OFFENSIVE TACKLES

Both Cheesehead TV and Acme Packing Company have been talking about the offensive tackle positions today. CTV quotes a Pro Football Weekly article that talks about Mark Tauscher pretty much being out of the mix because of surgery, and that the coaching staff is looking at moving bodies around and putting them out of position again. I don't like how the team has moved around so many lineman to different positions in recent years rather than just trying to put a solid depth chart together. It appears, however, that will be the case again in 2009.

Acme talks about the line in a different approach, saying that the team should take care of the problem with the first round pick. I disagree with this, unless they plan on trading the pick away and moving down in the first round while also acquiring an additional pick. Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe will both be off the board by the #9 pick. Andre Smith is a complete headcase that I do not wish upon any NFL franchise right now, although I feel for him and hope he can get his act together because he is a great talent. Michael Oher is a solid possibility, but not at number 9 overall. If the team sticks with the ninth pick, they should go defense, preferably front seven. If they trade down, offensive tackle is a definite need and possibility, and there is the talent to take.

AN UPDATE ON GEORGE KOONCE

In an earlier post, I blogged about how former Packers linebacker George Koonce was one of the candidates for the athletic director position at my mother's alma mater, UW-Milwaukee. Yesterday, Koonce was named to the position, a job he has dreamed of having for a long time now. He had been working as senior associate AD at Marquette since 2007, but now he will be moving across town to become a Panther as of April 1st. Check out the Journal-Sentinel's article. Koonce really has a good head on his shoulders, and great things should be in the future for UWM.

A COUPLE MORE PRESENTS FOR ST. PATTY'S DAY

Mike Montgomery and Jason Hunter both resigned yesterday as well. Two more non invigorating moves. It adds depth to the front seven, something the Packers definitely need to work on, but only in the reserves. Neither will start barring a multitude of injuries, but Montgomery is a tweener and the coaching staff will have to decide whether he will play end or outside linebacker. Expect special teams to be Hunter's biggest contributions.

AND AS A PRESENT... WE GET...

Jarrett Bush. While he isn't an amazing player and keeping him isn't a very exciting move, I don't see how matching the Titans offer sheet can be knocked. He was second on the Packers in special teams tackles in '08, and special teams was obviously a weak spot. It can't hurt to keep your second best special teams tackler, even if his role changes. Bush is only 25, so there is still a ton of time for improvement, and while many people don't see much change in his future role, the kid gets it done on kick and punt coverages.

I mean, it's not a crazy rah-rah exciting present for St. Patrick's Day, like that Super Nintendo was for Christmas in the early 90's, but it's like that underwear that you opened after it. You weren't crazy about getting it, but you know it would definitely be of use. So while it's not a splash move that some Packers fans have been hoping for, it's something. I mean, it's not like Julius Peppers is now being shopped for a second round pick (reportedly).

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

According to a 2000 Census Report on the state of Wisconsin, 10.9% of the state's population is Irish. Behind German at 42.6%, that is the second highest percent of ethnic origin. That surprised me. I knew German would be number one, but I assumed that Polish and possibly Norwegian would both be ahead of Irish. Ah, but what a wonderful surprise!

I come from a pretty interesting Irish background, so it is the heritage that I celebrate and associate with most. So in honor of St. Patrick's Day, we shall celebrate the Irish and "Irish" members of the Green Bay Packers!

Matt Flynn - origin: Irish. shortened Anglicized of Gaelic O Floinn 'descendant of Flann', a byname meaning 'red(dish).' surprisingly to many has exceeded Brian Brohm's play through current times.
Ryan Grant - played at the University of Notre Dame.
Nick Collins - origin: Gaelic. From Cuilein, darling, a term of endearment applied to young animals, as Catulus, in Latin. 2008 Pro Bowler.
J.J. Jansen - played at the University of Notre Dame.

And again, thanks to my calendar, I will mention Carlyle Holiday, because he played at the University of Notre Dame. He was a quarterback with the Fighting Irish, but became a wide receiever in the NFL. He caught the pass from Brett Favre that broke Dan Marino's career completions record.

Other notable Irish Packers:
Curly Lambeau - Notre Dame. He chose blue and gold as the Packers original colors after wearing them at ND and playing for Knute Rockne.
Hugh Devore - Notre Dame.
Dan Devine - coached at Notre Dame.
Paul Hornung - Notre Dame. NFL Hall of Famer.
Jimmy Crowley - one of Notre Dame's famed four horsemen. Played at Green Bay East High School and after Notre Dame played for the Pack in 1925.
John McNally - Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Fhailghigh ‘son of the poor man’. NFL Hall of Famer.

Interesting Irish Packers facts:
The jersey colors as mentioned above.
Three of eleven of the Packers starters in their first game played at Notre Dame.
After playing for the Packers, Jimmy Crowley became a coach and coached Vince Lombardi at Fordham.
The Packers have drafted 27 players from Notre Dame, and 51 players from South Bend have played for Green Bay, the most of any college.

FAN FEST

While most people are talking about how the attendance of Fan Fest was down this year, and about how it did not sell out, it has brought about another reason while I love the Packers. What other team would have their coaches sit down and talk X's and O's with fans? The relationship between franchise and community in Green Bay is like no other in professional sports, and while I'm many miles away, I appreciate it and it keeps my love affair with the green and gold in tact year after year.

