SB Nation - Tory Humphrey

Packers Sign LB Stryker Sulak

Brandon — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:00:16 -0000

The Green Bay Packers announced they've signed rookie LB Stryker Sulak.

He made some news last month when the 6th round pick in last April's draft was released by Oakland before training camp even began.

To make room for Sulak, they placed TE Tory Humphrey on I.R. with a broken arm, which ends his season. This move doesn't surprise me; they need that roster spot and can't hold it open for a 3rd string TE who might be able to play again in several weeks.

So why would the Packers want a guy that not even the Raiders wanted? I don't think Sulak has any chance at making the team, absent an outstanding showing during the preseason games. But the Packers are a little thin at linebacker at the moment. LB Nick Barnett is still being held out as he recovers from knee surgery. Rookie 7th round pick LB Brad Jones has missed all of training camp with a hamstring injury. And rookie 1st round pick LB Clay Matthews has been in and out of practice with his own hamstring injury. Sulak's here to provide depth. And he'll get an outside chance at actually making the final 53 man roster.

Packers Training Camp Resumes; B.J. Raji Is Still Unsigned

Brandon — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:00:12 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

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I can't wait to see 2nd year player Jeremy Thompson in his first action as a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. From Greg Bedard's morning practice recap:

Jeremy Thompson showed his phenomenal athleticism during the deceptive period when he lept high into the air to nearly pull down a Brian Brohm screen pass. With his length and leaping ability, Thompson must have gotten the ball about 11 feet off ground. And he shot off the turf in a split second.

Also, backup TE Tory Humphrey broke his arm during the morning practice. He'll certainly miss the rest of training camp and he might be placed on I.R. because they can't wait and see. They'll need that roster spot. While his loss isn't a huge blow for the team, it's bad luck for Humphrey because it's his second major preseason injury in the last three years.

A big problem on defense last season that generally went unnoticed was the poor play of LB A.J. Hawk. He played through some injuries, so I've been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But injuries might not have been the problem. The No. 5 overall pick in 2006 draft might be just an ordinary player. From Greg Bedard's evening practice recap:

This may sound familiar, but the next big play A.J. Hawk makes in practice will be the first. While Desmond Bishop is constantly shooting gaps and trying to make plays, Hawk is still reading and reacting. He is seldom around the ball. He takes on blockers, but is easily turned around. It’s a repeat of last season when he was playing Mike after Barnett went down. On a DeShawn Wynn draw, Hawk could have exploded into the gap but took on Finley -- and lost. However, the coaches are still high on Hawk.

As far as I can tell, it's not DT B.J. Raji's fault he remains unsigned. There's a big gap between what the No. 7 overall pick and the No. 13 overall pick signed for. Normally slotting his contract between the two should get you the resulting contract. I pegged Raji, as the No. 9 overall pick, to receive $19 million guaranteed, but a Jags fan suggested the No. 8 overall pick, OT Eugene Monroe, should receive $22.8 million guaranteed. But all of them are frozen by the antics of the No. 10 overall pick, WR Michael Crabtree. If he manages to get as much as the No. 7 overall pick because they are both WRs, but Crabtree should have gone before WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (at least in Crabtree's mind), then Monroe and Raji might have made a mistake by signing before Crabtree.

Position Analysis: Tight Ends

Brandon — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:00:12 -0000

The tight end position is very similar to the fullback in Mike McCarthy's offense. Both are required to block first, and catch the ball second. The fullback occasionally has a rush attempt, but there were only 8 such attempts in 2008, all to FB John Kuhn. Starting FB Korey Hall combined with Kuhn to only catch 11 passes last season, compared to 39 receptions by starting TE Donald Lee alone. So while the fullback is truly a blocking position, the tight end does have a role in the passing offense.

But it's usually only as a checkdown receiver. At first, the tight end will stay in to block. But if the primary target isn't open, and the play starts to take a few seconds, the tight end will release the block and turn back to the QB as another receiving option. As the team gets closer to the goal line, it's more likely the tight end will run a route right off the snap and attempt to use his big body to establish position over a smaller defensive back.

I've been hoping the Packers could get more production out of their tight ends throughout the McCarthy era, but he doesn't seem to expect a whole lot from them as receivers, and we shouldn't expect much from them either.

