Green Bay Packers: Offensive Positional Grades for the 2010-2011 Season
Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers Score Mostly High Grades on Offensive Positional Report Card
The Green Bay Packers' 2010-2011 season was filled with ups and downs, but it's hard to argue with a Super Bowl championship.
Simply because of that fact, the Packers offense scored solid grades across the board for their seasonal performance.
However, this is far from a 4.0 offensive report card.
Let's check out how the Packers offense grades out for the 2010-2011 season.
Quarterbacks
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With a wide array of weapons at his disposal, many members of the media felt Aaron Rodgers had a legitimate chance at being the NFL's Most Valuable Player this season.
However, two concussions and the losses of both Jermichael Finley and Ryan Grant held the Packers' passing offense back from being the NFL's best.
Still, in 18-and-a-half games (including playoffs), Rodgers threw for 5,016 yards and 37 touchdowns against only 13 interceptions. Factoring in every regular season and playoff game, Rodgers was also the NFL's second highest-rated passer (103.1).
Also, when Rodgers was forced out of a game and a half, backup Matt Flynn played reasonably well.
Flynn's performance in Detroit was below average (177 yards, one INT), but he kept the Packers in the game against the surging New England Patriots (251 yards, three TDs, one INT). Overall, Flynn kept an 82.5 quarterback rating.
Rodgers didn't have the monster MVP-type regular season like many hoped, but his play in the postseason more than made up for it. Flynn was solid overall in backup duty.
Grade: A
Running Backs
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Running back didn't seem like a position that was going to give the Packers problems heading into the season, but the importance of Ryan Grant was more glaring than many had thought.
When Grant was lost for the season after just eight carries and 45 yards, the Packers relied on a stable of backs consisting of Brandon Jackson, John Kuhn, James Starks and Dimitri Nance.
Jackson proved his worth in the passing game but struggled as the No. 1 back. His 731 rushing yards led the team, yet Jackson only totaled 86 yards on the ground in the Packers' last five games as Starks took over as the starter.
Starks appears to be a promising prospect moving forward despite not playing until Week 13.
While only rushing for 101 yards in three regular season games, Starks racked up a playoff-leading 315 rushing yards (3.9 average) in the Packers' four postseason contests.
I'm not sure Green Bay would be comfortable with Starks as their only rushing option, but a combination of him and Grant next season should be solid.
Kuhn was an above-average short yardage option, but he was clearly out of his element as a primary runner.
Kuhn's strength is in situational packages, and he also slowly developed into a reliable receiver out of the backfield.
Although Nance was given some opportunities, his 2.6-yard average on 36 carries (96 yards) was far below average. Part of that was due to the fact he mostly played in blowouts, but Nance doesn't appear to be a viable option moving forward.
Grant's injury certainly hurt the Packers offense, as Jackson and Kuhn were ill-prepared to be primary options. Starks' emergence in the playoffs helped this group's final score.
Grade: C-
Wide Receivers
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Billed as the NFL's deepest and most talented corps of pass catchers, the Packers receivers didn't disappoint.
Simply put, Greg Jennings put the offense on his back (yes, I said it) after Finley was lost for the season.
Jennings caught 97 passes for 1,568 yards and 14 touchdowns in 20 total games and also had 30 plays of over 20 yards—far and away the best on the team.
Behind Jennings, the production was spread out somewhat evenly among the Packers' remaining receivers.
James Jones, despite suffering from a mind-numbing case of the drops, caught 61 passes for 823 yards and seven touchdowns and led the team in yards after catch (5.2 YAC).
He'll be remembered for the big drops, but his production was an equally underrated and important part of the Packers offense.
Donald Driver dealt with numerous injuries over the course of the year but still caught 65 passes for 734 yards and four touchdowns.
Quad and ankle injuries, and most likely his advancing age, hampered his production to its lowest level since the 2001 season.
Jordy Nelson made probably the greatest strides of any Packers receiver this season.
Nelson caught 66 passes for 868 yards and four touchdowns and was a couple drops away from posting one of the better games by a receiver in Super Bowl history (nine receptions, 140 yards and one TD).
Still, Nelson posted career highs in catches, yards, touchdowns and YAC, and his postseason play made a strong case for more opportunities moving forward.
Brett Swain was scarcely used as the No. 5 receiver.
In his little playing time, he still managed to register six catches for 72 yards. However, his drop in the Super Bowl looms large, and he needs to improve considerably to make an impact.
While Jennings was clearly the star of the group, the remaining Packers receivers did plenty of positive things to cement their status as the NFL's deepest receiving corps.
The drops, which every member suffered from at times this season, kept the group from receiving the highest of marks.
Grade: A-
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Tight Ends
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The ultra-talented Finley was supposed to anchor this deep group, but his loss was a tough setback for the Packers offense.
In just four games and change before his injury in Washington, Finley caught 21 passes for 301 yards and a touchdown—a pace of 84 catches and 1,204 yards.
His replacements obviously couldn't match that kind of pace and production.
Rookie Andrew Quarless caught 26 passes for 283 yards and one touchdown but clearly needs a year or two to mature before he should be seeing starter's time.
