Will the Green Bay Packers rise again?
In January of 1959, Jack Vainisi, the Green Bay Packers personnel director, knew he had one chance to help his team. He needed to convince New York Giant’s offensive coordinator Vince Lombardi to become their head coach. Vainisi believed his team had great potential despite the 32-74-2 record through the 50s. In two short years, Lombardi put his magic touch on the players, resulting in playing the Philadelphia Eagles for the 1960 NFL Championship and ten of Vainisi's draft picks during the 1950s, which at one time appeared as bad picks, all have a bust in Canton—Bart Starr, Paul Horning, Jimmy Taylor, Forrest Gregg, and others.
Vainisi understood he was at the mercy of the coach. No matter how much talent landed in Green Bay, the coach needed to utilize the players correctly, allowing them to shine. Players alone cannot win, they need to be coached and developed, and if done correctly, they can exceed expectations. This is the challenge for the current Packers head coach, Matt LaFleur—make all the young players better, starting with quarterback Jordan Love. Can he become a developer of talent? We shall see.
Currently, the Packers are getting zero respect in the betting market partly because of the uncertainty surrounding the skill set of Love and all the young players on their roster. Bettors are behaving like Soprano’s mob boss Larry Boy Barese while in prison, with his nephew Albert saying, “He is in no position to go into the unknown, not knowing.” The Packers are in the unknown, and no one knows except those around the team. To win in the NFL or any sport, there needs to be a balance of young and old. Teams relying solely on veterans often fall short. Teams hoping the young players make a quantum leap are disappointed. There must be a blend of old and young. The Packers have that blend, young on offense and older on defense. No one knows about Love; they don’t have a firm feel for how good receiver Christian Watson might become, or Romeo Doubs, or how their rookies, particularly second-round pick tight end Luke Mus grave, will fit in. And there are doubts about LaFleur without Aaron Rodgers around. All fair questions.
Because of the hoopla surrounding the Rodgers departure, signaling the end of the Packers being a good team, the perception and national narrative have the Chicago Bears with better odds to win the North. This narrative is completely out of whack—what makes the Bears better this season? I can hear my VSiN co-host Femi Abebefe screaming about quarterback Justin Fields’s development, yet in reality, the Bears were a bad team in every phase last season, not just in their ill-fated attempts to have a passing game. The Bears last season allowed 6.1 yards per play, 0.444 points per play, 67% completion percentage, 49% on third downs, and 64% allowing scores in the red zone. Does Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards starting at linebacker improve these numbers? The entire concept of the Bears' defense is to win with their defensive line, yet, because of the lack of available talent in free agency available they signed Andrew Billings to a one-year deal and added DeMarcus Walker and Justin Jones. Not household names. This is going to help—but not enough.