Donald Lee. He's been the starter for the past two seasons, and been surprisingly productive as a receiver. Since he only caught 10 passes in 2006 as the top backup behind TE Bubba Franks, I wasn't expecting much more than that in 2007. To my surprise, however, he managed to have 48 and 39 receptions in the past two seasons, respectively. He's always been known as a blocking tight end, that's probably how he won the job in the first place, so as long as he keeps blocking and manages to catch the occassional pass, he'll probably remain the starter.
Jermichael Finley. Although he's entering his second season, it's important to remember he just turned 22 years old. If he had stayed at Texas, and had two more great seasons catching passes from QB Colt McCoy, then he might have been a future 1st round pick. Instead, he was a 3rd round pick in 2008. I'm not really sure how good his blocking is. If it's a problem, then that might be the main thing holding him back. He could become anything from a star to a bust, but we might have to wait until the 2010 season to know for sure.
Tory Humphrey. The wild card. The starting tight end spot was wide open going into the 2007 season, and it seemed like Humphrey was the front runner. Unfortunately for him, he broke his leg during the summer and missed the entire season. By the time he was healthy again, Lee was established as the starter and Finley was selected in the draft. The Packers didn't offer him a contract back in February, but he resigned a month later after finding no better offers. They'll keep a 3rd tight end on either the 53 man roster or the practice squad, so he has a good chance at sticking around for another season.
Evan Moore. He got a chance to play last preseason, but took a helmet to his knee during the game in San Francisco and was placed on injured reserve. If he's healthy, he might be tied with Humphrey for the 3rd TE spot.
Devin Frischknecht. The undrafted rookie might appear to have no chance, but he's got the right size, about 6'3", 250 lbs., that would make him a good fit with the Packers. It looks like he's primarily a blocker, and only had some success as a receiver. He won't have a lot of chances, but if he can get off to a good start in the preseason, he could easily jump ahead of Humphrey and Moore for the 3rd TE spot.

TE Tory Humphrey Resigns

Brandon — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:32:51 -0000

Not a major move, but after GM Ted Thompson decided not to offer a contract to restricted free agent TE Tory Humphrey several weeks ago, he is resigned for probably half the price. Not a bad move; bringing back a player who was the front runner for a starting job in early 2007 on a bargain contract.

It means that DE Kenny Pettway is now unemployed. The veteran was signed last September, but never provided a pass rush when given the chance last season. Expecting him to convert from undersized DE to oversized OLB was probably a long shot anyway.

No Contracts For Shaun Bodiford or Tory Humphrey

Brandon — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:00:10 -0000

I think the casual fan would wonder who those guys were. Of the seven restricted free agents this season, all of them were offered a contract for 2009, meaning the Packers retain the right to match any offers for them, except for these two guys:

WR Shaun Bodiford. I always rooted for him; disadvantaged kid who was a long shot to make it in the NFL. He was hurt for all of 2008. He's shown some flash as a kick returner, but he's not as good as either Tramon Williams or Will Blackmon, and there is no room for him at receiver.
TE Tory Humphrey. He was the early front runner to become the starting TE before the 2007 season, but he got injured that summer and missed the entire season. When he got back in 2008, TE Donald Lee had become entrenched as the starter and they used a 3rd round pick on TE Jermichael Finley. Humphrey was given some touches early in the season as Lee's backup, but after the bye week, Finley started taking his playing time. It wouldn't be a shock to see him return, but it won't be until after the draft or as a future candidate for the practice squad.

Poll

Are the Packers going to miss either player?

Yes

18 votes

Who?

123 votes

141 votes | Poll has closed

The Packers Managable List of Free Agents

Brandon — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:00:10 -0000

With one of the youngest teams in the NFL, there aren't a lot of veteran free agent mistakes on the roster and there aren't a lot of unrestricted free agents either. Packers.com finally got their 2009 free agent list updated.

2009 Exclusive-rights Free Agents (1)
Player		Status
CB	Tramon Williams	Unsigned

It should be automatic that the nickel back will be offered a contract.

