Packers Morning Buzz: Strong line play can key turnaround

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com. Grab a strong cup of coffee or brew some tea and get caught up on everything you need to know about the Packers.

We’ll start with Michael Cohen’s look at the defensive line in the fifth part of our positional analysis series.

From Michael:

There are many harsh realities in the National Football League that extend beyond the players on a 53-man roster. The business aspect of football affects everyone from the general manager, as employees of the Green Bay Packers saw earlier this year, to members of the coaching staff, many of whom were axed by Mike McCarthy within days after a dismal season finale.

Defensive line coach Mike Trgovac found himself among the debris after nine seasons with the Packers, all of which came under former defensive coordinator Dom Capers. In some ways, his reality felt particularly harsh when viewed through last season’s lens. There were issues all over the Packers’ defense in 2017, but the front line was far from the greatest concern.

In fact, defensive end Mike Daniels and nose tackle Kenny Clark were arguably the best and most consistent players on their side of the ball, with the former solidifying his claim as one of the top interior linemen in the league and the latter catapulting his development from Year 1 to Year 2. Given how much sub defense the Packers play — meaning formations with only two down linemen on the field — there were few teams in the league who could match the aforementioned tandem.

Ryan Wood took a look at the offensive line:

I chatted with readers late Friday afternoon via Facebook Live:

Sad news from this past weekend:

Elsewhere, Pro Football Focus has a free-agency preview for Green Bay:

The Packers Wire looks at free-agent options at tight end:

The Packers look to be Super Bowl contenders:

Undisputed talks Aaron Rodgers:

Cheesehead TV thinks it’s time for a new direction in the quarterback room:

Rob Demovsky looks at the makeup of the new coaching staff:

Someone made a video of an old-school electronic football game because of course they did:

Gerald Ford was almost a Green Bay Packer:

Run Pass Options, or RPOs, were all the rage leading up to the Super Bowl, because the Eagles used them so much. Guess who else used them a bunch?

The Power Sweep looks at the play of Adam Pankey:

Really smart look at the NFL’s ratings decline from Mina Kimes: