Morning Buzz: The 10 most important Packers
Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here atPackersNews.com. Grab an extra strong cup of coffee and get caught up on everything you need to know about the Packers.
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We start with Pete Dougherty’s look at undrafted linebackerCody Heiman, who played eight-man football in high school, and his chances at making the Packers 53 man roster.
Heiman signed with the Packers after the draft because he liked their history of keeping undrafted rookies, and they were the only team to work him out individually on campus. His best shot might be making the practice squad this year.
He averaged 4.7 yards a carry as a running back as a redshirt freshman at Washburn before moving back to inside linebacker full time, and several NFL teams were looking at him as a fullback. So he could take scout-team reps on either side of the ball.
And even a spot on the practice squad would get him one step closer to joining the NFL’s relatively exclusive eight-man high school club. When told how few reduced-player high schoolers were in the NFL last year, he laughed reflexively.
“I know when you come from eight man you don’t have near as good a chance,” he said. “So I’m just blessed to get this opportunity. But I think it’s kind of cool to have the background I do.”
The Packers made another roster move on Wednesday:
Elsewhere, Rob Demovsky writes on Randall Cobb and the perception of his production:
Sports Illustrated looks at the most important non-quarterbacks in the NFC North, as voted on by writers Jacob Feldman, Emily Kaplan, Jonathan Jones, Eric Single and Jenny Vrentas:
Aaron Rodgers tends to rely on Jordy Nelson more than any other player on his team, so no shock that he cleared the field by a significant margin. He was the No. 1-most important Packers player on three ballots (Kaplan, Single, Vrentas).
There was not much of a consensus elsewhere on Green Bay’s offense. Cobb landed between spots Nos. 6 and 10 on four ballots, but completely off the fifth (Feldman); Montgomery ranked as high as No. 3 (Jones) but also missed Feldman’s top 10; Bakhtiari claimed a first-place vote (Jones) and a second-place vote (Single) but didn’t crack the top five elsewhere. The as-yet-unmentioned fifth and final first-place vote belonged to Daniels (Feldman).
Zachary Jacobson writes on Lance Kendricks returning home:
The Power Sweep takes a look at what to expect from Clay Matthews in 2017:
Larry McCarren highlights Don Barclay’s transition to full-time reserve center:
ACME Packing Company looks at Brett Hundley’s trade value:
Flat Stanley made it into the Packers locker room:
Missed this short anecdote from Andrew Brandt the other day:
Josh Hawkins had some words of encouragement for the Cleveland Cavaliers:
This isn’t Packers related, but it’s fantastic and should be read far and wide:
Speaking of excellent NFL stories that should be widely read, here’s another one: