Only a few days into camp two areas of concern have quickly arisen. The two punters the Packers have in camp are a joke, neither is even close to NFL material. Who would have thought it was so hard to find a punter? The situation at backup QB is almost as bad. If Aaron Rodgers gets hurt the Packers can mail in any games he misses because they can’t win with Matt Flynn or Brian Brohm at quarterback. These are two areas that could doom the Packers in 2009.
The Packers can solve the backup QB problem real easily by signing Mike Vick. I mean, how often can you find a player of his caliber willing to sign cheap and be comfortable being a backup? Vick paid his dues and I believe he was taken advantage of by his hoodlum friends. I know he could have dumped them when he hit the big time, but like most of us lowlifes, friends are friends and you do what you can for them. Granted, I doubt I would have financed a dog fighting ring if I was rich, but then again I might do something even worse than that. Who knows? The good thing I guess is I’ll never have to make a decision like that because I will never be rich. The point is, Vick deserves a chance to work and the Packers can use him more than any team in the NFL. I doubt the Packers will do it because of the public outcry, but in this case the fans are hurting the team. Fans should be begging for Vick. You can argue if you want but in the end winning games means a lot more to me than the image the Packer portray. Winning hides everything. Just ask Manny Ramirez
The punting dilemma is a much harder fix. It still blows my mind that we cut Jon Ryan. That is hands down the dumbest move Ted Thompson has ever made. Much like Ron Wolf did when he let Craig Hentrich leave as a free agent, Thompson underestimated the value of a good punter. Throw in the fact that kicker Mason Crosby is missing everything in sight the Packer’ kicking game is in shambles, which means they need to bring a new punter for sure and I think a kicker too to provide some competition for Crosby. The problem is that will take up roster spots in other positions that shouldn’t have to be shorted. What a mess this has become in such a short time. It seemed like Crosby was headed for big things but then he had a average year at best last year when he single-handedly cost the Packers two wins. If there is one area that could cost the Packers big time in 2009 it is the kicking game.
It will be interesting to see how bad it gets at those positions before Thompson makes a move. All I know is I want Vick. The Packers need something to attract some attention to an otherwise boring training camp. Really though, Vick is the answer at backup QB, it would be stupid not to bring him in. I know nothing about the punters available, but an open tryout could probably find a better one than the two the Packers have. Same thing at kicker. No matter what, all three aforementioned areas must improve if the Packers are going to take the next step