We need someone else to step up and be a receiving force this year.

Last year, Aaron Rodgers threw for 4,038 yards and 28 touchdowns. Those are great numbers, but somehow, the Packers’ passing game was still lacking something. What it lacked was a legitimate third receiver.

Greg Jennings (1,292 yds.) and Donald Driver (1,012 yds.) accounted for over half of the team’s passing yardage in 2008. Rookie Jordy Nelson was a distant third, with 366 yards, and starting TE Donald Lee ended up with just 303. James Jones was plagued with injuries and tallied just 274. Fifth receiver Ruvell Martin also fought injuries and was a non-factor, with just 145 yards. The backup TE’s, Tory Humphrey (162 yds.) and Jermichael Finley (74 yds.), were invisible for the most part.

With no major additions in the off-season, who among this group is most likely to step up and be that third receiving threat? Here are the four top candidates:

1.    James Jones—As a rookie in 2007, he had 47 catches for 676 yards. Both of those numbers rank fourth for rookies in Packer history, and third among NFL rookies for that season. He showed game-breaking talent as well, with a spectacular 79 yard catch-and-run against Champ Bailey in the Denver game. Jones is big and tough and can go over the middle. Unfortunately, he tailed off at the end of his rookie year, and a nagging knee injury suffered at the beginning of 2008 led to a lost season. His reputation for sure-handedness took a hit, as he dropped several passes, though I think this was because the injury disrupted his concentration. I still think Jones is capable of being a force in the NFL.

2.    Jordy Nelson—An early second round pick, Nelson got significant playing time as a rookie. He showed good speed and excellent hands (he had the lowest drop percentage of Packer receivers, with 33 catches and only one drop). For most of the season, he just ran sideline routes—curls and fly patterns—and for that reason, I was not as high on him as some other fans were. When you play WR for the Green Bay Packers, you need to be able to go over the middle and catch the ball in traffic. Nelson did do that once or twice toward the end of the season, and if he can develop that part of his game, he will be well on his way to becoming a very good NFL receiver.

3.    Donald Lee—Acquired as a free agent (he formerly played for the Dolphins) in 2005, Lee worked his way up to the starting TE spot, where he flourished in 2007, with 48 catches for 575 yards and six TD’s, earning a big multi-year contract. With the huge dropoff in his numbers last year, the big question is whether his performance really declined or Aaron Rodgers just didn’t use him as well as Brett Favre did. Lee seems like a solid guy who is not the kind to loaf after earning a big payday, so my guess is that he will benefit as Rodgers gains more experience and is able to spread the ball around more.

4.    Jermichael Finley—The dark horse candidate to be our #3 receiving threat, Finley was a one-trick pony in his rookie season, and he wasn’t even very good at his trick, which was running into the end zone and trying to catch jump balls from Aaron Rodgers. Finley didn’t help his cause when he missed a catchable ball and said afterwards that it was a bad throw. But Finley is physically gifted—tall, fast, and agile for a TE—and he seems to have the potential to be a game breaker. He was very raw last season, having entered the NFL after his sophomore season (he had redshirted one year), and he is the kind of player who could make a big leap in his second year in the NFL.

If any of these four players—or any others, for that matter—can put together a really good season, and Driver and Jennings remain as productive as they were last year, the Packers’ passing offense could make the leap from good to great. Of course, it doesn’t have to be any one guy—a combo platter would be just fine. What’s encouraging is that there are several intriguing possibilities here. This also explains why Ted Thompson decided to stand pat with his receivers in the off-seaason and concentrate mainly on improving the defense. The offense already has enough talent to be one of the most explosive units in the league.

Is Donald Driver the fourth-best receiver in Packer history?

When Donald Driver finally hangs it up—some day in the distant future, we hope–what will we remember most about him? With all due respect to his playing abilities, I think what we’ll remember most of all is his smile. Has there ever been a more cheerful player wearing the Green and Gold? And Driver is no mere pretty boy: Behind that smile is toughness, leadership, and smarts.

And now, with ten seasons under his belt, it is time to start asking where Driver fits in among the all-time great Packer receivers. While there is plenty of room for debate, I am willing to say that he has moved into a tie for fourth. Not bad at all for a 7th round pick out of Alcorn State who was more of a track star than a football player in college.

It is unlikely that Driver will ever move into the top three, because each of those players—Don Hutson, James Lofton, and Sterling Sharpe—were phenomenal athletes who were among the best to ever play the position. There is no shame in being ranked behind any of those guys.

