The Green Bay Packers played great defense last night and Aaron Rodgers and a couple of the Packers rookies shined on offense. Brett Favre just made a brief appearance last night and he didn’t look too good completing only 2 of 7 passes for 7 yards. Aaron Rodgers replaced Favre and he was awesome. He completed 18 of 27 passes for 168 yards with 1 TD pass and he also carried the football 1 time for 20 yards. Ingle Martin finished out the game at QB and he completed 1 of 2 passes for 8 yards. Brandon Jackson was the main man in the running game last night as he carried the ball 16 times for 57 yards (3.6 ypc) against a rugged Steelers’ run defense. Undrafted rookie RB Corey White had a rough time carrying the ball 8 times for 22 yards (2.8 ypc). Noah Herron looked sharp running the ball with 20 yards on 4 carries (5.0 ypc). Rookie WR James Jones led the way for the Packers with 6 grabs for 58 yards (9.7 avg) and Ruvell Martin pitched in with 3 catches for 45 yards. Kicker Mason Crosby might be moving ahead of Dave Rayner for the kicking job after hitting a clutch 52-yard field goal last night. Overall, the Packers offense played well last night. They ran the ball 31 times for 124 yards (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 36 passes for 182 yards.

The Packers defense didn’t defend the run to well but they played tight on pass defense. The Steelers ran the ball 28 times for 132 yards (4.7 ypc) but they only completed 15 of 30 passes for 177 yards.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/live/NFL_20070811_GB@PIT

Brandon Miree will probably be the starting fullback for the Packers this season.  He played in 10 games (3 starts) last season for the Packers and he caught 9 passes for 57 yards (6.3 avg).  Miree will likely catch a few passes and he might run the ball a few times but the Packers really need a legit blocking fullback due to their youth at tailback.  College linebacker Korey Hall will battle Miree for the starting job.  If Hall can outblock Miree in the pre-season he might acutally win the starting job as a rookie.

The Packers were very disappointed in Dave Rayner’s first season as their full-time placekicker so they drafted the consensus best kicker coming out of college (Mason Crosby) to battle him for the job.  Rayner made 74.3% of his field goals and he was 31 of 32 on extra points to finish with 109 points.  Rayner made 17 of 21 field goals of 39 yards or less and he made 9 of 14 kicks of 40+ yards. 

Rayner has now played in 30 career NFL games and he has scored 109 points for an average of 3.6 points per game.  Rayner has converted 26 of 36 field goals (72.2%) and 31 of 32 extra points.

Still, Rayner is in for the battle of his life as Crosby has awesome leg strength.  My money is on Crosby to win the competition and for Rayner to be looking for a job come September…but I could be wrong.

The Packers have let Ahman Green leave in the off season and he will be gone but never forgotten as he was one of the best running backs in the history of the Green Bay Packers.  Vernand Morency and rookie Brandon Jackson will battle to replace Green as the feature running back in the Packers’ offense.  Morency probably has the edge because of his NFL experience to date.  He played in 14 games (2 starts) last season for the Packers and he carried the ball 96 times for 434 yards (4.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 17 passes for 118 yards (6.9 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  Morency also returned 31 kickoffs for 670 yards (21.6 avg) last season for the Packers but he will give up that job if he is the main man in the running game.  Morencey has now played in 26 games (3 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 142 times for 618 yards (4.4 ypc) with 4 TD runs and he has caught 27 passes for 205 yards (7.6 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  He also has returned 51 kickoffs for 1,107 yards (21.7 avg) in his NFL career.

Brandon Jackson will get the chance to compete with Morency for the job as #1 back of the Green Bay Packers.  He never was really the main man at Nebraska but then again the last running back the Packers started from Nebraska was Ahman Green.  It will be interesing to see how the Morency vs. Jackson battle turns out.

Noah Herron is returning to be a backup again this season for the Packers.  He played in 16 games (0 starts) last season for the Packers and he carried the ball 37 times for 150 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run and he caught 29 passes for 211 yards (7.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Herron also returned 8 kickoffs for 143 yards (17.9 avg) last season.  Herron is no threat to Jackson or Morency as he will likely settle into the #3 running back role for the Packers in 2007.  He has now played in 23 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 85 times for 273 yards (3.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also has caught 29 passes for 211 yards (7.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he has returned 8 kickoffs for 143 yards (17.9 avg) in his NFL career.

DeShawn Wynn was a good running back for the National Champion Florida Gators last season.  It will be interesting to see if Wynn makes the Packers and if he does….what role does he have?