsewhere, the Packers could go without a fullback for the first team in years. Any true Green Bay Packes fan has had the following text exchange with a fellow Cheesehead:
“If they run that fucking fullback dive play one more time, I’m going to throw something.”
When it works, the existential questions about wanting your team to succeed while balancing Mike McCarthy’s willingness to once again reach for that playcall tortures any astute fan of the Green & Gold.
“Dammit, now Mike McCarthy is going to call it again,” might read the text. I dunno, just spitballing here.
John Kuhn  became a folk hero before Aaron Ripkowski  was tabbed to replace him. Rip hasn’t performed nearly as well as a blocker or a receiver and his fumble in the 2016 NFC Championship  Game represents a somewhat forgotten turning point in that game. Once the Packers  didn’t score there, it was basically over.
Even without accounting for Ripkowski ’s underwhelming tenure with the Packers (how high can the expectations reasonably be for a modern fullback?) there are structural reasons to believe Green Bay may be ready to move on.
What do the Packers really need with a fullback so long as Aaron Rodgers  is the quarterback? They can spread teams out more effectively and create matchup problems more consistently with tight end movement than with fullbacks. And it seems as though the team has realized it.
Brian Gutekunst brought in Jimmy Graham  and Marcedes Lewis  along with an undrafted athlete in Robert Tonyan,  who has fought to make this team. The more the Packers can play two tight ends, the less often they would play with a fullback. Lewis in particular brings the kind of blocking chops Ripkowski  lacks and clearly has the higher upside as a receiver.
Through two preseason games, the Packers have played with just one running back or fewer on nearly 84% of offensive snaps per Pro Football Focus. That’s close to what this offense looked like in 2016 (the last full Aaron Rodgers  season) when a fullback was on the field for roughly 12% of offensive snaps. During that year, when Rodgers was in "Run The Table" mode, Green Bay deployed the most four-receiver formations in football according to Sharp Football and the second-most five receiver sets.
Given the quality of the receivers on this roster and the possibility that the Packers may have to keep seven players at the position, there should be a desire to get the maximum amount of playmakers on the field at once.
Even some of the traditional two running back looks could be deployed by McCarthy with Ty Mongtomery and one of the other backs, not for blocking purposes but matchups. How will defenses treat Montgomery? Do they go sub-package and use a corner or a safety? Do they treat this as heavy personnel and keep their linebackers in? Either way, that creates an advantage for the Packers.
This type of positional flexibility doesn’t exist with a player like Ripkowski. Splitting him out in spread simply creates a 1-for-1 trade. The Packers are sacrificing an offensive weapon to simply take up a defender. There’s no reason they should have to do that when they could simply put Marcedes Lewis  or Lance Kendricks  out there and have him actually be a threat.
Ron Zook and McCarthy like the versatility of fullbacks on special teams, but again, the presence of quality tight ends preclude the necessity for fullbacks in such a role, particularly when they’re going to be so limited in terms of their use in the offense.
The Aaron Jones suspension complicates the matter even further. With Jones sitting the first two games, the Packers may be forced to keep an emergency running back on the roster instead of a spot that might otherwise go to a fullback. Once Jones returns, some roster shuffling could open up a spot for the fullback, but with three capable running backs and at least that many tight ends, do the Packers really have the luxury of keeping such a niche player on their roster?
These tight ends, including the surprising Tonyan , actually possess offensive value above and beyond limited effectiveness in the run game. All four are more adept pass catchers and though Kendricks  isn’t a great blocker, his skill and versatility should make him considerably more valuable offensively than any fullback.
The time has come for McCarthy to ditch his pet plays and start maximizing the talent on his roster. The construction of this team hints he may finally be ready to let go.
At the very least eschewing a fullback would save Packers fans on their phone bills.


Continue Reading @ Peter_Bukowski 

Peter_Bukowski wrote:


One of the ways to get to 7 WRs. WR7>FB1
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DarkaneRules
6 years ago
I'd be happy to have an extra TE in place of a FB, if he's as good enough of a run blocker.
Circular Arguments: They are a heck of an annoyance
steveishere
6 years ago
Rip did only play 180 offensive snaps last year. Less than Lucas Patrick and just more than Trevor Davis if that adds some perspective. Having a FB really probably isn't that vital to the offense. I've always been a fan of spreading the defense out before running anyways. Adding a FB puts another defender in the box
Zero2Cool
6 years ago
The extra TE vs extra WR vs FB ... it'll probably come down to who's better on special teams .. or who's production is most difficult to replace.
UserPostedImage
nerdmann
6 years ago

The extra TE vs extra WR vs FB ... it'll probably come down to who's better on special teams .. or who's production is most difficult to replace.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 



