Very interesting feeling looking at the following text on my phone today:

Packers activate DT Harrell, Release DE Gbaja-Biamila.
from Packers.com

And there you have it - a pre-season question answered, after Ted finally saw the writing on the wall with Kabeer’s play over the last 7 games.

The last great game play of Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was in the NFC Championship game- a game where I must say he and Kampman excelled together. It’s actually sad that his peak seasons, the Packers could never find a true bookend to amplify his pass rushing skill. Unfortunately- that’s all he ever was as a defensive end- an extremely skilled (top 3 NFL for 4-5 years) 1 skill player.

For the record in 2008 - K.G.B. had 9 tackles, half a sack, and a pass defensed (in garbage time of the Colts game). Considering he was the highest paid player on the Packers - his future on the team has been in doubt since training camp.

Onto the other news- Justin Harrell. For the record I have already officially called him a bust. Prematurely I know. I don’t usually do that because everyone gets their three years, but sometimes people just don’t feel like they will grow to be superstars… As I have said in the podcast, Nothing will make me happier than Justin Harrell being the greatest pick the Packers have had since 1957.

So Justin. Can you be a hero?

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• KGB you will be missed

One thing I wanted to note after going back and watching most of Colin Cole’s snaps this season - Cole has really taken his game to the next level. For a long time, up until and through training camp as a matter of fact, I thought Cole was just a complete waste of space, simply a big body that could give Pickens and Jolly a breather.

Boy was I wrong.

So far this season, Cole has done a great job of holding the point of attack and clearing the line for Hawk and Barnett to make plays, much better than in previous seasons. It seems he’s just a bit stronger this year than in years past. But where his play has really jumped is in diagnosing the pass, getting off of blocks and getting pressure on the quarterback. I mean, it’s shocking how much he’s finding himself in the opposing backfield, which simply never happened before this year.

Now don’t get me wrong - Cole didn’t become Albert Haynesworth overnight or anything. But his improved play is just the kind of thing the Packers will need to see more of in order to compensate for the loss of Jenkins for the year.

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• Now It Begins…

The hits just keep on coming.

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• Poppinga’s Deal

I have liked Cullen Jenkins ever since he came in off the bench for an injured Grady Jackson during a season opening Monday Night game against the Carolina Panthers. He played defensive tackle that night, but became the starting right end for the Packers defense after taking over for KGB against the 49ers two seasons ago. Last offseason he was rewarded with a lucrative (by Packer standards) contract extension and seemed to be a rising star opposite Aaron Kampman, a perfect bookend that would terrorize quarterbacks for years to come.

Well.

Jenkins was plagued by ‘injuries’ last year, or so goes the official Packer line. (Curious then that Jenkins hardly ever appeared on the official injury report) His coaches pointed to Jenkins playing through pain as a reason for his less than stellar numbers in the ‘pressure’ and ’sack’ categories. But if you go back and focus on Jenkins during last years games, he does a whole lot of dancing with opposing left tackles, especially after his patented ‘I-Want-To-Be-Known-As-a-Poor-Man’s-Dwight-Freeney’ spin move fails. (and it does more often than not). Grumblings began towards the end of the season and the playoffs that perhaps the Packers had, not exactly wasted, but overspent to keep the one dimensional Jenkins. (Because for all his limitations so far as a pass rusher, the man CAN play the run.)

Well, 2008 presents a clean slate for Jenkins and his ability to get to the quarterback, and what better news could he and the Packers receive than to find that the Vikings mountainous left tackle Bryant McKinnie is suspended for the first four games of the year, including the season opener against the Packers. Replacing McKinnie will be Artis Hicks, better known to his friends as “Revolving Door”.

If Jenkins doesn’t embarrass Hicks, he will never be the pass rusher the Packers thought they were getting when they signed him to an extension.

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• Allen Most Likely Won’t Play

I am trying desperately to write a positive article about the Packers defense. I guess I could write about the linebackers being deep or the fact that we have two of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. But I keep coming back to Fritz Shurmur, one of the greatest defensive coordinators in Packer History, who said “If you don’t have a defensive line, you don’t have a defense”.

And so here we are at the end of Training camp with a multitude of questions- the most pressing being Ryan Pickett and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. Reports from Monday on KGB are not promising, Bob McGinn writes:

Back in pads Monday for the first time since his surgically repaired right knee acted up July 30, Gbaja-Biamila stayed away from making sharp cuts and tried to avoid heavy contact before shutting himself down with about 30 minutes to go.
If Gbaja-Biamila, whose cap salary of $7.727 million ranks No. 1 on the team, isn’t ready for Minnesota, the Packers probably would be down to using Jason Hunter at right end on passing downs. Rookie Jeremy Thompson, a fourth-round draft choice, has been invisible. Michael Montgomery is another option.