WHAT A GREAT CALENDAR

I flip my calendar every day hoping to learn something interesting about the Packers. Most times, I know the fact or the answer to the trivia question. This morning, I learned something new, and something that could be very important to the Packers defensive success in 2009. Aaron Kampman's move from defensive end to outside lineback might not be as big of a transition as most people think. He was a linebacker for his first two seasons at Iowa before being switched to end for his last two. This came as a surprise to me; I thought that I would have read it somewhere else a long time ago when the switch to the 3-4, and Kampman's move to OLB, was announced back in January. As far as my memory can recall, I don't think that anyone has talked about this or brought it up.

So I did a little bit of searching of the internet to try to find some statistics of Kampman's first two years at Iowa. Unfortunately, the only thing I could come up with was on wikipedia. So, while we cannot trust that it is true, this is what is said about his first two seasons as a Hawkeye:

"Kampman played nine games as a true freshman in 1998, recording 49 tackles... As a sophomore, Kampman started all 11 games for Iowa at linebacker, and he finished second on the team with 103 tackles. He had five games with ten or more tackles in 1999."

Those are some pretty good years for a kid playing as a freshman and sophomore in the Big Ten. While he has been lined up with his hand down for the last nine years of his football career, I find it hard to believe that an athlete of his ability, and who has made it to his level, has forgotten how to play a position that he has played in the past. Especially if he played it well enough to attain the numbers stated above. Ah, now if only Ted Thompson can find a some quality helps on the market who he won't be forced to overpay for, things can definitely be looking up in 2009.

BUS COOK DOES IT AGAIN

Ahhh, and it's back to blogging for me. And while this story doesn't directly link to the Packers, Jay Cutler wants to be traded out of Denver. He and Broncos' rookie head coach Josh McDaniels have not gotten along ever since Cutler found out that he was being shopped around for Matt Cassel. Today, Cutler did not attend the first team meeting since McDaniels has taken over or participate in activities with the team. Why does this have any business being on a Packers blog? Bus Cook is Cutler's agent. Yes, that Bus Cook. Brett Favre's agent. And while I love Brett, this is another quarterback client of Cook who seems to feel that he is bigger than his organization, and that just can't keep happening. I understand Cutler is upset that McDaniels wanted to acquire Cassel, whom he coached in New England, but the NFL is a business, and not every player is going to agree with every business decision it's organization makes or looks into.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

Ok so it's been a while... Things have been hectic lately. Last week was midterms week. I had a test, paper, and a big project I was working on for ESPN so I was busy out of my mind. This week I've been picking up some work so I haven't been around the computer much. I have a couple more days of busy-ness but I hope to get back on the blogging train by the end of this week. If there are any readers out there (I have no idea if there are), I apologize and I'll be back at it soon.

LOOKING FOR A LITTLE DEPTH ON THE BACK LINE

Former Browns safety Mike Adams is in Green Bay today to visit with the Packers. He is the first player outside the organization that the team has had in for an official visit. The Pack already has Atari Bigby and Nick Collins looking to start in 2009 with Aaron Rouse, Charlie Peprah, and Jarrett Bush also listed as safeties. Adams, however, would bring another cover safety into the mix, which the Packers could use knowing that Bigby and Rouse (the top 2 listed as playing strong safety opposite Collins) prefer to play closer to the line of scrimmage.

RECENT ACTIVITY IN MINNESOTA

We all saw the Vikings trade for Sage Rosenfels, a career backup, last week. The sad thing for Minnesota: that is still an upgrade. Their next step was to get Rosenfels a quality receiver, so they pursued T.J. Houshmandzadeh. They lost out on the former Bengal receiver to Seattle (which could shake up projected draft picks, since many people expected the Seahawks to be taking Michael Crabtree). And now, this develops. Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that he would not be surprised if the Vikings have already inquired and made an offer to the Broncos for Jay Cutler. It has been well publicized that Cutler is not happy that his name was shopped around in Matt Cassel trade talks, and he may want out of Denver. For the Packers sake, let's just hope that Cutler and new head coach Josh McDaniels' (former Patriots offensive coordinator - see the Cassel connection) can get this all worked out, so we don't so Cutler in purple and gold next year. Cutler finished third in the NFL with 4,526 passing yards, and he also threw for 25 touchdowns. This would be a MAJOR upgrade over anything that's been in Minnesota since Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss were together and in their prime, and adding a passing attack to Adrian Peterson's already stellar running game could solidify the Vikings as a legitimate contender.

A FEW NEW NAMES TT SHOULD CHECK OUT

Now that Chris Canty is out of the picture, Ted Thompson should move on to Igor Olshansky of the San Diego Chargers, and the Journal-Sentinel is saying that is exactly what he plans to do. His numbers aren't amazing, 29 tackles and 2 sacks in 2008, but his experience in the 3-4 in San Diego could definitely help the Pack's transition. Also, he will probably come much cheaper than Canty did to the Giants. I'm all for seeing what type of money Olshansky is seeking, and then seeing if it fits into Ted Thompson's small budget for free agency.

A couple other guys I think TT should check out are Jason Taylor and Vonnie Holliday, two veterans who could fit in because of their experience with Dom Capers in Miami. Taylor would be an outside linebacker to play opposite Aaron Kampman and help ease the transition to the 3-4, and Vonnie Holliday could bring some experience, skill, depth, and competition to the defensive end positions. It just depends on the money they'll be looking for. If their asking prices aren't too high, Thompson should realize that one or two year answers could be the best fit for transitioning to the new defense, giving young players a chance to learn the new system. The guys at Cheesehead TV and Packergeeks agree. Here too.