But Driver is right up there with that next tier of Packer receivers, which includes Boyd Dowler, Max McGee, and Antonio Freeman. I am intentionally holding off on a discussion of statistics, as it is difficult to compare receiving statistics from different eras. (If you must get your stat fix right now, go ahead and skip to the end of the article, then come back.)

Another reason for holding off on the stats is that Donald Driver’s value to the team cannot be measured in mere numbers. He has been a mentor to young players and a fan favorite for all the right reasons. He has been loyal to the team and loyal to his QBs and has managed to avoid controversies, including last summer’s Favre saga, which he easily could’ve fallen into with even one careless comment.

Like Antonio Freeman before him, Driver is at his best on third down and he is not afraid to go over the middle and take a shot. In fact, he seems to relish it. And he always gives 100% effort. I still remember Driver playing harder than anyone in that humiliating home playoff loss to the Falcons in January 2003, before finally being knocked out of the game after scoring the only Packer TD of the day. And although he takes a lot of hits and is not particularly big, Driver has added muscle over the years and is extremely durable.

Now for the stats. Take a look at Driver, Dowler, and Freeman. The numbers are close. You could make a case for Dowler based on the fact that he was a key part of a championship offense for years. And you could make a case for Freeman based on all those TD catches, along with his key role on one championship team. And Max McGee is still in the conversation based on his 50 TDs and several championships. But Driver is well ahead of all of them in terms of yards and receptions and will soon pass Sharpe as the all-time Packer leader in receptions as well as passing Sharpe and Hutson in yards to move into second place, with only Lofton ahead of him.

Driver’s biggest statistical weakness, compared to most of these players, is his relatively low number of TDs. This stat is not to be taken lightly, but does it cancel out the others? I’m willing to say that it does not. While Driver has seldom been the main source of TDs for his team, he has been a key part of some very potent offenses that have done a good job of finding their way into the end zone one way or another.

My verdict? Driver is in a dead heat with Boyd Dowler for #4 all-time, and in another season or two, he will be a solid #4. A championship ring would seal the deal. I can’t think of a player on our team who deserves one more.

Career stats of top Packer receivers:

Don Hutson
Seasons: 11    Receptions: 488     Yards: 7,991     Avg.: 16.4     TDs: 99

James Lofton
Seasons: 9      Receptions: 530     Yards: 9,656     Avg.: 18.2     TDs: 49

Sterling Sharpe
Seasons: 7      Receptions: 595     Yards: 8,134     Avg.: 13.7     TDs: 65

Donald Driver
Seasons: 10    Receptions: 577     Yards: 7,989     Avg.: 13.8     TDs: 43

Boyd Dowler
Seasons: 11    Receptions: 448     Yards: 6,918     Avg.: 15.4     TDs: 40

Antonio Freeman
Seasons: 8      Receptions: 431     Yards: 6,651     Avg: 15.4      TDs: 57

Max McGee
Seasons: 12    Receptions: 345     Yards: 6,346     Avg.: 18.4     TDs: 50

Here is a list of Packer receiving records: Click Here

Someone asked me who I thought the best player on the team is so I decided to expand on it. The top ten players on the team.

Now what do I judge by? Stats? Athleticism? Playmaking? I’m going to go with all three. We all know good players when we see them, despite possible lackluster statistics. We also know average players when we see them, despite awesome statistics(hey, Nick Collins, how are ya)

This list ought to anger a lot of people and I look forward to other’s opinions in the comment section. People might want to go “LongtimefanAssahlo” on me. We’ll see. Enough talk. Here’s the top ten Packers players in 2008.

10. A.J. Hawk – He didn’t have an amazing year but he’s still a hell of an athlete and I am glad he is on the team. He was consistent all year – even in the bad areas. He at least wouldn’t shock you with greatness one day and then turn around and play like a CFL linebacker. He was consistent, for what that’s worth. Don’t worry about ol A.J. though, he’s going to be just fine.

9. Nick Barnett – he had a disappointing year as far as being Nick Barnett goes. Other middle linebackers would have loved to have a “bad Nick Barnett” year though. When he was playing, he was good enough.

8. Al Harris – I can’t say enough about Al in 2008. Even after his spleen-ectomy he was money. Like Hawk, he was consistent – good and bad. He would be a shut down corner and be a pretty sure tackler, but he would also get owned by bigger receivers and get needless penalties. Overall, the 2008 season would have been better had he not missed time from his injury. I never thought I would say that.

7. Tramon Williams – “The Future” is a name I sometimes call Tramon by. Yes, I’m the only one who calls him that. When Al stepped out, Tramon stepped up. We barely missed a beat, which makes you wonder how good we could have been had all three been playing together all year.

