Packers Faith in Brett Hundley Is About to Be Tested

The Packers clearly believe in Brett Hundley, but we will see if that faith pays off. 

When Mike McCarthy said Monday that he was sticking with Brett Hundley, it wasn’t a radical statement. He believes the third-year quarterback gives his team the best chance to win, not Tony Romo or Colin Kaepernick.

And McCarthy is right. Hundley does represent the Packers best chance of keeping their season afloat. He is their best hope of making the playoffs. So McCarthy wasn’t being obnoxious, he just believes in his quarterback, and he should, this is exactly why Green Bay drafted him in 2015.

Prior to the 2014 season, Hundley was touted as one of college football’s top quarterbacks. Some thought he could even be the No. 1 pick. But his team struggled and so did he. When the draft rolled around, he fell to the fifth round, when the Packers traded up to acquire his services.

Surely, the 2013 season was fresh in their minds at that point. That was the first time Aaron Rodgers injured his shoulder and while the team eventually made the playoffs, it was clear that the team needed a new solution at backup quarterback.

Cue Hundley, a talented specimen with a strong arm and some athleticism. He’s not Rodgers, but he’s not some washed up old veteran either. He’s going to get better and most importantly, he has the talent to do a lot of what Green Bay wants to do offensively. 

The Packers don’t have to handicap their offense too much for Hundley. He has spent the last two seasons learning it and learning under Rodgers. Now it’s time to see what he can do; time to let him sling it.

McCarthy has never really been a conservative play caller and when he does get in that mindset, it’s a bad thing for Green Bay. Hopefully he stays aggressive. Yes, this team is missing Rodgers, but the offense still has Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams, Randall Cobb, Martellus Bennett and when healthy, a solid offensive line. Ty Montgomery and Aaron Jones are pretty good too.

Hundley will have talent around him, the Packers just need to make sure they are utilizing his.

In the back of his mind, McCarthy had to know this day might come, that Hundley may need to assume the starting job at some point, for some length of time. And in terms of backups, you can’t do much better than a young guy with upside.

McCarthy, as he said, has invested three years in Hundley, now we will see if they were worth it and if the Packers were right about what he can do.

Unfortunately, at this point, their season depends on it.

__________________________

Chris is a sports journalist from Montana and has been blogging about the Packers since 2011. Chris has been a staff writer for CheeseheadTV since 2017 and looks forward to the day when Aaron Rodgers wins his second Super Bowl. Follow him @thepackersguru

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Comments (11)

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TheVOR's picture

October 19, 2017 at 05:01 pm

Been saying all week in other forums that Brett shouldn't be judged by last week, but he's definitely going to be judged by this week. He's a very confident young man, this should be interesting. If he tanks it's going to be depressing, but if he holds his own, they can run the ball, and they minimize mistakes, they can win this thing! The defense is the key, these guys need to step it up on defense and make it a misery for the Saints. If we can, I like our chances! If the defense gives up 30+? Not so much..

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NickPerry's picture

October 20, 2017 at 05:56 am

McCarthy's QB's and most QB's for that matter don't do well in that first game when they come in off the bench. Just look at 2010 when Flynn came in cold off the beach against Detroit. The Packers lost to Detroit 7-3 IIRC but the following week should have beat NE.

With exception of 2013 McCarthy has been able to get his QB ready with a full week of practice and even once Flynn was finally brought back in 2013 then McCarthy was able to get him ready.

McCarthy got Favre to play "Different" by the end of 2006 and then 2007 and obviously he deserves some credit for Rodgers development. Because of this he earned a label of being a "QB Guru". Hopefully that continues this week with Hundley.

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Turophile's picture

October 19, 2017 at 05:18 pm

I'd say it's on the O line as much as it's on Hundley. When the o line holds up well, it gives him his best chance.

I'm hoping that a few weeks down the road the line gets healthier, and I expect Hundley to start looking better when that happens. Until the line can hold up properly, Hundley will probably struggle. That's doubly true when defensive coordinators throw all the blitzes at him, as they usually do to a young QB.

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GBPDAN1's picture

October 19, 2017 at 05:25 pm

I don't think we can totally judge Hundley this Sunday. It should give us a little bit better perspective with a weeks practice with the Starters, but, it is his first NFL start and if he plays without Bulaga, Bak and Taylor, the pass rush will effect his game to much.

Pankey, John and Patrick are a huge drop off from Bak, Bulaga and Lane Taylor. I'm curious to see how Hundley looks after the bye when this team is healthier (I hope) .

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Big Moe's picture

October 19, 2017 at 08:15 pm

Thank goodness they have the good sense to stick with Hundley, god what a disaster Kaepernick or Romo would be. I'd honestly rather see the undrafted rookie QB ( I can't place his name) over those two, I remember Seneca Wallace all to well.

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croatpackfan's picture

October 20, 2017 at 04:19 am

No matter what the outcome will be in the next 2 games, I say, before the final grade we give Hundley, we should wait at least 4 to 5 games ...

This does not mean necessarily that the Packers should lose 4-5 games, but will take longer than a few games to make a final assessment ...

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RCPackerFan's picture

October 20, 2017 at 06:30 am

I think even this week maybe to early to judge Hundley on. If the OL was completely healthy, maybe we could have a better answer but they aren't so it will be tough to really judge him.
I think the better game to judge Hundley on will be the Lions game. The coaches will have an extra week plus this game to find a good game plan in how to use Hundley.

Last week Hundley was thrown into a tough situation. But throughout the game you could see he was getting more comfortable. We can't really judge him on his play last week. Was he perfect? no. Can he play better? yes.
I think we will see him playing better this week.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

October 20, 2017 at 10:44 am

I'd like to wait before making any judgments on Hundley until I see at least 4 of our 5 preferred OL starters playing, including both Bakh and Bulaga.

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billybobton's picture

October 20, 2017 at 01:20 pm

just went and re read the article again, used B Brohm as the name instead of BH....made just as much sense and seemed to familiar I have to ask if this is just recycled?

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AK Cheese's picture

October 20, 2017 at 02:17 pm

If he plays like Bratkowski did, we'll be fine.

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GBfaninMn's picture

October 20, 2017 at 05:28 pm

All I can say is this, if you want to feel better about our chances for the rest of the season do what I did go on YouTube and watch them Brett Hundley highlights. He is such a smart tough kid. Win or lose the rest of the season I expect to be impressed by his poise.

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