NFL Preview: Green Bay Packers

QB: B+ Aaron Rodgers proved that their could in fact be life after Favre. He played fine and even handled the Green Bay weather which was some question for a California boy. Compared to some of the other drech in the league, the Pack should be ok for quite a while. Backups Flynn and Brohm were both fine in college but aren't any threat to Rodgers.

RB: C+ Well, we all thought Ryan Grant was a stud. Then he got paid and turned into a human hamstring pull. He should be ok for this year but who really knows. What we do know is that Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn aren't going to cut it.

WR: A+ Jennings, Driver(still), Jones & Nelson are as good as any four in the NFL. Driver may finally realize he's a hundred and four years old so look for Jones to play more. FANTASY NOTE: All these guys are injury prone so draft depth at WR if you have Jennings or Driver.FANTASY NOTE#2 No player named Jordy has ever been good. Just sayin.

TE: C If you look up average in Wikipedia, Donald Lee and Jermichael Finley are discussed at length. If they're not, one of you readers should go and do it now as a public service.

OL: B- Chad Clifton is pretty good but one reason the RB sucked last year was they had nowhere to run. Good pass blockers though. Comparatively anyway.

DL: B+ In the 3-4, Raji is a stud NT while Harrell is pretty good manning one DE while Cullen Jenkins is good enough not to get cut at the other DE. As always, the job of the DL in a 3-4 is to keep the LB's free to make plays.

LB: B+ ILB's Hawk and Barnett are both tackling machines. It'd be nice if they could play a few games in a row without getting hurt. Barnnett already has the dreaded red cross next to him name. OLB Kampman is the sack machine and that shouldn't change. OLB Poppinga was signed to use up leftover consenants at the jersey stitchers.

DB: B CB's Woodson and Harris are both fine corners, when they're healthy which has been a problem. Neither one is blazing fast so they need help from the Safeties which is unfortunate since one of them is possible holdout Nick Collins and the other is Atari Bigby. Mr. 2600 himself also happens to be hurt already.

P/K: A- Mason Crosby actually turned out to be a good draft pick. I've never heard of punter Kapinos, which is always a sure sign he does his job.

COACHING: B Mike McCarthy is fine at getting his players to play but doesn't strike me as a master strategist. Seems like his clock management and play calling tanked a few last year, if I remember correctly.

BEST CASE SCENARIO: 12-4, 1st in the North.

WORST CASE SCENARIO: 6-10, 3rd in the North. Grant
proves that he really is a bust, Aaron Rodgers calls Tony Romo for J. Simps number.