Packers Training Camp 2014 | Ticket King Inc.

Well, here we are, the 2014 season is upon us, and training camp has begun for our favorite team, the Green Bay Packers. Here are some of the position battles to watch entering camp.

Inside Linebacker- By default Brad Jones and A.J. Hawk currently stand as the starters at inside linebacker. Yes they do have experience, but they represent the weakest part of the Packers defense entering this season. What everyone would like is for one of the young project linebackers- Sam Barrington, Nate Palmer, Jamari Lattimore, Andy Mulumba, somebody, anybody, to step up and outplay them, therefore taking a starting position away from one of them. Both have had their chances, and both haven’t shown much of anything.

Cornerback- Defensive back is the deepest position for the Packers on this side of the ball. Now Sam Shields is a rising star and one of the best deep ball cover corners in the league so his job is nice and safe. However it is no secret that Tramon Williams is getting older, and a drop in play has led to his job as the starter opposite of Shields being put in jeopardy. Casey Hayward is returning after n injury-plagued second season and could push for the job. Devon House is another candidate to bench Williams.

Defensive End- We know that Mike Daniels is going to start, and we know that B.J. Raji is going to start as well. But who will be the other defensive end? Datone Jones, the 2013 first round draft choice, has the inside track to the job. Don’t forget about Josh Boyd who played well last year as a rookie, and current rookie Khyri Thornton, a third round draft choice back in May.

Tight End- This is the most up in the air out of all of the position battles. Every tight end in camp is competing for this job, and every tight end in camp could be left off the roster. Colt Lyerla has been excellent so far this off season and could potentially be the next Antonio Gates.

Third Wide Receiver- This is a two horse race and will be the most epic battle in camp. Competing are former un-drafted free agent Jarrett Boykin and rookie second round draft choice Devonte Adams. Boykin is in his third season and had an excellent second season a year ago. Adams is a great talent who has the inside track.

Should The NFL Create A Developmental League?

According to many sports experts, Major League Baseball has the best player development setup of any sport in the world. Each major league team has three rookie league teams, a Class A-short season team, a Class A-advanced team, a Double AA team, and a Triple AAA team. Players must prove themselves at each level before getting to the major leagues. Nobody in baseball is handed a job, every job must be earned at the end of the day. Many wonder if the NFL could use a developmental system, not to the depth of baseball’s, but just one developmental team per NFL team.

The NFL tried something like this a number of years back, it was called NFL Europe, but it ended in a miserable failure. This was mainly due to teams having no control over what the players they sent to NFL Europe did.

The NFL could use a developmental league, but something in which each NFL team is in control of what their developmental team does, which was not the case for NFL Europe. The developmental team would run the same schemes, use the same playbook, and teach the same techniques as the NFL teams that are in control of them. A setup where the developmental league teams play in the spring would be bad as well. The NFL would need to set it up so the developmental league would play right along side of them, week by week in the fall. Our idea is that the NFL should get rid of Thursday Night football and instead commit Thursday nights then to developmental league action. Their would be certain rules that would be put into place. For example, if you play in the developmental league game on Thursday, you can’t play Sunday for your NFL team.

What would a developmental league do for the on the field product? Well it would make it better. Instead of having young talent standing on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity, they could be playing the developmental league and getting better. This would make the on the field product better then because when these young players step onto the field, they are ready to play.