quote:

Though Bay Port High School graduate Ken DeBauche, an undrafted rookie from Wisconsin, looks fundamentally sound as a punter and holds well on kicks, he doesn’t appear to present a serious challenge to incumbent Jon Ryan.

I was really hoping they'd bring in some serious competition for Ryan like they did with Rayner last year. Ryan has been so inconsistent the last 2 years. Sometimes he hits a perfect punt and sometimes he either booms it out of the EZ or shanks one for 8 yards. With the guys we have covering punts, if we had a good punter, we could have an awesome punt unit.

I think Ryan is solid. He was 9th ranked among punters last year, and only had 19 of 60 punts returned. He's no world beater, but I think he had a good year outside of that disaster in Chicago. I still think he has some upside.

I know the stats say he was just fine but he wasn't. He was barely average in my opinion...and I'm usually very optimistic about our guys. Heck of a leg but couldn't place the ball anywhere he needed to. Yeah if we were deep in our territory and he could just boom it downfield, he'd get some great punts...great hang time, great distance, etc. When he actually had to put the ball inside the 20 or not boot out of the EZ, he couldn't deliver. We could do better is all I'm saying. Lots of people thought Dave Rayner was solid and had lots of upside but we found someone much better.

Thought it was odd they didn't even mention Morency. We wouldn't have given him the nearly $1 million tender if we didn't think he had a decent shot of making the roster.

So how would the depth chart stack up right now?

IN CAPS IF PROJECTED TO MAKE 53-MAN ROSTER (?):

QB-AARON RODGERS
QB-BRIAN BROHM
QB-Matt Flynn
RB-RYAN GRANT
RB-BRANDON JACKSON
RB-VERNAND MORENCY
RB-DeShawn Wynn
RB-Noah Herron
RB-Kregg Lumpkin
FB-KOREY HALL
FB-JOHN KUHN
FB-Corey White
FB-Ryan Powdrell
WR-DONALD DRIVER
WR-GREG JENNINGS
WR-JAMES JONES
WR-JORDY NELSON
WR-RUVELL MARTIN
WR-BRETT SWAIN
WR-Shaun Bodiford
WR-Chris Francies
WR-Johnny Quinn
WR-Taj Smith
WR-Jake Allen
WR-Rod Harper
TE-DONALD LEE
TE-TORY HUMPHREY
TE-JERMICHAEL FINLEY
TE-Joey Haynos
TE-Evan Moore
TE-Mike Peterson
OT-CHAD CLIFTON
OT-MARK TAUSCHER
OT-BRENO GIACOMINI
OT-TONY MOLL
OT-Orrin Thompson
OT-Ryan Considine
OG-JASON SPITZ
OG-DARYN COLLEDGE
OG-ALLEN BARBRE
OG-JOSH SITTON
OG-Junius Coston
OG-Ryan Keenan
OG-Cameron Stephenson
C-SCOTT WELLS
C-Brennan Carvalho
DE-AARON KAMPMAN
DE-CULLEN JENKINS
DE-KABEER GBAJA-BIAMILA
DE-JEREMY THOMPSON
DE-JASON HUNTER
DE-Michael Montgomery
DT-RYAN PICKETT
DT-JOHNNY JOLLY
DT-JUSTIN HARRELL
DT-COLIN COLE
DT-DANIEL MUIR
DT-Conrad Bolston
DT-Alfred Malone
OLB-A.J. HAWK
OLB-BRANDON CHILLAR
OLB-BRADY POPPINGA
OLB-TRACY WHITE
OLB-Spencer Havner
OLB-Marcus Riley
MLB-NICK BARNETT
MLB-DESMOND BISHOP
MLB-Abdul Hodge
MLB-Danny Lansanah
CB-AL HARRIS
CB-CHARLES WOODSON
CB-TRAMON WILLIAMS
CB-PAT LEE
CB-WILL BLACKMON
CB-Jarett Bush
CB-Joe Porter
CB-Kyle Ward
CB-Condrew Allen
S-NICK COLLINS
S-ATARI BIGBY
S-AARON ROUSE
S-CHARLIE PEPRAH
S-Tyrone Culver
K-MASON CROSBY
P-JON RYAN
P-Ken DeBauche
LS-THOMAS GAFFORD
LS-J.J. Jansen

I still think they may bring a low end veteran QB (if the right guy becomes available), and put Flynn on the PS.

