The Green Bay Packers dropped their roster down to the mandatory 75 man limit today. The biggest surprise is DeShawn Wynn, who has missed practices and games this off-season. Kregg Lumpkin’s play in last Friday’s Denver game must have been the final push for cutting Wynn.

Also cut were fullback Ryan Powdrell, wide receiver Chris Francies and offensive lineman Ryan Considine. Francies will no doubt land an NFL job with someone in need of receivers as I have to believe he is better than most teams fourth wide receiver.

Least surprising? Justin Harrell has been placed on the PUP. That’s the Physically Unable to Perform List. The bold represents the waste of a first round pick in 2007. Harrell is officially a bust. He will miss six games and then….who knows. Waste some more of the Packers time and money I’m sure.

Update: Posted Ted Thompson press conference from this morning here.

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• Now It Begins…

With the first great Blog Battle of 2008 behind us, let’s turn our attention where it belongs - on the field.

Watching the playoff games again this past week (because I have no life) one thing jumped out at me I thought I’d share, and it has to do with the running back position. I keep reading and hearing Packer fans talk about how it’s a forgone conclusion that Vernand Morency will be gone next year. I’m not so sure. What he lacks as a runner he more than makes up for in pass protection. And if there’s one thing Aaron Rodgers will need help with starting out, it’s protection, especially if McCarthy is true to his word and plans to spread the field just as much as he did with Favre. You can bet that defensive coordinators will be salivating at the thought of bringing as much exotic pressure as they can dream up, knowing that, unlike Favre, Rodgers has never seen most of it.

In both the Seattle and New York games, Morency made some vicious, key blocks that allowed Favre time to find a late crossing receiver that ended up going for big gains. With three and four wide outs spread all over the field, Rodgers will need someone like Morency in the backfield. And Morency has certainly shown he is the best back at picking up the blitz that the Packers have, much more so than Herron, Wynn, Jackson or even Grant. This will be a major part of training camp evaluations, and if Morency can finally stay healthy (a huge ‘if’ I know) I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the final 53 against the Vikings on opening weekend.

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• Lunatics Running the Asylum?

Packers.com Video showcases favorite pass and run plays at Lambeau for the fans to vote on their favorite play. The run poll has ended and I think the pass one closes soon.

The videos are great.

Top 5 Passes at Lambeau

Packers.com favorite five pass plays (home) from the 07-08 season here.

If I had to order them by “Greatest Pass 2007-08 Plays Season at Home in a Season”:

Players names link to their bio. Dates link to the NFL Gamecenter for that game.

1. Donald Lee 11 yd Pass 2nd Quarter vs Seahawks 1/12/08

Ingredients for a good Packer Pass Gumbo. You need: Signature Brett Favre escape. Snow. Divisional Playoff Game. 1st Down. Heart of the D softened. mmm..eat that up

2. Donald Driver 90 yd TD 2nd Quarter vs. Giants 1/20/08

Would have been my pick for #1. Except we lost the game. This one is a Pyrrhic Victory for Double D. Corey Webster gets to feel what happens on the other end of a bump & run…ouch. Too bad the irony is he catches Favre’s interception in overtime.

3. Greg Jennings 57 yd TD 4th Quarter vs. Chargers 9/23/07

Brilliant slant for daylight. Favre ties the TD record with Marino. Greatness and Talented Youth come together to be realized.

4. Greg Jennings 80 yd TD in 3rd Quarter vs Raiders 12/09/07

A dash of speed, Stanford Routt getting beat and Greg Jennings and Brett Favre reading each other’s minds serves up nice.

5. Ruvell Martin 17 yd TD Tipped 4th Quarter vs Vikings 11/11/07

Take this crap off the list. Much, much better passes existed this season. Corey to Packers Multimedia guys: Wake Up! Greg Jennings had a catch in that game where he hits it perfect, takes the ball from the corner, gets smacked by Darren Sharper and hangs on. Or what about Donald Driver 49 yd play action beauty against Carolina? Or Donald Lee against the Raiders dragging half their secondary on his back for a TD sleigh ride?

The question on packers.com was “What was your favorite pass play, in home game 2007?” As of 10:00pm EST 45,508 voters have voted as such: 1. Driver v NYG 43%, 2. Favre-Lee v Sea 24%, 3. Jennings v SD 18%, 4. Jennings v Oak 10%, 5. Martin v Min 2%.

Top 5 Runs at Lambeau

Packers.com favorite five run plays from the 07-08 season here.

If I had to order them by “Greatest Run Plays 2007-08 Plays at Home in a Season”:

1. Ryan Grant 43 yd run 3rd Quarter vs. Seahawks 1/12/08

The only way this could get any better is if there was more snow.

2. Ryan Grant 30 yd TD 1st Quarter vs Vikings 11/11/07

This is what happens when a play caller successfully confuses the crap out of the defense. After passing four times straight (3 five wide formations straight) McCarthy delivers an I-Form Packer Sweep that leaves Minnesota’s Defense looking like left out overnight cheesecurds while somewhere Vince Lombardi is smiling proud.

3. Brett Favre 21 yd scramble 1st Quarter vs Lions 12/30/07

Playcalling magic confusion pill 25: Brett Bavre will not run the ball. So- you run it and they not so smart. It would be nice if we had 3 more like this. sigh.

4. Brandon Jackson 46 yd run 3rd Quarter Lions 12/30/07

In what would be his best game of the season(20 for 113 yds rushing, 2 for 22 receiving) Brandon Jackson shows why the NFL is all about making the most of opportunity. He has some real competition with Ryan Grant. Let’s see if it’s good for him.

5. Deshawn Wynn 44 yd run vs. Bears 10/07/07

Really? Probably the best thing about both losses to the Bears.

There really should be more Ryan Grant choices on this list when you really are honest with yourself and not Packers.com multimedia staff.

The question on packers.com was “What was your favorite running play, in a home game 2007?” As of 10:00pm EST with polls closed 50,935 voters have voted as such: 1. Grant v Sea 53% 2. Favre v Det 24%, 3. Grant v Min 14%, 4. Jackson v Detroit 4%, 5. Wynn v Chicago 3%.

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• Who is the Greatest Cheesehead 2008?