Packers at Vikings Depth Chart Preview 2023
Dec 30, 2023 20:32:12 GMT -6
Funkytown, Oracle Bone Diviner, and 1 more like this
Post by Danchat on Dec 30, 2023 20:32:12 GMT -6
With the season on the line after another close loss, the Vikings square up against the Packers who are in the midst of a downswing. Can we eliminate our hated rival and live to see another week of relevance, or flub this one up for draft positioning?
Injury Report
Packers
CB Stokes - Out
ILB Campbell - Doubtful
TE Musgrave - Doubtful
WR Watson - Doubtful
CB Rochell - Questionable
S Savage - Questionable
NT Slaton - Questionable
WR Wicks - Questionable
Vikings
CB Murphy - Out
S Jackson - Out
WR Nailor - Out
DT Roy - Out
WR Addison - Questionable
CB Blackmon - Questionable
ILB Dye - Questionable
Line: Vikings -1
Super Sim Calculated Line: Vikings -2.5
*My thoughts*
The Packers seemed to be righting the ship after their bad loss to the Vikings, but recently have fallen into a rut, limiting their hopes at a playoff berth. The team itself is still deep in the midst of a reset after the Rodgers trade. Just from the past draft, they are starting a 2nd round WR, 3rd round TE, 6th round K, 7th round CB, 5th round WR, and their 1st/4th/6th picks are rotational DL. Jordan Love has been an up-and-down player in that stretch, responsible for 30 TDs but also has been inefficient (7.0 Y/A) and inaccurate (62.3%) at times. Still, their offense is 11th in points, albeit in a year where offenses have crashed and burned with all of the injury issues.
The run game is still a key component of their gameplan, but Aaron Jones has rarely been healthy this year. As of now he is, but the Vikings stop the run very well when not facing an elite OL, and the Packers don't have one. They aren't a shabby unit, but they aren't quite living up to their potential. LT Walker got benched last time we played due to DJ Wonnum kicking his butt, but he found his way back into the lineup and has improved. Jenkins is in a career-low year by PFF's marks but is still a good enough blocker. Myers has been consistently below average for years now, while Runyan is also having a down season. Tom is the standout of the bunch, as he appears to be ascending into the top tier of RTs.
Green Bay has spent several Day 2 and 3 picks on the WR/TE room, and it's bore fruit in several startable players, but no #1 options or superstars. Watson's season has been derailed by injuries, while Doubs is a passable starter who is a reliable redzone threat, but doesn't generate as much separation as you'd want from a top option. Reed has had a quality rookie year and has the speed that Doubs lacks, give him another season or two and he'll likely pass him up. 5th rounder Wicks is averaging 15 yards a catch and is making defenses pay for forgetting about him. At TE, Musgrave is still on the IR so Kraft will start, who's doing just fine for a 3rd round rookie TE. TEs develop notoriously slow so it may not be until Year 3 or 4 when one or both of them break out.
Defensively this unit has players, but is poorly coached by DC Barry and is on the verge of falling apart, now with Alexander out on a team suspension. The unit itself lacks standout players, as Kenny Clark has significantly regressed and injuries have ruined Alexander's season. The DL is too easy to run on, as Wyatt is one of the worst iDL 3-4 players in the run department. Slaton is lacking there too. Brooks has had a great year for a 6th rounder but is far better against the pass. The edge unit has a stud in Gary but he only plays about 55% of the snaps, while Preston Smith plays more but isn't producing like he used to. Engabare is the next man up but plays almost as often as Gary. Van Ness has had a disappointing rookie year with only 15 pressures and 3 sacks, but he was more of a project like Gary was.
The ILB unit has been a mess this year with injuries. Campbell has had a down year, but is still easily their best player. Walker has improved from his rookie year as he excels against the run, but gets gashed in coverage. McDuffie will start against but he's been getting washed up in run blocking, and is also a problem in coverage.
The DBs unit is bone-dry, and they've been bleeding yards most the season. Valentine and Ballentine are likely to start at the outside CB spots. Valentine, a 6th round rookie has actually held up well, only allowing 58% of passes to be completed, but he's no match for Jefferson. Ballentine is a career special teamer who gets wrecked in coverage. Nixon has been a passable nickel CB but is having a dreadful season, allowed 80.6% of passes to be completed for 579 yards. The safeties are a mixed bag with Ford breaking out as a quality starter, proving to be one of the NFL's best in coverage while not being the best in run support. Owens is a better tackler but simply cannot hold up in coverage.
Prediction: Vikings 23, Packers 20
If this took place a couple weeks ago, I'd pick the Packers by a wide margin, but their momentum has petered out. With injuries piling up and the locker room in a questionable spot with Alexander suspended, the team could be close to revolting on their incompetent DC. For the first time in a few weeks, Flores' defense matches up well against Love who does not handle the blitz well, and their run game should be held in check. I think these factors can cover up for the issues Jaren Hall might have, plus I think we see less than 3 turnovers this time... maybe?