Even so, Quarless improved his blocking as the year went on and showed glimpses of why the Packers took another tight end in the draft.
Veteran Donald Lee was solid in the blocking department, but his pass-catching days are mostly over. Still, Lee tallied 11 catches for 73 yards and three goal-line touchdowns in limited playing time.
Another rookie, Tom Crabtree, impressed coaches in camp and saw plenty of snaps in the Packers' big packages.
His pass-catching skills are far from polished (six receptions, 69 yards, one TD), but the Packers like him as a blocker, and he has a chance to stick around in Green Bay in that role.
Finley would have had a monster season had he stayed healthy, but that obviously wasn't the case. Quarless, Lee and Crabtree were only average filling in.
Grade: C
Offensive Tackles
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The offensive tackles were an up and down adventure for most of 2010, but both starters were excellent during the Packers' six-game stretch at the end of the season.
Chad Clifton allowed a career-high eight sacks, but it's hard to argue with how he played at the end of the season.
Facing Osi Umenyiora, Julius Peppers (twice), Trent Cole, John Abraham and James Harrison, Clifton only gave up one sack the final six games.
Bryan Bulaga was forced into action at right tackle when Mark Tauscher was lost for the season and was solid but not great (6.5 sacks).
The first-round pick steadily improved as time went on, however, and he proved his value to the Packers offensive line in the present and in the future.
Tauscher was below average (13 pressures in four games) in his early starting action but was also instrumental in the progression of Bulaga throughout the season.
T.J. Lang saw a couple series in the NFC Championship Game at left tackle and was far from impressive. Peppers destroyed him on a few snaps, and his position in the future might be at guard.
Marshall Newhouse wasn't active for any game, but his position moving forward looks to be at either tackle position.
It wasn't always pretty, but the tackles played their best when the games mattered most. Clifton's year-end stretch was especially impressive, and Bulaga looks to hold down one tackle spot for the foreseeable future.
Grade: B
Offensive Guards
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The Packers' offensive guards are really a story with two chapters.
The first chapter was fantastic with right guard Josh Sitton. He's a mauler and is head and shoulders above any other Packers lineman in the running game.
He's also an underrated athlete that has no problems going from double team to the second level and pulls well to either side.
Sitton allowed a team-low two sacks on the season and really should have been voted to the Pro Bowl in some capacity. With consistent play, however, he'll certainly make the squad in the future.
Daryn Colledge is a little different story at left guard. In a starting lineup with Clifton, Scott Wells, Sitton and Bulaga, Colledge is clearly the worst of the bunch.
However, he still carries plenty of value. He hasn't missed a game in three seasons, and Colledge only gave up three sacks the whole season.
Colledge's main weakness is obviously in the running game, and he may be playing elsewhere next season, as he's scheduled to be a free agent.
Jason Spitz only played sparingly this season and was overpowered in his limited action.
When Colledge went out in Detroit, Spitz played so badly in a backup role that he was benched for Lang at halftime. As another free agent, he's probably done in Green Bay.
Nick McDonald is an interesting prospect that the coaching staff thinks has a future on the Packers line. He might be in the running for a potential opening at left guard next season but has a lot of work to do in the offseason.
Sitton performed at an All-Pro level at right guard, but Colledge, Spitz and Lang were only average on the left side, and that hurt the Packers' running game.
Grade: B-
Centers
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Scott Wells is a guy that doesn't get much publicity, but he had a solid season at center for the Packers.
The Packers' quarterback and center combination is certainly comfortable, and Wells had zero fumbled snaps to Rodgers this season.
While being a sharp player and an important pass protector, Wells is far from a mauler in the running game, and that contributes to the Packers lacking a true identity on the ground.
Evan Dietrich-Smith was added to the roster as a backup but never saw the field. There's a good possibility he won't be back next season, especially if McDonald transitions into a center prospect.
This grade is a direct reflection on Wells, and it'd be hard to argue he was any worse or any better than what he's earned here.
Grade: B
Overall
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The Packers weren't the offensive juggernaut that many thought they would be heading into the season, but they were still among the NFL's best offenses.
Green Bay ranked fifth in passing yards (257.8/game) and 24th in rushing yards (100.4/game) for a ninth-ranked offense (358.1/game) overall in the regular season.
The Packers also scored the 10th most points (388, down from 461 in '09) and averaged 24.3 per contest.
However, the offense caught fire in the final games, when the Packers absolutely needed to win.
Green Bay averaged 374 yards per game and 277 passing over the last six games of the season and put up nearly 30 points per game (29.3).
The offense's performance during that stretch more than makes up for the 16.1 points a game they put up in the Packers' six losses in 2010.
You could also make a solid argument that the '09 offense was better than this year's, but there's no question that injuries were a major factor in that.
The biggest difference between the two, however, is that the 2010 offense won a Super Bowl. You truly cannot understate how impressive the Packers' 31 points against the Steelers were on the NFL's biggest stage.
It wasn't a perfect performance from the offense overall, but as Vince Lombardi would say, they caught excellence in their pursuit.
Overall grade: A-
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