The Longer The Labor Dispute Lasts, The Better The Chances Of A Repeat
The Packers continuity on offense and defense coupled with a talent infusion will give them a leg up on teams after the lockout comes to an end.
By PackerAaron
Bob McGinn buried the lead.
Ok, not really.
But buried at the bottom of his column yesterday on how the draft will be different this year due to the labor uncertainty, comes this gem of a paragraph:
The longer the labor dispute lingers, the better the chances for a Packers' repeat. They were the best team last year, they have more good players returning from injury than anyone else and their entrenched systems of play are rock solid.
I could not agree with this more if I tried.
As our good friend Gregg Rosenthal over at Pro Football Talk is fond of saying, continuity is one of the most important (and under-appreciated) qualities of an NFL football team these days. Coaches and systems come and go so fast, its rare when a group of players get a chance to grow together under one coach in a set of offensive and defensive systems. The Packers are ahead of the curve here having a young, talented offense that already knows his system like the back of their hands. On the other side of the ball, they have a unit that is coming off a Super Bowl victory in only its second year running Dom Capers system and that is after getting decimated with injuries.
Which brings me to another point - the army of players the Packers will be getting back off injured reserve. It's been a running joke among Packer fans that the Packers are almost getting two drafts this year. This is actually quite true when you look at young, promising players like Mike Neal and Morgan Burnett, guys who went through an offseason last year, went through training camp and then were hurt early in the year. Adding them into the mix with an expected nine new draft picks will only make this team, already a well-oiled machine, even deeper and more talented.
As for other teams, the NFC is full of teams like the Saints and the Cowboys who love to plug holes via free agency. (Indeed, the Saints already added veteran defensive tackle Shaun Rodgers prior to the lockout taking effect) They'll be scrambling to do so whenever the lockout is lifted while the Packers will be quietly practicing away with their bevy of new talent, meshing it with their Super Bowl team as they go.
Finally - some positive lockout news.
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Comments (7)
April 25, 2011 at 04:21 am
Agree...and we're in good shape re our own FA's. Yes we may lose Jenkins, Jones, Colledge, and a couple others to FA. But a team like N.O. w/ more than half their roster FA's (27) will undoubtedly lose a lot more.
Hence, less continuity and another reason I'm glad we're playing them first.
April 25, 2011 at 04:37 am
Should we be concerned about an apparent lack of player organized workouts? How productive would they really be, even if they were held?
PackerAaron
April 25, 2011 at 08:31 am
Aaron Rodgers addressed this on the radio a few weeks ago. McCarthy did not plan on even assembling the team until THIS week due to the extended season that came with the Super Bowl run. Rodgers said he would probably put something together for he and his receivers sometime in the next few weeks.
April 25, 2011 at 11:12 pm
Nice. Thanx for the info Nagler.
April 25, 2011 at 09:21 am
"continuity is one of the most important (and under-appreciated) qualities of an NFL football team these days."
This is true in more than just football. Americans are in love with the "Big Change". But the problem is that it doesn't work very well. The Japanese and Korean philosophies promote constant incremental progress. Every day you get 1% better, and over time it yields big results.
April 25, 2011 at 01:31 pm
Thank you, Aaron, for providing some optimism in these frustrating times. That was just what the doctor ordered.
April 25, 2011 at 03:35 pm
I whole-heartedly agree. One of the problems the year that Ray Rhodes ran the team was that guys just looked burned out. The Packers had been to back-to-back Super Bowls, and had made a deep run in the play-offs the year before that. The extra games took their toll, both physically and mentally. Whatever RR's short-comings, it was a tough coaching situation to deal with. With the lock-out the 2011 Packers are getting more time to re-charge physically and mentally, without losing much (or any) ground compared to the competition. It's just a blessing in disguise.