Any thoughts?
Injury Report
Packers
CB Stokes - Out
ILB Campbell - Doubtful
TE Musgrave - Doubtful
WR Watson - Doubtful
CB Rochell - Questionable
S Savage - Questionable
NT Slaton - Questionable
WR Wicks - Questionable
Vikings
CB Murphy - Out
S Jackson - Out
WR Nailor - Out
DT Roy - Out
WR Addison - Questionable
CB Blackmon - Questionable
ILB Dye - Questionable
Line: Vikings -1
Super Sim Calculated Line: Vikings -2.5
*My thoughts*
The Packers seemed to be righting the ship after their bad loss to the Vikings, but recently have fallen into a rut, limiting their hopes at a playoff berth. The team itself is still deep in the midst of a reset after the Rodgers trade. Just from the past draft, they are starting a 2nd round WR, 3rd round TE, 6th round K, 7th round CB, 5th round WR, and their 1st/4th/6th picks are rotational DL. Jordan Love has been an up-and-down player in that stretch, responsible for 30 TDs but also has been inefficient (7.0 Y/A) and inaccurate (62.3%) at times. Still, their offense is 11th in points, albeit in a year where offenses have crashed and burned with all of the injury issues.
The run game is still a key component of their gameplan, but Aaron Jones has rarely been healthy this year. As of now he is, but the Vikings stop the run very well when not facing an elite OL, and the Packers don't have one. They aren't a shabby unit, but they aren't quite living up to their potential. LT Walker got benched last time we played due to DJ Wonnum kicking his butt, but he found his way back into the lineup and has improved. Jenkins is in a career-low year by PFF's marks but is still a good enough blocker. Myers has been consistently below average for years now, while Runyan is also having a down season. Tom is the standout of the bunch, as he appears to be ascending into the top tier of RTs.
Green Bay has spent several Day 2 and 3 picks on the WR/TE room, and it's bore fruit in several startable players, but no #1 options or superstars. Watson's season has been derailed by injuries, while Doubs is a passable starter who is a reliable redzone threat, but doesn't generate as much separation as you'd want from a top option. Reed has had a quality rookie year and has the speed that Doubs lacks, give him another season or two and he'll likely pass him up. 5th rounder Wicks is averaging 15 yards a catch and is making defenses pay for forgetting about him. At TE, Musgrave is still on the IR so Kraft will start, who's doing just fine for a 3rd round rookie TE. TEs develop notoriously slow so it may not be until Year 3 or 4 when one or both of them break out.
Defensively this unit has players, but is poorly coached by DC Barry and is on the verge of falling apart, now with Alexander out on a team suspension. The unit itself lacks standout players, as Kenny Clark has significantly regressed and injuries have ruined Alexander's season. The DL is too easy to run on, as Wyatt is one of the worst iDL 3-4 players in the run department. Slaton is lacking there too. Brooks has had a great year for a 6th rounder but is far better against the pass. The edge unit has a stud in Gary but he only plays about 55% of the snaps, while Preston Smith plays more but isn't producing like he used to. Engabare is the next man up but plays almost as often as Gary. Van Ness has had a disappointing rookie year with only 15 pressures and 3 sacks, but he was more of a project like Gary was.
The ILB unit has been a mess this year with injuries. Campbell has had a down year, but is still easily their best player. Walker has improved from his rookie year as he excels against the run, but gets gashed in coverage. McDuffie will start against but he's been getting washed up in run blocking, and is also a problem in coverage.
The DBs unit is bone-dry, and they've been bleeding yards most the season. Valentine and Ballentine are likely to start at the outside CB spots. Valentine, a 6th round rookie has actually held up well, only allowing 58% of passes to be completed, but he's no match for Jefferson. Ballentine is a career special teamer who gets wrecked in coverage. Nixon has been a passable nickel CB but is having a dreadful season, allowed 80.6% of passes to be completed for 579 yards. The safeties are a mixed bag with Ford breaking out as a quality starter, proving to be one of the NFL's best in coverage while not being the best in run support. Owens is a better tackler but simply cannot hold up in coverage.
Prediction: Vikings 23, Packers 20
If this took place a couple weeks ago, I'd pick the Packers by a wide margin, but their momentum has petered out. With injuries piling up and the locker room in a questionable spot with Alexander suspended, the team could be close to revolting on their incompetent DC. For the first time in a few weeks, Flores' defense matches up well against Love who does not handle the blitz well, and their run game should be held in check. I think these factors can cover up for the issues Jaren Hall might have, plus I think we see less than 3 turnovers this time... maybe?
Any thoughts?
... and neither is this Chris guy.