2009 Restricted Free Agents (7)
Player		Status
S	Atari Bigby	Unsigned
WR	Shaun Bodiford	Unsigned
CB	Jarrett Bush	Unsigned
TE	Tory Humphrey	Unsigned
DE	Jason Hunter	Unsigned
FB	John Kuhn	Unsigned
WR	Ruvell Martin	Unsigned

Whether you like any of these guys or not, there is no one on this list that will draw a lot of interest from other teams. Bigby would have after the 2007 season, but not after his injury plagued 2008. They will all be offered contracts, but they all might receive the lowest tender allowed.

2009 Unrestricted Free Agents (3)
Player		Status
DT	Colin Cole	Unsigned
DE	Michael Montgomery	Unsigned
T	Mark Tauscher	Unsigned

I'm not a fan of Cole, so I hope he isn't pursued. At 276 lbs. Mike Montgomery is undersized as a 3-4 defensive end, so the Packers will probably make no effort to resign him. When healthy, Tauscher is arguably the team's best offensive lineman. I really hope the Packers resign him, but he shouldn't receive a huge contract since I doubt many teams will be pursuing a free agent who just tore his ACL in December.

Friday Injury Report for Week 16 at Chicago

Brandon — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:19:12 -0000

Player	Pos.	Injury	Friday Participation	Friday Status
Chad Clifton	T	Thumbs/ Knees	Full Participation	Probable
Breno Giacomini	T	Ankle	(Not Listed)	Out
Korey Hall	FB	Knee	Limited Participation	Questionable
Justin Harrell	DT	Hip/ Back	Out	Out
Al Harris	CB	Shoulder	Full Participation	Probable
Tory Humphrey	TE	Concussion	Full Participation	Probable
Brandon Jackson	RB	Wrist	Limited Participation	Questionable
Charles Woodson	CB	Toe	Limited Participation	Probable

The injury list is getting shorter. In part because some players are moved to the I.R., this week it was S Atari Bigby, and are now done for the year. But all of them have to be hurting with something or another. I'm wondering if NT Ryan Pickett and LB A.J. Hawk have been playing with injuries all season, but it's never quite enough to get them listed on the injury report. S Nick Collins is knocked out seemingly in every game for a few plays, but he is rarely listed on the injury report. But then CB Charles Woodson is listed on it every week and he never misses a game.

The good news is that S Aaron Rouse is healthy enough to start at safety. Although he's been healthy and playing in the last couple games, it's his first start in a while. That means Woodson can move back to corner. His position change must have played some part in the miscommunication over the last three games (Carolina, Houston, Jacksonville).

Clifton, Jackson, Woodson, and Harris are certain to play, barring some change over the weekend. Giacomini is never active while Harrell is never healthy, so neither player would make a difference. Humphrey seems to have fallen behind rookie TE Jermichael Finley to 3rd TE, so he doesn't play a major role either. I really hope FB Korey Hall makes it back. He really seems to make a major difference in the running game. That analysis might be worthy of a seperate post.

Friday Injury Report for Week 13 vs. Carolina

Brandon — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:00:06 -0000

After a run of good health after the bye week, the Packers place almost half the team on the injury report this week. The loss at New Orleans was a disaster in many ways. Meanwhile Carolina has two guys listed on their injury report with only one guy out.

The good news is that this is just a laundry list. Most everyone should play and almost everyone practiced on Friday. Everyone knew LB Nick Barnett is done for the season. Now it looks like reserve CB Pat Lee has a knee problem, I hope it's not too serious, but his absence doesn't make much difference. 3rd string RB DeShawn Wynn won't play either, but he's been inactive most games this season anyway. Maybe DE Michael Montgomery can't play, which won't help the poor run defense, but it looks like DE Jeremy Thompson is ready to return.

The only two major players who might miss the game are RT Mark Tauscher and S Aaron Rouse. Tauscher expects to play on Sunday. If not, then reserve RT Tony Moll will play and he was fine against New Orleans. I don't know about Rouse, but he did practice all week. There shouldn't be too many bodies missing by game time.

Player	Pos.	Injury	Friday Participation	Friday Status
Nick Barnett	LB	Knee	Out	Out
Atari Bigby	S	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
Jarrett Bush	CB/S	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
Chad Clifton	T	Knees	Full Participation	Probable
Nick Collins	S	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Tory Humphrey	TE	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
Brandon Jackson	RB	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
Greg Jennings	WR	Rib	Full Participation	Probable
Johnny Jolly	DT	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
James Jones	WR	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Pat Lee	CB	Knee	Out	Out
Michael Montgomery	DE	Ankle	Did Not Participate	Probable
Charlie Peprah	S	Calf	Full Participation	Probable
Aaron Rouse	S	Ankle	Full Participation	Questionable
Mark Tauscher	T	Hamstring	Limited Participation	Questionable
Jeremy Thompson	DE	Groin	Full Participation	Probable
Scott Wells	C	Shoulder	Full Participation	Probable
Charles Woodson	CB	Toe	Full Participation	Probable
DeShawn Wynn	RB	Calf	Did Not Participate	Doubtful

What Went Wrong in Minnesota

Brandon — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:00:07 -0000

I took a close look at the game vs. Minnesota last Sunday to figure out what went wrong on the offensive and defensive lines.

On the offensive line (pass blocking):

It was surprising to see LT Chad Clifton get beat a couple times by DE Jared Allen. What really surprised me was that Mike McCarthy didn't keep a back or tight end in to help. Clifton got a lot of help in pass protection during the Tennessee game.
If the backs and tight ends weren't blocking, then they could at least provide some receptions, but only RB Brandon Jackson had 2 receptions and TEs Donald Lee and Tory Humphrey had one catch a piece.
A bigger problem was that on some of the plays, Clifton and RT Mark Tauscher were pushing their pass rusher upfield so QB Aaron Rodgers could step up in the pocket, but the pocket was getting blown up by pressure up the middle. He was often trying to run outside to avoid the inside rush and would run right into the path of Allen.
RG Jason Spitz was beaten by DT Kevin Williams on the fumble that led to the 1st safety, but LG Daryn Colledge had a really bad game. Little used DE Brian Robison didn't have a big statistical game, 1 tackle and 1 sack, but he was in Rodgers' face a lot when he would come inside on a stunt or delayed rush and get the better of Colledge.
The blitz pickup was terrible too. LB Napoleon Harris ran right through RB Ryan Grant for one sack, and LB Ben Leber clobbered Rodgers on another blitz that wasn't picked up. The offensive line and the blocking backs have to do a lot better job going forward.

On the defensive line, I was all ready to blame the awful play of the defensive tackles, but they actually don't deserve it. They aren't guilt free, but the collapse of the run defense is not all their fault.

The defensive tackles. They are holding their lanes, most of the time, but their biggest problem is that all of them can be blocked by one offensive lineman. This allows one of the interior offensive lineman to go into the second level and take out a linebacker. On the game losing TD run by RB Adrian Peterson, Minnesota's guards blocked the tackles and C Matt Birk ran straight upfield to block middle LB Desmond Bishop and take him out of the play.
Right defensive end. DE Cullen Jenkins was having a great season as a pass rusher, but the Packers really miss him on running plays. DE Jeremy Thompson was the main problem, it seemed like he was shoved around on every running play right at him. They looked better with DT Michael Montgomery at right end. On passing downs, DE Kenneth Pettway often came in and provided no serious pressure on the QB. There is no fix here this season. They should let Montgomery play on most downs, and bring in a linebacker to provide a speed rush on 3rd and long.
Linebackers. Peterson is hard to tackle, but LB Brady Poppinga was putting on a clinic on how not to tackle him. If a blocker got in on him, he was blocked. Peterson ran past or through Poppinga on two of his big runs. Poppinga had been great in run support during the last two seasons, but not in 2008. Good thing he's got a $17 million contract. LB A.J. Hawk was sure missing and/or blocked when Peterson was cutting back to Hawk's side of the field. Whenever the Packers' guards go upfield to block a linebacker, the opposing linebackers often seem to use their speed to slip around them to make the tackle, but the Packers' linebackers always seem to be blocked by that guard or center.

Overall there isn't one player to blame on either offense or defense. It's not the system either. I can see that the players aren't executing properly, not communicating, or just not making the play. On defense, the problem is the personnel, and that's not going to be fixed this season. The offense should be able to fix the problems with stunts and blitzs.

Poll

Who was worse last Sunday?

Offensive line

37 votes

Defensive line

12 votes

49 votes | Poll has closed