Green Bay Packers End of Season Grades

In the past, I have always read somewhere on the internet end of season grades given to players for how they performed during the season. I have decided to take a shot at that this year from this fans perspective. Lets start with the QB's....

Offense:

• Quarterback
• Aaron Rodgers - Grade: A. The heart and soul of the Green Bay offense who carried the team on his back just like in 2010. Rodgers was able to take care of the ball and drive the team to wins. I think Rodgers could be more successful if the Packers had a running game.
• Graham Harrell - Grade: C. The use of the backup quarterback in the NFL is one of my biggest grips with most teams. There was no major concerns from Harrell, so he gets my average grade It is hard to grade the backup because when he plays, he gets the watered down offense consisting of handing off the ball or the 1 yard out pass play to the tight end. This hold no more true than with Graham. My personal thoughts are if you are afraid to teach your backup your normal offense for whatever reason, maybe you should be looking for another backup. Remember, he is only one play away from coming in the game.
• Running Back
• DuJuan Harris - Grade: B. This guy is the possible light at the end of the tunnel. Harris has the ability to make one cut and use his speed. It is scary how many yards this guy could pick up if had competent run blocking and I'm interested to see what 2013 holds for this guy.
• John Kuhn - Grade: C. Kuhn does not have the "surprise" ability that he showed a couple of years before. He does show average ability to run and pass block, but is unable to run the ball consistently for the needed yardage.
• Alex Green - Grade: C-. We keep waiting for Green to break through, but he continues to disappoint, but then again who can blame him with poor run blocking. Therefore those two factors along with his pass catching give him an average grade.
• James Starks - Grade: D+. Starks shows flashes of hope, but overall can not stay off the injury report.
• Ryan Grant - Grade: D. Our mid-season desperation move that did not pan out. Grant has lost more than a step or two.
• Wide Receiver
• Randall Cobb - Grade: A. This was Cobb's breakout year and a go-to target for Rodgers. This guy has done everything this year, catch, run and return.
• James Jones - Grade: A-. This was Jones breakout out season with a significant decrease in the number of dropped passed along with leading the league in TD catches.
• Jordy Nelson - Grade: B.  Jordy had another good year catching the ball, but was hampered at different points in the season with injury.
• Greg Jennings - Grade: B-. It appears that Greg has lost a step or two and injuries have taken a toll. The lost of the step has reduce the down field threat from Jennings.
• Jarrett Boykin - Grade: C-. In a stacked receiving chart, Boykin was unable to break into consistent playing time. During the time he did play, he seem tentative and not always sure of his hands. He also needs to to work on his timing with Rodgers. 
• Donald Driver - Grade: D+. He has been slowly shuffled down the depth chart the last couple of seasons. He has lost a step or two, but did not complain about his role on the team.
• Jeremy Ross - Grade: D. Minimal playing time during the season on offense, with more of a presence on special teams. Had a costly muffed punt against San Fransisco.
• Tight End
• Jermichael Finley - Grade: C-. You get the good with the bad with Finley. He was able to resolve his dropping problem has the season progressed, but could not keep out of trouble with his mouth. Also, for someone with his size, I would expect him to be more dominate and create more issues for the defense. He also could improve in his run blocking.
• Tom Crabtree - Grade: C-. While a better run blocker than Finley, he does not posses the skills in the pass game yet.
• D.J. Williams - Grade: D. This guy has not develop yet with minimal playing time on offense.
• Ryan Taylor - Grade: D. Like Williams, minimal playing time on offense with most time spent on special teams.
• Offensive Line
• Josh Sitton - Grade: B. This a tough position to grade because I was unsure if there was a play issue or a offensive scheme issue. Out of the all the linemen, Sitton appeared to be the most consistent.
• Evan Dietrich-Smith - Grade: B-. He was the biggest improvement on the offensive line and it will be interesting to see how he does in 2013.
• T.J. Lang - Grade: C. We did not hear much from Lang this season and if you do not hear anything from him, that must mean something is working sometimes.
• Marshall Newhouse - Grade: C. Most people would say a "C" grade is average shows no sign of improvement, but Newhouse was able to improve over last season to reach a "C" level.
• Jeff Saturday - Grade: C-. The guy who was suppose to be the anchor of the offensive line was the source of confusion. I'm unsure if that was due to the change of teams or scheme, but this was definitely a down year for him.
• Don Barclay - Grade: D+. This guy was throwing into the lion's den and did a average job at times, but showed his inexperienced as a un-drafted free agent.
• Greg Van Roten - Grade: D. Another un-drafted free agent who played minimally.