If Brohm lights it up in the pre-season, they may go with the two rookies as #2/#3, but I'll believe it when I see it.

I'm just glad it wasn't Culpepper.

With not one down played in TC yet, it's a bit early for final 53 analysis, but that looks OK.

As to a veteran back-up QB I'm kinda thinking the Pack snaps up Simms, when he is finally cut by the Bucs. Then again, what do I know.

It sounds like this Jake Allen is turning heads. 6'4" 190.

http://www.railbirdcentral.com/2008/06/allen-stands-out-at-minicamp.html

I think Ruvell Martin will make it as the #5 so that means Allen will be battling Brett Swain for the #6 spot I think. It would be nice to have another 6'4" WR available. Swain looks like a nifty little Wes Welker type which is good so it may be an interesting battle.

Looking good in minicamps is one thing but looking good in TC when he can get hit is completely different thing.

Seeing Swain more than a couple of times, as they cram the SDSU games down our throats in SD, he could very well surprise folks at first just with his PR/KR capabilities. He's a jitter-bug/kamikaze type like Welker or Tim Dwight (only not as crazy), so he could stick with the team that way. It'd still be a long-shot this year IMHO, but he's a guy you could probably stash on the PS for a year.

quote:

Originally posted by DurangoDoug:
With not one down played in TC yet, it's a bit early for final 53 analysis, but that looks OK.

No it doesn't. You can scrap Peprah & add Montgomery or Coston.

Also, I'm not certain Colledge or Swain makes the final 53, seriously.

quote:

Originally posted by Boris:

quote:

Originally posted by DurangoDoug:
With not one down played in TC yet, it's a bit early for final 53 analysis, but that looks OK.

No it doesn't. You can scrap Peprah & add Montgomery or Coston.

Also, I'm not certain Colledge or Swain makes the final 53, seriously.

I don't see a 7th round white WR making the team, either. But that's just me going out on a limb.

quote:

Originally posted by Bad Moon Rison:
It sounds like this Jake Allen is turning heads. 6'4" 190.

http://www.railbirdcentral.com/2008/06/allen-stands-out-at-minicamp.html

This is great news. I think he will push Martin as the tall WR option, and Swain makes it IF he can be a force on PR/KR. We've been waiting since Desmond Howard and Allen Rossum for a force in that spot.

Seize the opportunity, grasshopper!

I'd be very, very surprised if Martin doesn't make the team. He's an excellent run blocker and a pretty darn good No. 4 or 5 receiver.

As for returners, we already have one of the best in the league on our roster. Will Blackmon just has to stay healthy.

quote:

Originally posted by heyward:
I'd be very, very surprised if Martin doesn't make the team. He's an excellent run blocker and a pretty darn good No. 4 or 5 receiver.

As for returners, we already have one of the best in the league on our roster. Will Blackmon just has to stay healthy.

I really don't think Ruvell is going to get any better. He never makes the big catches and dropped some big ones at the end of last season, including early in the NFCC that would've set us up in the redzone for the kill. Get rid of him. He's nobody.

quote:

Originally posted by Bad Moon Rison:

quote:

Originally posted by heyward:
I'd be very, very surprised if Martin doesn't make the team. He's an excellent run blocker and a pretty darn good No. 4 or 5 receiver.

As for returners, we already have one of the best in the league on our roster. Will Blackmon just has to stay healthy.

I really don't think Ruvell is going to get any better. He never makes the big catches and dropped some big ones at the end of last season, including early in the NFCC that would've set us up in the redzone for the kill. Get rid of him. He's nobody.

I don't agree with this statement. He didn't make big catches because he was the #5 WR. When he did get thrown at, I'm pretty sure he caught everything. I would describe him as solid yet unspectacular....what more do you need from your #5 WR? He did well in the redzone also. Aside from that drop in the NFCC, he did just fine last season IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by Boris:

quote:

Originally posted by DurangoDoug:
With not one down played in TC yet, it's a bit early for final 53 analysis, but that looks OK.

No it doesn't. You can scrap Peprah & add Montgomery or Coston.

Also, I'm not certain Colledge or Swain makes the final 53, seriously.

Didn't mean it was perfect, just OK. As in OK for now, lets see what transpires and shakes out after TC. I would have picked a few different options as well.

With all the competition, this should be one hell of a TC to see who emerges. Especially true at WR, RB and maybe LB and S.