Green Bay Packers: Rookie report entering final stretch of season

Aug 18, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers linebacker Blake Martinez (50) celebrates following a tackle during the second quarter against the Oakland Raiders at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Through 13 games of the 2016 season, the Green Bay Packers have gone through plenty of ups and downs to reach their current 7-6 record. A major part of their successes and failures have been influenced by the play of their rookies.

For a team so heavily invested in bringing rookies into the fold, they need those young guys to immediately step into key roles for them and make an impact.

Many of this year’s additions started off pretty well. With that came an appealing 3-1 record through the first month.

As the season has progressed however, those players have seen their effectiveness and opportunities drop even as the team has been riddled with injuries throughout their ranks.

With just a few weeks remaining in the year, now is a good time to check in and see what has happened with each of them, and figure out what we should expect of them as the team makes a final hopeful push towards the postseason.

We’ll start at the top of the draft.

Nov 28, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz (11) is pursued by Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark (97) on a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter during a NFL football game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Kenny Clark

Clark was brought in to immediately become a solid rotation contributor on a defensive line full of those sort of guys. Outside of Mike Daniels, there isn’t anyone who resembles a star by any means, and the expectation from the get-go seemed to be Clark could be used in the same mold as guys like Letroy Guion and Mike Pennel — solid players who make a decent impact throughout a game.

Despite starting the season pretty well though, Clark has fallen off heavily.

In the first four weeks, he picked up eight tackles with one pass defended, acting as a key component of how Green Bay began 2016 as such a force against the run. Since then, he barely made an impact at all, with just seven tackles in the following eight games despite averaging over 19 snaps per game in that time. According to Pro Football Focus’ player grades, he’s gone from being about average to by far Green Bay’s worst defensive lineman.

The Packers have noticed this dropoff too; in turn, they’ve started using him less. After hitting 22-plus snaps in seven of the first 10 games, he reached just 13 and seven in the games against Philadelphia and Houston, respectively.

I would say we shouldn’t expect to see much more of him, but a new factor recently emerged which (for better or worse) seems to be forcing more onto Clark’s plate: Mike Pennel’s four-game suspension. This is his second time being unavailable for a stretch like that in 2016 — both due to substance abuse. My feelings on that subject itself notwithstanding, the immediate impact means there are about a dozen snaps on the line needing to be picked up each week.

This could be a silver-lining opportunity for Clark to save his season to a degree. As mentioned earlier, the opening four games were his best stretch of play this year; that coincided with Pennel being absent, giving him one less person to fight for time.

Him playing better is not guaranteed, nor is him even being given those newly available snaps — others who are currently playing better might just get them instead — but the slate ahead of him is the kind Clark could use to end the year on a positive note.

The early signs are encouraging, with Clark being involved in four tackles across 25 snaps against Seattle. Based on the competition that alone isn’t much to be excited about (nobody will mistake Germain Ifedi for more than roster fodder with high draft status in his rookie season), but the competition isn’t going to improve all that much in the remaining contests.

Ted Larson, Brandon Fusco, Larry Warford: that’s who Clark is set to face based on where he lines up (the left side of Green Bay’s defensive line, opposite the right guard of the opposition). All are suspect at best. Of those guys only Warford has shown himself to be more than a replacement-level player in 2016, and he’s still only been an average player for three seasons running.

Should he keep up this 20-plus snap count rate going through the rest of the season, whether or not Clark can make something happen in these winnable matchups will be something to watch.

Nov 13, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodges (12) and tackle Jason Sprggs (78) react after a sack during the second half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. The Titans won 47-25. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Jason Spriggs

In the first half of the season, we didn’t see much of Spriggs. That was a good thing; it meant the guys ahead of him were staying healthy and effective.

For about a month of games though, that has changed.

T.J. Lang only made it four snaps into the Tennessee game before he was forced out with an injury (at first thought to be an ankle sprain, it actually turned out to be a broken foot). At first, Don Barclay was the pick to replace him while he healed, but after essentially six quarters of awfulness, Spriggs was tabbed to step in the right guard spot instead.

Spriggs hasn’t exactly been superb in his starter snaps (PFF grades him as replacement level since he started receiving this jump in playtime), but he’s still a drastic step up from what Barclay provided.

The change to Spriggs from Barclay was instantly noticeable. In the first half of the game against Washington, Barclay was a monstrous sieve. Every single play seemed to end up with his guy immediately pressuring Rodgers; with that, we saw Green Bay struggle to three straight three-and-outs to open the game before finding a couple scoring drives to end the half.

After halftime, though Washington pulled away for a blowout, the offense was able to consistently move the ball with Spriggs’ insertion in Barclay’s spot. Green Bay had no more punts, driving the ball at least 51 yards on their first four drives of that half. They scored twice, and probably should have scored on all four opportunities; the only reason they didn’t was due to Mason Crosby missing a field goal on the first one and Jared Cook fumbling on the fourth.

After that, the Packers were able to come out victorious, and the fact that Rodgers had time was a key factor. The game against the Eagles had Fletcher Cox lining up on Spriggs’ side throughout the game; he had a single tackle and struggled to force pressure. Against Houston, Vince Wilfork and Antonio Smith were on the other side. They combined for three tackles and a QB hit. Though he undoubtedly had some help in each case, Spriggs was a key part of both of those positive showings for Green Bay.

The time Spriggs has gotten is great for his future development, and he’s proven capable of taking over duties at more than just tackle if necessary. That will be great for future seasons as a backup, and also could give him a surprise starting role as soon as next year (just look at Lane Taylor; he turned a couple spot starts last year into being a viable and eventual option to replace Josh Sitton once things turned sour on that front).

On the more immediate front, if Lang or someone else were to get taken down by an injury again during this stretch run (remember, Bulaga has a long history of injuries himself), Spriggs has given his coaches and teammates evidence that he could step right in and help keep the protection churning effectively for his quarterback.

Nov 6, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (13) picks up five yards on a reception before being knocked out of bounds by Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Kyler Fackrel (51) during the first quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Sports

Kyler Fackrell

In the opening month of the season, Fackrell was the rookie who had me the most excited. In those four games, he didn’t receive many snaps (only once did he go above 14 snaps), but he was very effective in those opportunities. He put up nine tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in 65 total snaps. It seemed like he was performing at a level that would garner him more snaps even in a crowded position that included Clay Matthews, Nick Perry and Julius Peppers.

Despite that group suffering through injuries and ineffectiveness however– most notably from Matthews — that hasn’t come to pass.

Fackrell continued to see low snap numbers as Matthews missed time and Peppers was mostly used in short stretches to keep him fresh, with his only contest above 20 snaps in that span coming in a game-long blowout in Nashville. After that point, his numbers have somehow dropped off even more, with a mere two coming against Washington and then zero the past three weeks.

With inconsistency running rampant in terms of the Packers applying pressure — when they have gotten to the quarterback, it has tended to be few and far between — it seems like the smart move would be to add a player who had been doing well in limited time back into the fold in a larger role.

But, as has been an issue for Green Bay all year, a big part of why Fackrell hasn’t been seeing time is due to an injury. His hamstring has bothered him to the point he’s essentially missed those past four games. Even had this injury not been a problem this doesn’t mean Fackrell would be getting the call, however.

Green Bay has often shown they will use safeties in coverage and on blitzes instead of linebackers due to injuries in the middle; it isn’t quite the same situation, but going smaller like that while focusing more on coverage and hoping their guys up front can bully their way through opposing line themselves could be an angle they lean on more often.

