The Green Bay Packers are one of the NFL's most storied franchises, and PackersLocker.com is the blog that allows you access to everything you could possibly need to follow the team. That includes up-to-date breaking news, enough stats to make you drool, profiles on many of the Packer players and opponents, rankings on all the players for your fantasy needs, and the inevitable commentary that comes from the world's greatest football fans. Need some tickets for the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field? That's a tough one, but we might be able to help you. Need Packers merchandise or clothing apparel? We'll point you in the right direction. Want some great information you can use to bet on Packer games? There we can DEFINITELY help you. Just getting the score suffices no more. You need that little something extra, and PackersLocker.com is here to deliver that to you. Don't even think "Green Bay" without coming here first!
The Packers have signed C/G Duke Preston. The 26-year old Preston played in 15 games (11 starts) for the Bills last season. He has now played in 59 games (20 starts) in his NFL career to date. The 6’5″, 326 pound Preston should push for the starting job in Training Camp this season for the Packers on the interior of the O-Line. This was a good signing as Preston is just starting to come into his own.
The only real contributor the Packers had in their rookie class was 2nd round pick (WR) Jordy Nelson. Nelson played in 16 games (2 starts) for the Packers last season and he caught 33 passes for 366 yards (11.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs. He also returned 11 kickoffs for 208 yards (18.9 avg) last season. Look for Nelson to eventually replace Donald Driver in the starting lineup for the Packers. QB Brian Brohm was selected in the 2nd round also by the Packers but he disappointed them big time. In fact, Brohm was beaten out by 7th rounder Matt Flynn for the backup job to Aaron Rodgers. Flynn played in 7 games (0 starts) last season for the Packers and he completed 2 of 5 passes (40%) for 6 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs (47.9 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 4 times for 4 yards (1.0 ypc) last season. The final 2nd rounder for the Packers was CB Patrick Lee. Lee played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Packers last season and he made a whopping 2 tackles and defensed 1 pass. TE Jermichael Finley (3rd round) appears to have some upside. He played in 14 games (1 start) for the Packers last season and he caught 6 passes for 74 yards (12.3 avg) with 1 TD grab. He also finished his rookie season with 4 tackles. 4th rounder (DE) Jeremy Thompson played in 9 games (3 starts) last season for the Packers and he made 8 tackles. Offensive guard Josh Sitton (4th round) played in 11 games (2 starts) as a rookie last season and he could develop into a starter in the near future for the Packers. OT Breno Giacomini (5th rounder) only played in 1 game (0 starts) as a rookie last season. He will be lucky to make the Packers’ roster in 2009. WR Brett Swain was the final pick (7th rounder) for the Packers last season and he never made it to the field.
GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: D
GRADE FOR THE FUTURE: D
The Packers have signed 25-year old safety Anthony Smith. Smith played in 14 games for the Steelers last season and he made a whopping 9 tackles. Smith has played in 46 games over his NFL career and he has made 106 tackles, defensed 11 passes, forced a fumble and he has intercepted 4 passes. Hopefully Smith learned his lesson two years ago when he called out Tom Brady who then targeted him and beat him deep repeatedly.
