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krk's avatar

Tyler,

I greatly appreciate your writing...it is fantastic...but you (and your buddy Bob) have a tendency overly pick bones with anything to do with Rodgers. You highlight bad games, ignore good performances, and moreover do not showing great objectivity on anything involving him. He played pretty well last night under pretty good pass pressure.

Further, before Gutey takes a bow, lets examine the following:

1. Per an excellent writer, "The GM has not been perfect. His miscalculation at cornerback could haunt. Keisean Nixon struggled this night. "

YA THINK!!! Other than Hobbs and Nixon, what did you think of play Mrs. Lincoln!!!

We have a GLARING WEAKNESS AT THE POSITION, and we just spent $48mm on what appears to be a dud (although I hope is simply banged up) His OL addition, Banks has been pedestrian to this point. So that is two big spends that did not met needs in free agency. To be fair the Jacobs signing was excellent and McKinney has underwhelmed this year.

2. You opined "Rodgers never relied heavily on this position, but his QB equals have." Which ones was he to rely upon? When he had good ones, he did use them well, most of the guys were mediocre at best...or said differently, how many did squat with anyone else...to wit:

• Donald Lee (2008–2010) - meh

• Jermichael Finley (2008–2013) Rodgers used him well until his neck injury

• Tom Crabtree (2010–2012) -meh

• Andrew Quarless (2010–2015) meh

• Richard Rodgers (2014–2017) – Rodgers used him, but the dude would not/could not block

• Jared Cook (2016): Rodgers used him….Brass would not resign him

• Lance Kendricks (2017) - meh

• Jimmy Graham (2018–2019) – was done when signed with the Packers

• Marcedes Lewis (2018–2022) – not a receiving threat

QED

Finally, if we look at the pick garnered from the trade, Gutey would get a C-, D+

• DE Lukas Van Ness (No. 13 overall) - did not start in college and we can all see why

• TE Luke Musgrave (42) - a dud at this point

• LB Edgerrin Cooper (45) - a definite maybe, a very good game last night, but that was the first all year

• S Evan Williams (111) - decent

• OL Jacob Monk (163) - nothing yet

• K Anders Carlson (207) - no opinion necessary

QED II

Golden has been the first first rounder in his tenure who has made a meaningful contribution. First rounders should start immediately, not take years to develop.

So, yay the Packers played will, but we have holes in the second most position on the field and the Wyatt injury showed lack of depth at DT as well. Roster construction needs to be improved.

Keep up the awesome work. My subscription is the best money I spend

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TooncesDMV's avatar

You must be fun at parties, azzclown.

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Adam G.'s avatar
2dEdited

Tyler can defend himself, but what I took from the article was his complimenting Gutekunst on his work at the QB position, which is of course the most important position in the league. I don't think anyone questions Gutekunst has had hits and misses when it comes to talent evaluation. (The Hobbs signing indeed is looking really poor so far) But you have to hit the QB first, put some talent and an at least respectable offensive line around him, and he has done that. You can figure out the rest.

Rodgers looked pretty good early in the game, but in the second half he looked quite washed up. He can't run anymore, and that combined with his career-long aversion to taking chances was manifested in sacks.

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Sam Hartman's avatar

I think it's a little unfair to evaluate all of these decisions purely after the fact, when a lot of luck is involved.

Jordan Love was considered at best the 3rd or 4th best QB in his draft class if I remember correctly. Now, maybe Gutenkunst is way better than average at picking QB's. But IMO, the lot likely outcome is that he's fine at it and they happened to get a great player. This pick looks like a huge blunder if he plays like a typical 4th QB off the board.

The Jacobs signing is also suspect. Most advanced stats have him as a below average efficiency back in about half of his seasons. He's the sort of player that has been great in fantasy, but that has been overrated due to consistently high volume. Giving that kind of player a market-setting contract screams overpay.

Look, all respect to the Packers for pulling this off. But when you hit 90th percentile outcomes on a bunch of your major decisions, I think it's fair to ask if it's skill or luck that's the main factor.

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Paul Drake's avatar

Tyler, I really enjoyed this. And since I don't do podcasts, my appreciation is great any time you provide a podcast transcript.

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Douglas A Wick's avatar

TYLER I can't print this off with Print Friendly, and it pisses me off. WHY, what's the problem with Substack allowing it?

I spend all day on my computer. I print articles off so I can read them at my leisure instead of sitting at a computer or having to read on a small screen on my phone. GET SUBSTACK TO CHANGE WHATEVER THEY ARE DOING TO ALLOW PRINT FRIENDLY TO WORK SO I CAN READ THIS!

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Tyler Dunne's avatar

I will ask Substack about this, Doug! Thank you!

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Douglas A Wick's avatar

Thanks, Tyler, and thanks for the follow-up Email. It was the end of a technology-challenged day, so forgive me for the ALL-CAPS message. Your work is incredible, so detailed and thorough. Enjoy your writing and podcasts so much! Thank you for being so responsive!

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Paul Barth's avatar

You should get a browser extension like Reader Mode which helps with this.

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Douglas A Wick's avatar

Paul, thank you for this. I'll definitely check it out. Appreciate you seeing this and responding!

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