I'd take Tonyan over Ripkowski.
“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.”
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Zero2Cool (15h) : Patriots / Panthers feeling is what I got. didn't watch that one either
Zero2Cool (15h) : Easier to get a camera on her in the suite where she can't impact the game by being distraction???
TheKanataThrilla (15h) : This is the least excited I have been in a long time for a Super Bowl. Unfortunately they both can't lose.
wpr (15h) : So why don;'t they have her on the sidelines and doing the halftime fandango instead of sitting on her but in a $1,000,000 suite?
Zero2Cool (16h) : Think more eyes on Super Bowl with Swift fans pulling for her TE boyfriend?
Zero2Cool (16h) : She dating the TE of the Chiefs.
Zero2Cool (16h) : Taylor Swift has millions of fans, yeah?
Zero2Cool (16h) : They did. They are going to show the post production Sunday with plethora of ads.
wpr (5-Feb) : I thought KC already won
Zero2Cool (4-Feb) : If you wanna post about the Super Bowl, please, by all means, open a topic. They are free this month! 😁
Zero2Cool (4-Feb) : There doesn't need to be a topic. There's a playoff prediction thread.
packerfanoutwest (4-Feb) : and there no SB contest over in the other Packer forum, either
buckeyepackfan (4-Feb) : #2Officially Retires!
beast (4-Feb) : Probably no SB topic as people are wore out talking about the Chiefs, Refs and Eagles
Zero2Cool (4-Feb) : Packers reportedly have their new LB coach, promoting Sean Duggan to that role
Zero2Cool (4-Feb) : WR Cooper Kupp is being traded.
packerfanoutwest (4-Feb) : why is there no SB Prediction topic?
Zero2Cool (3-Feb) : Anthony Perkins spent 2024 as a defensive quality-control coach with the Packers.
Zero2Cool (3-Feb) : Packers lose another assistant.
Zero2Cool (3-Feb) : Defensive Player of the Year and Browns star Myles Garrett has requested a trade.
Zero2Cool (3-Feb) : deleted all my browser history and autofill and passwords. gonna be fun!
packerfanoutwest (3-Feb) : too funny
packerfanoutwest (3-Feb) : Lions QB Jared Goff was the offensive MVP
packerfanoutwest (3-Feb) : for the Pro Bowl, which is flag football
Zero2Cool (2-Feb) : Rather, the murder WAS covered up to prevent ...
Zero2Cool (2-Feb) : JFK murder was a cover-up to prevent war with Cuba/Russia.
Martha Careful (1-Feb) : I have always admired the pluck of the man
Zero2Cool (1-Feb) : I remember thinking he was going to be something good.
Mucky Tundra (1-Feb) : The Dualing Banjo!
Zero2Cool (31-Jan) : Jets have named Chris Banjo as their special teams coordinator, Former Packers player
Zero2Cool (31-Jan) : Jaguars have hired Anthony Campanile as their DC. We lose coach
Zero2Cool (30-Jan) : QB coach Sean Mannion
Zero2Cool (30-Jan) : DL Coach DeMarcus Covington
dfosterf (30-Jan) : from ft Belvoir, Quantico and points south. Somber reminder of this tragedy at Reagan Nat Airport
dfosterf (30-Jan) : So eerily quiet here in Alexandria. I live in the flight path of commercial craft coming from the south and west, plus the military craft
dfosterf (30-Jan) : So eeri
Mucky Tundra (30-Jan) : Now that's a thought, maybe they're looking at the college ranks? Maybe not head coaches but DC/assistant DCs with league experience?
beast (30-Jan) : College Coaches wouldn't want that publicly, as it would hurt recruiting and they might not get the job.
beast (30-Jan) : I thought they were supposed to publicly announce them, at least the NFL ones. Hafley was from college, so I believe different rules.
Mucky Tundra (30-Jan) : Who knows who they're interviewing? I mean, nobody knew about Hafley and then out of nowhere he was hired
beast (30-Jan) : I wonder what's taking so long with hiring a DL coach, 2 of the 3 known to interview have already been hired elsewhere.
Zero2Cool (27-Jan) : Packers coach Matt LaFleur hires Luke Getsy as senior assistant, extends Rich Bisaccia's deal
Zero2Cool (27-Jan) : Chiefs again huh? I guess another Super Bowl I'll be finding something else to do.
Mucky Tundra (27-Jan) : Chiefs Eagles...again...sigh
dfosterf (27-Jan) : Happy Birthday Dave!
Mucky Tundra (27-Jan) : happy birthday dhazer
TheKanataThrilla (26-Jan) : Exactly buck...Washington came up with the ball. It is just a shitty coincidence one week later
buckeyepackfan (26-Jan) : I forgot, they corrected the call a week later. Lol btw HAPPY BIRTHDAY dhazer!
buckeyepackfan (26-Jan) : That brings up the question, why wasn't Nixon down by contact? I think that was the point Kanata was making.
buckeyepackfan (26-Jan) : Turnovers rule, win the turnover battle, win the game.
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