Packers Morning Buzz: Could Rashan Gary thrive at inside linebacker?

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

We'll start with Pete Dougherty fielding a question Wednesday in his weekly live chat about whether the Packers should try playing edge rusher Rashan Gary, their top 2019 draft pick who played little as a rookie, at inside linebacker.

Dougherty's response:

I just don't see that with him, he's a 277-pound guy, he wouldn't be able to cover TEs and RBs in the middle of the field. Most ILBs in today's game are about 235 at the biggest, maybe 240 for the biggest of them. Gary is just too big for that job. I wonder more the other way, if he eventually could end up playing more as an inside rusher. But LaFleur and Gutekunst after the season said they like Gary as an OLB in their defense, with the ability to move inside on occasion like Z Smith.

You can read the rest of Pete's chat (which lasted nearly 2 hours and covered a multitude of Packers topics, including Allen Lazard's ability to play tight end) here:

In the latest installment of our 10-part position preview series, Ryan Wood looks at the Packers' biggest issues at cornerback:

The controversy continues regarding Brett Favre's role in Michael Strahan getting the all-time NFL single-season sack record:

No story about likely NFL cut candidates is complete without a certain Packers tight end, and this piece by USA Today's Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz is no exception:

Packers TE Jimmy Graham

One of general manager Brian Gutekunst's first splashes in free agency turned out to be a belly flop, as Graham has averaged just 33.8 yards per game since signing a three-year, $30 million contract with Green Bay in 2018. Set to turn 34 in November, Graham doesn't have much of a case to finish that deal, especially given the $8 million the Packers would save by cutting him. Though Jace Sternberger should be in line for a larger role after the third-round pick mostly sat as a rookie, Gutekunst would be wise to make another run at a veteran tight end to give Aaron Rodgers another established threat beyond Davante Adams.

You can see the entire list of cut candidates here:

All things considered, Aaron Rodgers fared well in NFL.com's QB Index for the 2019 season. The index is a composite ranking based solely on each quarterback's performance last season.

Ali Bhanpuri, one of four NFL.com panelists, writes:

RANK: 7

Aaron Rodgers

Individual Rank: Bhanpuri: 7 | Blair: 6 | Filice: 7 | Parr: 7

2019 regular season stats:16 games | 62.0 pct | 4,002 pass yds | 7.0 ypa | 26 pass TD | 4 INT | 183 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 4 fumbles lost

Bhanpuri: As much as I want to believe another "down" year for the 36-year-old Rodgers is a clear indication that the frequent Bears tormenter is firmly in his decline stage, I have to remind myself that the two-time MVP at 85 percent capacity still offers so much more juice than most of the QBs on this list. I'm interested to see how quickly new offensive weapons and another year in Matt LaFleur's system silence talks of No. 12 showing his age.

You can check out the entire rankings here:

The hype keeps growing for this year's wide receiver class:

Positive injury update about a top wide receiver prospect that some have going to the Packers at No. 30:

Taysom Hill (who at age 29 has thrown all of 13 career passes) is actually being likened to Patrick Mahomes:

And finally: These season-long polling results from The Power Sweep reflect the up-and-down feelings of Packers fans:

Contact Stu Courtney at (920) 431-8377 or scourtney@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stucourt