Packers Morning Buzz: Will Josh Jackson lead a rookie surge into starting lineup?
Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.
The Packers practiced Monday in preparation for their regular-season opener Sunday night against the Chicago Bears.
We'll start with Pete Dougherty's column on how the Packers won't be getting the expected boost from their draft classes of recent years and need this year's class to provide immediate dividends,
Pete writes:
Now that training camp is finished, one thing has become abundantly clear: The Green Bay Packers need their top three draft picks to be players, like now.
Not just typical rookies, like recent Packers top draft picks Kenny Clark, Damarious Randall, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Kevin King, who to varying degrees showed potential as rookies but didn’t actually make much of an impact. The Packers need Jaire Alexander, Josh Jackson and Oren Burks to be good enough right off the bat to make the team’s defense better than it has been the last few years.
For years, the Packers have emphasized looking for improvement from within, meaning looking for players from recent drafts to take a big step in Year 2 or 3. That was a big part of the plan for 2018, too.
But, as we’ve reached the end of training camp, no cavalry is on the way. Khalil Mack is on the Chicago Bears.
Be sure to read Pete's entire column here:
Tom Silverstein looks at who's left in the Packers' running backs room, the least-crowded spot in the building:
Packers tight end Robert Tonyan was taken in by an unsettling prank on cutdown day. Jim Owczarski has that and other notes;
Jim analyzed the Packers' 53-man roster moves with Ryan Wood:
Photographer Jim Matthews has some nice shots from Monday's practice inside the Don Hutson Center:
It was a bittersweet weekend for wide receiver Jake Kumerow, who made the Packers' 53-man roster Saturday but was placed on injured reserve Monday. Details from Owczarski:
Packers rookie cornerback Josh Jackson earned a spot on Pro Football Focus' All-Preseason defensive team:
The MMQB took a polled head coaches, coordinators and other asking who will be considered the best NFL QBs at the end of the 2018 season:
Alas, the Packers don't face the Jets until Week 16 ... who will be their quarterback then?
He's far from being Khalil Mack, but the folks at Acme Packing Company are high on Reggie Gilbert:
In Chicago, they're giddy over the Mack acquisition:
Jason La Canfora has another take on the Mack trade:
Will Mack be ready to face the Packers on Sunday night despite no training camp and having just joined the Bears? Ian Rapoport of NFL Network offers an opinion: