Runaway Train – The Christian Watson hype train has left the station and is barreling down a mountain with no brakes. Here are just a few articles and videos titles I’ve seen lately:
“The Greatness of Christian Watson”
“Christian Watson to make Packers forget Davante Adams”
“Christian Watson will win Offensive Rookie of the Year”
Now, I’m not here to say anything negative about Watson – I was an early Watson hype train passenger. Full credit goes to Packers Report’s (and former CHTV writer) Ross Uglem, who got the train rolling and after checking Watson out for myself, I quickly hopped on. In my only two mock drafts (one for the CHTV Draft Guide and one for this site), I had the Packers taking Watson with the first of their Round Two picks. And kudos to Gutey for realizing he couldn’t wait around until pick 53 if this was the guy he really wanted. So needless to say, I’m thrilled Christian Watson is a Packer. But can we stop putting so much pressure and unreasonable expectations on the young man before he’s ever taken an NFL snap? Please? Note that our own Cory Jennerjohn tried to be the voice of reason on this topic a few weeks ago.
Pasta Rasul – While we’re talking about hype, I keep seeing Douglas mentioned as one of the best cornerbacks in the league. Now there is no doubt he came out of nowhere last year, fit in perfectly, and made a tremendous impact on this team – I couldn’t have been happier about that. But something tells me there will be some reversion to the mean this year. That still may be plenty good enough for what the Packers need, but let’s not build up a practice squad pickup with overly lofty expectations.
Panic Alarm – I suppose the opposite of the runaway hype train is the sounding of the panic alarm. I wrote in this space last week about David Bakhtiari still working in the rehab almost 17 months removed from his injury. Now we hear from LaFleur he is “hoping” DBak will be able to practice at the start of training camp. Sound the Panic Alarm!
He’s coming – so there! – You may already know this (I didn’t) but supposedly Aaron Rodgers told Pat McAfee during his draft show that he plans to attend mandatory minicamp, which takes place next week. So all of you jumping up and down and screaming (like me) about him getting reps with his new receivers can all just calm down. And the rest of you spinning narratives on how it’s not that important and doesn’t mean that much can stop, settle back in your couch and enjoy this positive development.
Funky Shit – Evidently, we can expect some mad scientist weirdness from the Packers’ defense this season. It’s nice to have so many versatile pieces to use in different ways. Unpredictability is a requisite trait of really good defenses.
Overheard from Packers defensive coach:
“Ok now let’s get into some funky shit!!!”
They ran said funky shit and coach was VERY happy afterwards. The year of funky shit on defense may be upon us. 👀
— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) May 31, 2022
Special Starters – Last week I wrote about the Packers using some starters on special teams. It seems they are continuing to look at the possibilities:
Eric Stokes and Rasul Douglas are rotating reps blocking the gunner on punt return and gunner on punt. Gonna be interesting to see how many starters are on special teams once camp opens.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) May 31, 2022
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“Jersey Al” Bracco is the Editor-In-Chief, part owner and wearer of many hats for CheeseheadTV.com and PackersTalk.com. He is also a recovering Mason Crosby truther. Follow Al on twitter at @JerseyalGBP.
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