6. Will Blackmon – What a good year for Blackmon! When he was out there at corner, he wasn’t too bad. He’s a darn fine dime back. He had 35 tackles and 2 forced fumbles. Not too shabby at all, but Blackmon gets on the top 10 because of his punt returning. 2 return TDs and five times he got more than 20 yards on a return. Field position is key, and Blackmon is the keymaster.

The other keymaster

5. Aaron Kampman – Wow, Aaron barely broke the top 5. He didn’t have a great year though. He didn’t have much help, but he didn’t seem like the Kampman we’ve seen the last two seasons. Even so, he was a BEAST. I love when our guys do great, but it’s still not good enough. We have so much talent. Seriously though, Kampman needs to step it up next year.

4. Greg Jennings – Yes, Greg is not #1. Shut up. Jordy Nelson and Donald Driver both had better catch percentages than Greg. I know Jordy’s time was limited but Greg is supposed to be better than Driver, right? Greg’s lack of productivity and seemingly passion in the last quarter of the season rubbed me the wrong way a bit. I still love the man, but not “tongue down the throat” love like it used to be. Still, Greg got 9 TDs and over 1,000 yards and is awesome.

3. Donald Driver – That’s right, Donald is ahead of Greg. This is one of those “It’s not all in the statistics” things. Greg has Driver beat in just about every area, but Driver has heart. Driver has fight. He fights on every play as if the clock just expired and they need him to go the distance or they lose the superbowl. I love Driver as a person and a player. You know what you get from him every season, every game, every snap. Sometimes I think it might be easier to kill him than to tackle him, and that’s why Driver is #3.

2. Charles Woodson – My goodness. Someone tell this guy he’s supposed to get worse as he gets older, not better. And he did it all with a broken foot. This all helps my theory that Charles Woodson is in fact, a zombie, but one of those zombies that run like in 28 Days Later (and if someone tells me they weren’t zombies but infected people, I will punch you in the cheek). I’m curious to see how Woodson does next year, but he definitely earned the #2 spot, maybe even the #1 spot, but that spot goes to…

1. Aaron Rodgers – Yeah yeah, this doesn’t shock you. What can I say, the kid was money. Statistic wise he was money. Intelligence wise(throwing the ball away is something I haven’t seen in hears) he has it, and he gets extra points for picking and choosing spots to run the ball. Aaron Rodgers might be our best player for a while and in no way is that a bad thing.

With all the news we should be getting over the course of the next few weeks, expect to see an increase in our Six-Pack. Here are six Packer stories to help spread the blogosphere love.

The Six-Pack

1. Railbird Central is willing to give Ted Thompson some advice.

2. The Packers made history in more ways than one this weekend.

3. The police brutality case involving Donald Driver’s father appears to be going nowhere.

4. Mike McCarthy is positive that he made the right move with Aaron Rodgers as quarterback.

5. The PackerBacker Clubhouse lists next year’s free-agents for the team.

6. Finally, can use the word “Bailiwick” in a sentence? Ted Thompson can.

(Stay Tuned)

If there is anyone on the planet that owes someone a dinner it has to be DeShawn Wynn. If you check out the twenty-five second mark of the highlight video you will see why.

Firstly, that was one hell of a run by Wynn, and on a toss even. But, the first thing number forty-two should have done after the game is offer an expensive dinner to number eighty. 

If you watch the replay, at about the ten yard line you can see Donald motioning for Wynn to hurry his ass up because some pissed off Lions are about to catch him if he doesn’t move it along. While motioning to Wynn, Driver completely gets leveled by a Lion defender.

DeShawn, buy that man a meal. Or, just move a little quicker next time.

(Stay Tuned)

Once again the Lounge brings you the Saturday Six-Pack. Here are six Packers‘ stories we found interesting, funny, or slightly off the beaten path. Enjoy.

The Six-Pack

1. Michael Montgomery and Colin Cole think contracts are in the future.

2. If you really want, here are the latest Power Rankings.

3. This little tid-bit just made me laugh.

4. Brats and Beer highlights a great Donald Driver article.

5. Railbird always knows cool things about players that we don’t.

6. Finally, if you haven’t seen this it’s worth a look. I would tip my hat to CheeseheadTV for it too, but we are trying to get them away from the hat thing.

(Stay Tuned)

This dude is way happy

According to FOX Houston, Donald Driver’s father has filed a report that he was brutally beaten by police after a traffic stop.