Against Seattle, we saw some of this. Green Bay took on the safety-for-linebacker swap, essentially having Morgan Burnett act as a linebacker. Other players stepped up even as Clay Matthews saw just 24 snaps on defense and Nick Perry is essentially finished for the year; Peppers got 50-plus snaps for the second straight game, Datone Jones had an above average game in his second straight 40-plus snap game, and Jayrone Elliott picked up a nice stat line (five tackles, one sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, one QB hit) in his second straight 20-plus snap outing.

It is a shame Fackrell has been unable to get on the field as injuries have piled up at his position. For now it appears the Packers may have enough to withstand some of their injuries, but were he to be healthy Fackrell would have a prime opportunity to do the level of work we saw from him in the first quarter of the season. Hopefully he can heal up enough to make that a reality.

Aug 18, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers linebacker Blake Martine (50) during the game against the Oakland Raiders at Lambeau Field. Green Bay won 20-12. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Blake Martinez

If Fackrell was my favorite early-season rookie, Martinez was the headliner through the entire run to this point.

He definitely has deficiencies which can be and are exploited (his coverage has been the worst among Green Bay’s inside linebackers in 2016), but he’s made up for that with his run defense prowess (led all rookies in PFF’s run defense grades for most of the year; among the top 20 in the grade for all players at his position) and overall persistent effort.

Recently though, he came down with a knee injury, swiping him off the field for the past few games. Green Bay did end up winning these past three contests without him, but having him available would be a solid improvement for the closing stretch of the year.

The depth at the inside linebacker spot has been in disarray for about a month now; Jake Ryan just returned last week after missing three games himself, Joe Thomas has dropped off considerably from his strong early-season performance as he’s seen a greater share of snaps, and Carl Bradford was so atrocious in his few snaps that he could barely even see the field despite those injuries above him.

Martinez has been listed as questionable recently, so he seems close to a return. He should hopefully be able to come back in time for the final three games — and they’ll need him. Burnett did fine in his time as a pseudo-linebacker against Seattle, but having him play that role weakens the safety spot while having one of Green Bay’s best contributors play out of position. Also, while the secondary and pass rush have improved considerably in the current three-game winning streak, whoever is playing inside needs to be ready to take on a bigger burden.

When he’s healthy, Martinez is the best of the group, mainly due to his ability to provide a major boost to the run defense. Even with his lacking coverage skills, making the opposition have only one option of attack can help out both him and his team to a positive degree.

The games against Chicago and Minnesota bring in offenses which do not tend to do efficiently exploit opposing pass defenses. That could help lessen the negative effects that come with Martinez’s current skills.

Big games from him in the coming weeks could prove to be the needed difference for the Packers.

Dec 4, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive end Dean Lowr (94) sacks Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) during the second quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Dean Lowry

Out of all the guys Green Bay drafted, Lowry impressed me the least. His limitations were immediately obvious. While he could be good run defender, he was invisible as a pass rusher in college and didn’t portend to improve in that regard as a professional.

Despite those issues, he might actually end up as the rookie defensive lineman making the best impact in these final few games.

Lowry has seen little snaps in that six-man lineman rotation this year (only one game of 10-plus snaps through the first 11 games), but two weeks ago he saw a major uptick. Against Houston, he received 18 snaps; in them, he grabbed a sack and batted away a pass. Versus Seattle, that jumped up another level; in a career-high 34 snaps, he grabbed another sack.

In the coming weeks, that snap number could continue to stay pretty high.

There is the Pennel suspension opening about a dozen snaps for his teammates. I mentioned how Clark could see an increase because of that, but Lowry has graded out vastly better on the year in his snaps (surprisingly, Lowry is now the highest graded rookie on the Packers, according to PFF’s numbers) and is coming in off his best two performances. Due to that, he’s probably the better choice right now to continue seeing a consistent snap increase.

The opposing offensive lines remaining do not really have anyone scary set to line up at right guard and right tackle against him (his usual spot when he’s on the field is at left end), so he should be able to win those matchups decently often, at least in run defense. If he can also manage to do so in his pass rushing chances (and with two straight games with a sack, that isn’t as farfetched as it once seemed) his team’s chances will rise dramatically — especially since the OLB spot for Green Bay is still pretty damaged by injuries.