If KGB & Pickett can’t go, all Minnesota will have to do is double Aaron Kampman and Adrian Peterson has 200 yards rushing. Over at The Tundra Vision blog I have to take exception with this quote:

The sack, in my long-standing opinion, is the most overrated statistic in football. I would trade all my defensive sacks for consistent pressure, hurries, and knockdowns on the quarterback. Give me Aaron Kampman’s consistency over KGB’s once-in-a-while sack any day.

That’s like saying you would rather score field goals than touchdowns. Seriously. Please. There is nothing overrated about a sack and here’s why:

1. It has the potential to take out the most important position on the opponents team.
2. It’s a game momentum changing play.
3. It can generate negative psychological effects on the opposing team. (i.e. scare the living crap out of them- especially the QB)

And what about Reggie White? Are his record sacks in the Superbowl overrated? Come on.

I can remember many a game where we needed a game changing play and KGB delivered. The $7.27 million dollars KGB will make this year is worth it…if he is on the field.

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• An Embarassment of Riches?

Gilbert Brown. Grady Jackson. Ryan Pickett.

Run stuffers of the modern era. With coaches worried about Pickett’s health and conditioning, who do we have that can step up and meet the challenge of plugging up running lanes, penetrating O-lines and digging graves for QB’s? Colin Cole and Johnny Jolly are likely candidates, but show me a time this off-season or last season where either one of them did a good job of clogging the running lanes without Pickett.
And behind them?

Second year man Daniel Muir, rookies Conrad Bolston, Alfred Malone and recently acquired from the Intense Football League- Rodney Allen. (who I hope is the next Ryan Grant). According to Tom Silverstein -

In the three exhibition games the Packers have played without the injured Pickett, they’ve allowed opponents 372 yards rushing and a 3.9-yard average.

Those aren’t horrible numbers, but starting running backs such as Kenny Watson, Frank Gore and Selvin Young have combined for 100 yards in 18 carries (5.6 average) against the Packers’ No. 1 defensive unit. Against Denver on Friday night, the middle of the defense was the primary reason the Broncos rushed 28 times for 131 yards (4.7).

5.6 yards per carry. Ouch.

There is talk of a trade, but who and for who? Every die-hard fan knows that a 350 pound man does not a good defensive tackle make, nor are there many good DT’s in the NFL and so they are coveted and overpaid. Plus I find it ironic that the Packers are looking for a trade when they traded the very man they are looking for in March of this year.

I jokingly made a forum post over the weekend entitled what will be Ted Thompson’s biggest mistake of this year’s off-season- letting Favre go or trading Corey Williams to the Cleveland Browns. At the time, I thought it was a funny question for our Packer Fan Forum members, now it actually might be the question of the year. I was watching last year’s highlight video and watched the play where Williams pokes the ball out against the Redskins and Woodson runs it back for the score. Good stuff.

The Packers kept six defensive tackles last year, with Harrell now on the PUP list, they have more room for Pickett, Cole, Muir, Jolly and whoever wins the rookie DT sweepstakes. With linebacker being so deep this year, maybe they will do something they haven’t done since 2000 and keep seven linebackers.

Then we will really see something we haven’t seen yet.

Bob Sanders creativity.

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• An Embarassment of Riches?

Fear not, Packer fans, the organization has left no stone unturned in its quest for defensive line help. The Packers announced today (but apparently made the move last week) that they have signed defensive tackle Rodney Allen from the Odessa Roughnecks of the Intense Football League. This is not a joke.

Either Allen is the second coming of Gilbert Brown, or the Packers are very, very desperate…

UPDATE: Brats & Beer has a very uninspiring video of Allen ‘highlights’.

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• Pass Rush Trouble Brewing

The latest from Bob McGinn about Michael Montgomery is extremely encouraging on many levels. The thrust of the piece is about Montgomery, but the real point of interest is the fact that the Packers brain trust are taking a cue from the Giants defense of ‘07 and playing with moving their defensive ends inside on passing downs, putting four defensive ends on the field, much like the Giants and their ‘Ace’ formation last year. (To be fair, Jenkins was already moving inside on passing downs, but he was a defensive tackle before he was moved to end)

More and more, things are pointing to a much more creative approach on the defensive side of the ball, which shows that McCarthy is not blind to the shortcomings that were apparent to almost everyone. (Especially Kevin Gilbride) Now it’s simply a matter of Packer fans holding their breath, hoping Bob Sanders is up to the task of presiding over a creative, multi-faceted defense.

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• From One Impossible Challenge To Another