The Packers announced they will induct former General Manager Ted Thompson into the team’s Hall of Fame in May. Thompson served as Packers
executive vice president
Elgton Jenkins Jersey 2019 , G.M. and director of football operations from 2005-17 and currently serves as senior advisor to football operations. His tenure as
G.M. was highlighted by a victory in Super Bowl XLV.During his tenure, the
Packers won six NFC North titles, including a team-record four consecutive
division crowns from 2011-2014, and made four appearances in the NFC
Championship Game, the most in the NFC over that span.??e are thrilled to
present Ted as the 162nd inductee into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame,??Tom
Konop, president of Packers Hall of Fame Inc., said in a statement. ??he Hall of
Fame nominating committee, made up of some of the most respected football
purists, pointed to Ted?? accomplishments of nine playoff seasons, and winning
Super Bowl XLV, as part of his acumen resulting in this honor. His drafting of
Aaron Rodgers was obviously one of the most important draft picks in Packers
history. Ted was also responsible for assisting with the success of numerous
coaches and scouts around the league. With his induction into the Packers Hall
of Fame we are proud and honored that Ted will take his rightful place as part
of Packers history forever.” One of the great quests of football analytics is to
come up with a good way to compare the values of positions in the NFL. This is
quite difficult, and there is shockingly little consensus as to just what makes
an offense or defense tick. In 2006 Michael Lewis followed up “Moneyball” with
“The Blind Side,” which blended the story of offensive tackle Michael Oher with
support for the notion that left tackles were extremely important, perhaps
second only to the quarterbacks they protect. Subsequent research, however, has
shown that sacks correlate more with who the quarterback is than who is playing
on the line.I don’t doubt that left tackle is extremely important, but it’s
probably not as important as Lewis’s book posited. There are also a lot of very
smart analysts and thinkers who claim that pass rush is the most important
aspect of defense, and that edge rushers are consequently the most important
players on defense. This makes a lot of sense intuitively, but there is some
research that suggests the secondary actually aids the pass rush more than pass
rush aids the secondary, which would make corners more important. I happen to
believe that corner is more important in the current NFL, but I could be wrong,
and in reality you need both aspects to succeed for a defense to succeed.The
various pieces of a football team work as an integrated unit
Color Rush Elgton Jenkins Jersey , and it’s difficult to analyze those pieces as separate entities, but even though we don’t know everything, we do know a few
things. Quarterback dwarfs the value of all other positions. Running backs are
the least valuable players by a substantial margin. That’s all I’d say we know
for sure. We think safeties are less valuable than many other positions (mostly
because as corners age they often become safeties, meaning there is a healthy
supply of safeties available), inside linebackers seem to be less valuable, and
offensive guards are less valuable than offensive tackles, but that’s about it,
and if research overturned any of this, I wouldn’t be too shocked.The position
that you almost never see discussed is wide receiver. I suspect receivers are
underrated, and that they are almost certainly the second-most important
position group on offense and maybe overall. The 2018 Packers had holes at
outside linebacker, safety, and tight end, but the biggest issue for the offense
(after Rodgers) was a lack of depth at receiver behind Davante Adams. Receiver
has been an issue since 2015, and when the offense has rebounded, it’s because
they have had at least three above average receivers. When they’ve struggled,
it’s been a one man show.The One Man ShowThe worst year of Aaron Rodgers’ career
wasn’t actually 2018, it was 2015. The primary cause of those struggles was the
loss of Jordy Nelson. This, in and of itself, should lend a ton of support to
the idea that receivers are extremely important. The loss of Nelson left Rodgers
with Randall Cobb, who had a terrible year as the go-to receiver, a still-green
Davante Adams who missed time with injuries, and the return of James Jones, who
was fine. That’s a bad group. The following year
Cheap Elgton Jenkins Jersey , in 2016, Rodgers had his best recent season. His completion percentage jumped from 60.7% to 65.7%, his Y/A jumped from an awful
6.7 to 7.3 (which still isn’t great), and his TDs jumped from 31 to 40, with no
real uptick in interceptions. The reason for that jump in production has almost
nothing to do with Rodgers, and everything to do with the return of Jordy
Nelson, the growth of Davante Adams, and late in the season, the addition of
Jared Cook at tight end. Randall Cobb saw his catch percentage shoot up as well,
as the defense’s attention focused elsewhere.Rodgers was hurt for most of 2017,
but it’s clear that the loss of Cook and some decline from Nelson hurt, even in
limited action. In 2018, the failure of Jimmy Graham to replace Cook’s
production combined with the injury to Geronimo Allison left the team without
enough real weapons. While Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown
had nice seasons for late-round rookies, they were not true “number two” (or
“number three”) receivers. Rodgers relied heavily on Adams in the passing game,
and while Adams is great and produced nice counting stats, he wasn’t efficient
as he finished 30th in DVOA. There is a cliche that defenders/defensive coaches
use with great wide receivers: “We’re fine if they get their yards, but we can’t
let them beat us.” That’s exactly what happened with Adams in 2018. Knock-On
EffectsWhen Lewis wrote “The Blind Side” he focused on all of the positive
externalities produced by a good left tackle. He gives the quarterback time
which allows receivers to get open. He keeps the quarterback from taking hits,
and therefore from getting hurt. He is also crucial to the run game. In short,
Lewis claimed that left tackles make everyone better. Receivers are, debatably,
more responsible for each one of these. A receiver who flashes open early in his
route will allow the quarterback to throw before the pass rush becomes an issue.
A group of good receivers will drag defenders out of the box, opening up the
running game. And the more good receivers you have on your team, the better each
one’s matchups will be.This season
Elgton Jenkins Jersey Womens , Adams found himself facing top corners with routine. Darius Slay, Kyle Fuller, and Xavier Rhodes all play in the division,
and generally speaking, a team’s best corner is much better than their second
best corner, their second best corner is much better than a their third best
corner, and so on. Depth at receiver not only puts pressure on the defense’s
depth, it also makes it easier to scheme your best receiver against substandard
defenders, and that leads to better efficiency for everyone, including the
quarterback. A receiving corps is a bit like a major league pitching staff. If
you add an ace to the top of the staff, you don’t replace the previous ace, you
replace the 5th starter. The previous ace just gets knocked down a spot, but
still pitches almost as much, and may find himself up against non-aces more
frequently. Adams is a great weapon, but without any other weapons, his ability
to occupy a defense is being wasted. My One WishIf the next coach of the Packers
can’t fix Aaron Rodgers, nothing else they do will matter. But one thing that
would help and my one offseason wish for the team is a free agent veteran
receiver to play opposite Adams. I don’t even think it needs to be a
particularly great or expensive receiver, but that spot is secretly the biggest
hole on the team and fixing it should be relatively inexpensive. If they can
plug that hole and if the rookies can take a step forward as reasonable third
and fourth options, the offense can turn things around in a heartbeat.
