Get off my lawn guy here but if defensive players spent less energy celebrating a tackle for a 2-yard gain or an incompletion they had little to nothing to do with they may not be so tired.

This comment truly made my day.

In his answer to Brian from Pensacola’s question about the Packers’ best draft picks, Mike opted to name the best players the Packers picked. Another way to answer would be the best value for the round they were picked in. For 1975-2000 I would humbly submit Donald Driver. Who would you choose for best value for the 2000-2025 period?

I’d probably say David Bakhtiari (R4, 2013), but the list of legitimate candidates would include Mark Tauscher (R7, 2000), Aaron Kampman (R5, ’02), Scott Wells (R7, ’04), Mason Crosby (R6, ’07), Josh Sitton (R4, ’08), Corey Linsley (R5, ’14), Aaron Jones (R5, ’17), and Zach Tom (R4, ’22).

William from Newburgh, IN

One more thought on getting turnovers. I think it’s 50/50 on players, who have a skill at forcing turnovers, and who you play. Some offensive people, QBs/RBs/etc., are more turnover prone. Tony Dungy used to say, in effect when playing against Favre, that there will be four balls they will have a chance at and they need to complete those catches. Or am I looking at this wrong?

The common vernacular of “forcing turnovers” can be misleading, because turnovers are as much about taking advantage of the opportunities presented than actually “forcing” anything.

Steven from McCordsville, IN

Relative to the discussion concerning 2025 turnovers – I do agree that we dropped some INTs that were there for the taking. But one thing I don’t believe has been mentioned is the way teams started playing us after Micah Parsons became such a destructive force. It seems that a lot of teams decided to dink and dunk and have the QB get the ball out quickly. Would you agree that (the opponent’s short passing game) played a significant part in the reduction of opportunities for INTs?

I won’t dismiss that, but numerous chances still existed.

The sack numbers referenced for Deacon Jones are simply mind-boggling. When you consider that the seasons were only 14 games long during the time that Jones played, it is even more impressive.

Indeed. As several readers pointed out, Jones’ signature move was the long-since-outlawed head slap, and offensive linemen were much more restricted in their use of hands. But whatever the rules, leading the league in sacks, according to PFR, four times in a span of five years (’65, ’66, ’68, ’69) remains unmatched.

Good morning Insiders! One player I wouldn’t be surprised to see have a fantastic year is Josh Jacobs. There’s quite a bit of data that shows running backs who get the kind of workload he had in 2024 inevitably have a down year the next year. Still expecting an Emanuel Wilson replacement through the draft, but count me in as a Jacobs believer for 2026.

If Jacobs stays healthy, there’s no reason to believe his production can’t return to 2024 levels. He was really gutting it out at times last year.

Do you think we could be entering an era of “draft and replace” at WR for the Packers? The contract Alec Pierce just signed would make him the second highest-paid LT, for just 19th-ranked WR production. Considering Christian Watson is projected to sign a similar contract, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Packers let him (and Jayden Reed) walk and prioritized spending that money on one of the premier positions. Plus, losing a $30M WR in FA would net a third-round comp pick, facilitating a rinse and repeat.

I think it would be difficult to never give a receiver a second contract and constantly churn the position. You’d never capitalize on any receiver’s career prime. That said, the prices make it imperative a receiver be a true difference-maker to justify the cost, so keeping the pipeline stocked to allow for highly selective decision-making on the big-money deals is prudent. In other words, don’t get backed into a corner to re-sign your own average guy at an exorbitant price simply because you don’t have anyone else ready to step in.