 
Defense:

• Defensive Line
• B.J. Raji - Grade: B. He did improve this year, but has a way to go to be a dominate inside presence.
• Mike Neal - Grade: C+. I was ready to write this player off, but he did improve during the season which led to the increase in the grade.
• C.J. Wilson - Grade: C. Like Neal, Wilson did improve this season, but he only played to average.
• Jerel Worthy - Grade: C. In this first season, he was able to record 2.5 sacks playing in 13 games.
• Ryan Pickett - Grade: C-. Pickett continued to be a force on the inside run, but we are seeing a slight decline in the ability of Picket.
• Mike Daniels - Grade: C-. Daniels did have a good game against Detroit, but did not play significant time this season
• Linebacker
• Clay Matthews - Grade: A. While listed as a linebacker, Mathews plays more like a defensive end but the key is, he does it well. He shows great instincts and power.
• Dezman Moses - Grade: C-. This guy surprised me this year with his play, but did play like a rookie.
• Frank Zombo - Grade: C-. This is a guy who let me down this season, with injuries allowing him to play, I expected more out of him given he has been in the league now a couple of years.
• Brad Jones - Grade: D+. He under-utilizes his strength and sometimes he is too slow to the ball, but somehow we keep this guy around.
• Terrell Manning - Grade: D. Played a minimum role on the Packers this season as rookie.
• Jamari Lattimore - Grade: D. Another guy who has played a minimum role.
• Erik Walden - Grade: D-. A speed linebacker who seems to lost most of the time whether rushing the QB or in coverage. He is incapable of identifying his player pre-snap and staying with him throughout the play. In my personal opinion, he was responsible for shadowing Kaepernick most of the game and letting run wild during the Divisional game as he was chasing the false shadows. His saving grace from an "F" grade was his ability to make a tackle if someone happen to end up near him.
• A.J. Hawk  - Grade: F. Mr. Magoo could have played the middle linebacker position better than A.J. Hawk. He has poor gap responsibly, unable to tackle the running back, unable to cover the tight end and has poor reaction time. This area should be a focus for the Packers in the off season.
• Cornerback
• Casey Hayward - Grade: B+. This guy was the surprise for me. I enjoy the way the guy plays the position and how he adapted to the NFL. A little on the smaller size which means he does not match up well to big No. 1 type receivers.
• Sam Shields - Grade: C+. Shields played a little better down the stretch. The only issue with Shields is for him to get caught looking the wrong way at times.
• Tramon Williams  - Grade: C. While still playing the corner position well, Tramon has regressed since 2010. He does not trust his ability and takes too many chances.
• Charles Woodson - Grade: C. Injuries plagued Woodson this season and it would have been interesting how the season would have went with Woodson at a safely role
• Davon House - Grade: D+. We saw flashes of good play from House, but he has not been consistent.
• Jarett Bush - Grade: D- When Bush plays corner, he wanders around like a lost little lamb. His only saving grace from a "F" grade is his play on special teams.
• Safety
• Morgan Burnett - Grade: D+. Burnett is always out of position and is afraid to make the open field tackle. He also seems to get beat deep sometimes which is a problem when you are the safety,
• M.D. Jennings - Grade: D. I thought this guy was robbed during the Fail Mary game, but as the season progressed, I became to realize that M.D. Jennings had what was coming to him during the Seattle game. A number of interceptions went right past him this year including one right through his hands at Minnesota week 17. His ability to make the sure play seemed to elude him and he also seemed to have issues from time to time with gap control.
• Jerron McMillian - Grade: D: This guy did play like a rookie in the Nickel and Dime packages this year. Hopefully in year two he is able to improve at the safety position.

Special Teams:

• Mason Crosby, K - Grade: D. This was tough year for Crosby who went through a prolonged slump mid-season, but was able to recover to make his kicks at the end of the season. It still might prudent of the Packers to try out other kickers for next season.
• Tim Masthay, P - Grade: B. He has been the best punter I can remember since Hentrich.
• Brett Goode, LS - Grade: C+. If you not talking about bad kick and punt snaps, then this guy must be doing his job right.