Do the Packers Feel Confident in Solving The Pass Rush?

Adam Hatlak got the itch for the football season, and with training camp being about a month away, he looks at the Packers' pass rush.  

It is no secret that last year’s defensive issues for the Green Bay Packers could largely be attributed to an inability to effectively rush the passer outside of Clay Matthews. Many would agree that although the loss of Nick Collins hurt the team, the inability to get to the quarterback caused the defensive backfield to cover receivers for longer into a play than they are capable of. What resulted was a lot of big plays in which the opposition’s receivers were given a lot of time to find a hole on the field.

Over the past few years, the Packers have been working to address this issue with an increasing amount of time and effort on it this past offseason. There are signs based on the players that have been brought in, that the Packers might be getting desperate.

As a whole, the Packers prescribe to a best player available draft style, where they rank the draft’s prospects, and when it is their turn to draft, they take the number one name on their list. They will use position need as a tie-breaker, but recent drafts (Randall Cobb, D.J. Williams, etc.) suggest that if there is a superior talent, they will draft them even if the positions are that of strength.

The Packers are also well known as a team that employs high character players. Donald Driver won the affection of the nation on Dancing with the Stars, and hosts an annual softball game for charity. Aaron Rodgers is very active in the community including his work with the MACC Fund. Charles Woodson is well known for his donations to institutions in Michigan as well. There are many more players that stand out for their community service, as the organization as a whole does a wonderful job.

However, when investigating the pass rush over the last few years, there are some players that appear to be potential character risks as well as some players that might turn out to be reaches in the draft, two things that the Packers rarely make mistakes with.

Anthony Hargrove- The former Saints player was picked up in the off-season as a free agent. He currently is appealing his eight-game suspension for his role in the Saints bounty program, arguing that the voice on the NFL’s evidence is not his.

Mike Neal- Neal currently faces a four-game suspension from the NFL’s substance abuse program, and has been unable to stay on the field long enough to live up to his second-round draft pick potential. Neal might end up being a bust in both categories.

Jerel Worthy-The book on Worthy is that he is a borderline first-round pick talent, but had a penchant for taking plays off during his college days. If the Packers can harness his focus, they may have found a steal in the second round, but if Worthy loses motivation now that he has an NFL paycheck, they could be looking at a second round bust.

Erik Walden- Walden was a phenomenal pickup off of the waiver wire in the Packers’ Super Bowl season, but ran into some problems with the law in the middle of the 2011 season. Although the case was settled without Walden missing any time, it is still an off the field issue.

Phillip Merling- Merling was picked up this off-season after being released by the Dolphins. He has some great potential, but was known by his coaches as someone who didn’t practice as hard as he could have to become the great player he could be.

             

These five players on the Packers front seven can all be valuable contributors to the organization. Mistakes happen in life, and all people deserve second chances, so I am not arguing these men don’t deserve a shot. I would love all of these players to move past their past issues, and become model Green Bay Packers. However, there are risks present in the Packers pass rush that just don’t appear on the rest of the roster. Is this a sign that the Packers are unable to find a plan to fix the pass rush that meshes well with the rest of their roster plans?

What do you think? Do the Packers have the players on the roster to solve their issues of last season? Am I over stating the risks present on these players? Do you have any surprise cuts/starters that you think will happen on the defensive front this year? The upcoming training camp will give us a lot of insight into these issues. I for one am very intrigued as to what the front seven will look like Week 1 of the regular season.

Adam