Nov 6, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Trevor Davi (11) tries to break a tackle by Indianapolis Colts linebacker Josh McNary (57) in the second quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Trevor Davis

Towards the beginning of the season, Davis had flashes of being a new, explosive element for the Packers. Part of that was the myriad snaps he got with the offense, but he emerged as a threat to pull of big returns in the punt return game (none bigger than the 55-yarder vs. the Falcons).

His season changed the week following that Atlanta contest, however. In the game versus Tennessee, he went back for a punt but ended up muffing it to give the Titans the ball right back in the midst of an early blowout.

Since then, he’s been completely phased out. The next week, Randall Cobb took over his punt return duties, and those few opportunities he did see lined up as receiver have vanished entirely.

The receiving corps is no longer dealing with the same number of injuries they did at times earlier in the year, so there are more reliable options for the Packers to send out there. Even when they decide to bring in someone outside of the usual Jordy Nelson/Cobb/Davante Adams trio, it has been Jeff Janis and Geronimo Allison being tabbed for the 10 or so snaps left to go around.

Meanwhile, Cobb is showing himself to be a more reliable and consistent option in the return game. He not only gives more of an assurance that something catastrophic will not happen, but he has more often given Green Bay decent return attempts as well. Just two weeks ago he added in two different ones which eclipsed 20 yards, and he picked up another 10-yarder against Washington.

The margin for error has been next to nothing for the Packers for a few weeks now, and the way they’ve turned to not using Davis is emblematic of the decisions the team has had to make to divert the possibility of back-breaking plays adversely damaging what chances they have left.

Unless we see them drop completely from the playoff competition — at this point, it would take losses in the next two weeks to do so — we likely won’t see any more of Davis in 2016.

Jun 16, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers tackle Kyle Murph (68) stretches during minicamp at Ray Nitschke Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Murphy

Green Bay’s final pick hasn’t had to see the field because of his crowded position group, but due to some certain formational calls he’s actually gotten a few snaps in the past few weeks.

In the past four games, Murphy has been given eight snaps as a part of heavy formations. This is a result of them attempting to mix things up on offense, getting tons of different personnel involved to juice up what was proving to be a flailing gameplan.

Without that change, Murphy wouldn’t be seeing any time. Though guys like J.C. Tretter and T.J. Lang have been hurt in recent weeks, others such as Corey Linsley and Spriggs have been ahead of him ready to take over. It would take at least another major injury — likely to one of their tackles — to get Murphy on the field beyond this sort of specialized usage.

Hopefully that doesn’t happen, and Murphy just picks up a few more snaps in those heavy sets in the final four weeks.

Oct 30, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Geronimo Alliso (81) celebrates his touchdown catch against Atlanta Falcons free safety Ricardo Allen (37) in the second quarter of their game at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Undrafted Rookies

Currently On Active Roster

Geronimo Allison has been on the roster since the Atlanta game. He hasn’t seen much action, but that was to be expected; there are too many different guys at receiver, and when the top three guys are healthy they are going to see almost all of those snaps. Still, as the snap counts have gone down for most of the younger players in this late playoff push, he’s still garnering a few per game while someone like Trevor Davis is seeing none. He probably won’t do more than a catch in a game or two from here, but it is a positive thing for his future with the team that he’s getting at least a little time while a drafted player like Davis is not. It could portend to him having a slight edge in future roster battles.

Kentrell Brice was picking up a bundle of snaps each game for awhile there, giving the Packers about 18 snaps a game to help Green Bay try to survive the injuries and ineffectiveness hitting them at linebacker and cornerback. Unfortunately, he wasn’t all that great himself out there, grading out as below average in both run and pass defense. Against Philadelphia and Houston, his role was reduced to nothing on defense and he’s been limited on special teams as well. With the linebacker spot suffering more than ever right now though, more “Big Nickel” formations could be on the horizon, using Brice in the fashion we saw earlier in the year.