According to the report, Marvin Driver Jr., father of Driver, says the attack took place on Sunday night. After being taken into custody for traffic violations, Mr. Driver was then rushed to an emergency room.

“Though unable to speak, Marvin Driver was able to scribble details of the alleged assault on hospital napkins.”

“Houston Activist Quanell X says Marvin Driver was taken behind a local gas station by police officers, kicked and beaten. Quanell X also said officers allegedly forced Marvin Driver to swallow something and allegedly taunted him by saying, “This is going to take you to Jesus.”"

We wish the best to double D and his family in their time of need.

(Stay Tuned)

I am almost afraid to write this, challenging perhaps one of the most knowledgeable X’s and O’s guys around, but, I can’t get it out my head. So, here you go Railbird Central – I think your fence is busted.

I just got done reading your post-game notes and I must say I am sorely disappointed in your assessment of A.J. Hawk’s performance this afternoon. Now that I think of it, I’m kinda bummed about the whole post. It isn’t making any sense to me.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m strictly a well read fan. Be that as it may, I did watch the same game as everyone else and you have me really confused if not feeling a little twilight-zone-ish. I also admit I am not a replay freak like those fine upstanding boys at that wholesome site CheeseheadTV either, so I got one shot to watch the game and that’s all I get.

Regardless, I can’t let it go. Call me crazy.

You start by saying, and I quote:

“Hawk is a step slow as it is, and now as a middle linebacker, he’s going to have to cover running backs coming out of the backfield in pass coverage more often than he had a weakside linebacker.

The Bears exploited Hawk when Forte had six receptions for 60 yards on the day.”

Like I said I only get one shot at the game, but that is not the case at all. Firstly, I agree Hawk is still a step slow right now, and argue he isn’t even close to healthy. But today, he certainly showed more presence than Barnett had all season.

Secondly, using the word exploited is a little strong isn’t it?. Forte only had forty not sixty yards receiving today and eighteen of those yards came on one play when Collins anticipated Forte would stay in on protection. So technically, Hawk got exploited for no more than twenty-two yards. Need I mention his KEY blanket coverage on a third down play when he completely took the inside away from an obviously targeted Forte.

Playing an unfamiliar spot, wearing the headset for the first time, and leading the defense in tackles he wasn’t flashy – but seriously?

Next you add:

“Give credit to oft-injured defensive tackle Justin Harrell for playing through the pain. After suffering through a knee sprain earlier in the week and being listed as questionable, Harrell gutted it out and showed some mettle for perhaps the first time in his professional career.”

I guess I really didn’t notice anything that warranted lauding on the part of Justin Harrell. If “mettle” means actually playing a full game with an injury and not getting hurt then yes, three cheers for Harrell. Al Harris has a busted spleen and didn’t miss a game in almost ten years. Justin Harrell just figured out he could map-quest directions to work and finally made it. Collective sigh of relief would be far more appropriate than credit.

Finally:

“On Fox’s broadcast, Troy Aikman mentioned that Donald Driver has been playing through un-reported nagging health problems. Aikman specifically mentioned turf toe. Driver at one point limped off the sideline and it was possible that he aggravated this here-to-fore unknown health impairment.”

Shortly after Aikman reported the turf-toe injury on Driver (which was news to me as well) he then came back and clearly stated that Donald had hit his knee and was ready to go full speed again.

I’m sorry man, that fence must have been crowded today.

(Stay Tuned)

Coming off a huge week against Tennessee, Donald Driver should have a historical day on Sunday. Closing in on a decades old record by Sterling Sharpe, Driver can again put his name in the record book.

If Driver makes just one catch, he will set the record for the most consecutive grabs in Packer history, hauling in at least one ball in the last 104 games.

Driver says he hasn’t been thinking that much about the record, but rest assured it has to be on his mind.

“I haven’t even worried about the record. I think it just gets to the point if it happens, it happens. I want to win the game, that’s my biggest thing,” Driver said. “I think after the game that’s when you start thinking about the records, stuff like that.”

In true class act fashion, double D is honored just to be mentioned along with one of the all time Packer greats.

“When you get an opportunity to accomplish certain records, you take your hat off to yourself as well as Sterling,” Driver said. “For a guy to be on top that much, I’m just happy to be mentioned in the same breath.”

It is with near certainty that we will see Driver surpass the record this weekend. Driver has been notoriously good in the Metrodome holding personal records in catches (11), yards receiving (191) and longest run from scrimmage (45 yards) all against the Vikings in the dome.

Let’s hope DD can continue that trend on Sunday in what is probably the most important game of the season.

(Stay Tuned)

Breakdown of DD and the Endzone