Ranking "In Memoriam (Part II)" Packers through 2012

I had a mid-season "in memoriam" post before my mid-season player rankings to break down the fact that the Packers replaced six guys (Brandian Ross, Phillip Merling, Brandon Saine, Cedric Benson, D.J. Smith, and Nick Perry) on initial their 53-man roster with Andrew Quarless (TE), Mike Neal (DE), Greg Van Roten (OG), Erik Walden (OLB), Johnny White (RB), and Frank Zombo (OLB).

As it turns out, two of the six guys added by mid-season (Quarless and White) were not on the 53-man roster at the end of the season.  All told, four players that were on the roster in the middle of the season were either cut or put on injured reserve.  To get a feel for how much the Packers are missing each of the four players, here is a quick look at where I ranked the four of them in my mid-season rankings:

INC) (NR) Vic So'oto (OLB) - The number assigned to So'oto was "INC" because he joined the Packers 53-man roster after my mid-season rankings but was cut, signed to the practice, and ultimately ended the season on the Washington Redskins' 53-man roster.  I had to include So'oto because he is the ring leader of the defensive end turned outside linebacker that was supposed to be the next James Harrison (undrafted free agent turned franchise player) for the Packers.  Sadly So'oto will never be even a poor man's version of Harrison, which is probably why he decided to pursue a career as a professional wrestler in the WWE.

#52 (51) Sean Richardson (S) - After one season, it looks like Richardson is the James Starks of the secondary sans a memorable playoff run that resulted in a Super Bowl.  That is a long way of saying Richardson looks physically gifted but is always injured.  That is too bad because Richardson's combination of size and speed make him an enticing player in the secondary.

#51 (NR) Johnny White (RB) - Being the 7th or 8th best running back roster is never a compliment, especially with the rag-tag bunch that the Packers had in 2012.

#50 (NR) Andrew Quarless (TE) - The Packers knew that Quarless had some off the field issues when they drafted him in 5th round of the 2010 NFL Draft.  It turns out that Quarless has been a good citizen off the field but has had a number of injury issues on the field.  For his blocking ability alone, the Packers will give Quarless another shot in 2013 but if he suffers any more injuries I see the Packers reaching an injury settlement with Quarless to let him try to resurrect his (health) career elsewhere.

#17 (10) Bryan Bulaga (T) - Originally it looked like losing Bulaga was going to be the biggest loss of the season but undrafted rookie free agent Don Barclay performed well in place of Bulaga.  In fact, Barclay played so well that the Packers might have to entertain playing the short armed Bulaga at left tackle to keep Barclay at right tackle.

Losing Richardson, White, and Quarless was not a big deal.  Even losing Bulaga did not turn out to be as big of a loss as first thought thanks to Barclay so although the Packers were ravaged by serious injuries to key players (Bishop, Benson, Smith, and Perry) throughout the first half of the season, they stayed relatively healthy in the second half of the season.  General manager Ted Thompson replaced the players discussed above with DuJuan Harris (RB), Jeremy Ross (WR), Ryan Grant (RB), and Jordan Miller (DT).  Check back tomorrow to see where I rank the new roster additions along with their 49 teammates in my final rankings for the 2012 Green Bay Packers' 52-man roster.

Ranking "In Memoriam" Packers midway through 2012

There has been a fair amount of roster turnover for the 2012 Green Bay Packers.  In just nine weeks, six players that started the season on the initial 53-man roster were either cut or put on injured reserve.  To get a feel for how much the Packers are missing each of the six players no longer on the initial 53-man roster, here is a quick look at where I ranked the six of them in my initial player rankings:

#52) Brandian Ross (CB) - the biggest surprise to me on the initial 53-man roster was cut and signed to the practice squad to make way for Erik Walden once he served his one game suspension for off the field transgressions.  Ross was signed to the Oakland Raiders 53-man roster by former Green Bay Packers director of player personal Reggie McKenzie, who is now the general manger for the Oakland Raiders.  Look for a number of players that are cut by the Packers over the next few years to land with the Raiders thanks to McKenzie's connection to the Packers.

#49) Phillip Merling (DL) - I questioned the decision to keep Merling instead of Daniel Muir but either one was going to be cut once Mike Neal returned from suspension a quarter of the way through the season anyhow since Neal clearly has incriminating information on one of the higher ups in the Packers organization.

#47) Brandon Saine (RB) - A quality special teams player that never got a real chance to play offensively is lost for the season with a knee injury.  Fellow running back Alex Green went through the same thing between last year so Green will be a good resource for Saine since next year will be a make-or-break year for Saine's NFL career.

#31) Cedric Benson (RB) - I have always been skeptical that the Packers actually need a three-down running back.  After seeing how well Benson performed in limited action early in the season running with a real purpose, he suffered a lis franc injury.  The Packers put Benson on the "modified injured reserve" so they have the option to add him back to the active roster eight weeks from October 10th.  Hopefully Benson can return healthy because the Packers have gotten below average results from their other running back (Green, Kuhn, and Starks).

#20) D.J. Smith (MLB) - According to NFL advanced stats nerds, middle linebacker and safety are two easiest positions to replace on defense.  Since the Packers play a 3-4 defense they need at least two middle linebackers.  The Packers lost their best middle linebacker (Desmond Bishop) before the season started so it looked like they could ill afford to lose their second best middle linebacker as well.  A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones have been pretty good filling in for Bishop and Smith so may be the stat hears are right.

#15) Nick Perry (OLB) - When news reports surfaced that Perry was "going for a second opinion on his knee" he was actually having season ending hand surgery.  Perry being lost for the season coincided with Claymaker getting hurt as well so the Packers might be forced to start two new outside linebackers when they return from their bye.  Obviously Claymaker is irreplaceable but I feel confident that Erik Walden is better than Perry now (may be not in 2013 though) so that might actually be an upgrade.  Leaving Walden aside though, I question whether Dezman Moses or Frank Zombo can even be 50% of Claymaker.

Thompson replaced the six players discussed above with Andrew Quarless (TE), Mike Neal (DE), Greg Van Roten (OG), Erik Walden (OLB), Johnny White (RB), and Frank Zombo (OLB).  Check back tomorrow for where I rank the new roster additions along with their 47 teammates in my mid-season player rankings for the current 53-man Green Bay Packers roster.