Against Seattle, he found himself back on the field for a handful of snaps (17) and even managed to pick up the fumble by the Seahawks at the end. Unless Martinez returns with full force for the final three weeks, that sort of role seems like what Brice should end the year on.

Makinton Dorleant became the surprising choice for who the Packers wanted to bring back from injured reserve with their one such designation of the season. He may not be Eddie Lacy or Sam Shields, but he could end up being important in his own right. Until the past couple games the other guys in the secondary have had struggles all year even when healthy, and having not just another healthy body but someone with a level of athletic ability to help him make up for some of the mistakes a young player like himself surely will end up facing could bring an overall positive impact to the team down the stretch. If someone else gets hurt again or plays terribly in the coming games — both are distinct possibilities — Dorleant may get a chance to surprise people.

Marwin Evans has been a mostly positive special teams contributor for Green Bay; really, he’s probably one of the better guys in that facet for the team. When looking for who made a key early tackle on a return or properly downed the ball on a punt, it has tended to be him, Janis, and Fackrell whose names pop up; unlike Janis or someone like Josh Hawkins (more coming on him next) though, he hasn’t been prone to adding on damaging penalties during his efforts. He should continue to do well in this current role.

Sep 25, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate (15) cannot catch a pass while defended by Green Bay Packers cornerback Josh Hawkin (28) in the second quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Hawkins has basically just been a special teams guy all year, and his high-variance play in that area has been a little frustrating. On one punt, he’ll make a quick tackle, stopping the returner in his tracks; the next, he’ll take a bad angle and miss, giving the returner a clear path for a decent return. Both sides of the coin showed themselves against Houston and Seattle, and it seems equally likely on every play that either could be what ends up happening.

Hopefully he can trend more towards the positive for the final three games; a bad play might be the final straw that breaks a game, and Green Bay has no more room for error left.

Joe Kerridge was brought up to the active roster a few games ago; in those he hasn’t done much — expectedly so, with another fullback on the roster already — but he has seen a few snaps in those games as part of the myriad formations the team has used in recent games. His usage shouldn’t go above that, but he could still see that sort of action as the season comes to a close.

Sent To Injured Reserve

Don Jackson had a chance to step in at running back once injuries destroyed Green Bay’s depth at the spot. He never was able to do much in the few snaps he was given however, and then an injury cut short his time this year. After this season ends though he could still be a guy who fights for a roster spot next year, especially with the future of that position completely up in the air at every level.

Notables Names On Practice Squad

Aug 18, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy talks with quarterback Joe Callahan (6) during the second quarter against the Oakland Raiders at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Callahan was released from the 53-man roster earlier this season, with the hope he would make it to Green Bay’s practice squad. He didn’t. New Orleans grabbed him up quickly. They ended up cutting him, which let the Browns grab him. They also cut him. When nobody else grabbed him, the Packers were able to bring back the promising developmental quarterback to their practice squad, and he’ll hopefully be able to stay around this time so he can stick on as a possible backup for the future.

Jermaine Whitehead suffered from a bad showing in the Tennessee game much like Davis; unlike Davis though, he got cut for his bad play. Green Bay does still like him enough to keep him around in some facet however, so he returned to the practice squad. With health returning for members of the secondary, he shouldn’t be needed anymore this season, but could be one of those guys who fights his way right back onto the roster in 2017.

Reggie Gilbert and Derrick Matthews have not yet been brought to the active roster, but either one of these guys could possibly get a call-up. Injuries to both the inside and outside linebackers have left those spots in dire need of healthy bodies, and with the Pennel suspension there is already a spot open for one of them. My initial thought would be Gilbert gets that nod (if anyone does), but if Martinez has a setback Matthews may be the pick which helps them more.