Tuesday Cheese Curds: Young Packers prioritize versatility

Versatility seems to be a big theme of the 2023 Packers. They’ve taken steps to add versatile pieces on offense and defense, building both sides of the ball around guys who can do a lot of different things.

And that’s great in theory. But in practice, versatility is often a lot of marketing talk for a guy who really can’t do anything particularly well. A truly versatile player is great, sure. But just as often, “versatile” seems to mean “here’s a guy who’s okay at a few different things but isn’t good enough at one thing to stay in one place.”

Maybe some of the youngsters the Packers have acquired will indeed turn out to be versatile. Maybe they really will have an offense and a defense built around players who can do all kinds of different things really well.

Or maybe this year’s roster will be the same as every other: a few difference makers, a few guys who can do a couple of things well, and a couple of true stars, all of which will have to be blended together by a coaching staff capable of recognizing individual talents and deploy them accordingly.

That last part worries me a lot more than whether or not an individual player is versatile.

Packers emphasize versatility along defensive front to maximize scheme | Packers Wire

The Packers have a few young defensive linemen who theoretically can line up everywhere. Will that work?

Packers Training Camp Preview: Running Backs | Sports Illustrated

One thing seems to be true of this year’s Packers team: the running backs are solid.

One NFL star doesn’t think Aaron Rodgers will make the Jets a Super Bowl contender in 2023 | CBS Sports

The NFL star is Ndamukong Suh, so if you want to take his thoughts with a grain of salt, you’d probably be justified. I found his case pretty strong, though.

Execs, coaches, scouts rank NFL’s top 10 cornerbacks for 2023 | ESPN+ ($)

Jaire Alexander comes in at number 4 here.

Zoo asks visitors to stop showing phone videos to gorillas | UPI

I was just at a zoo last weekend and a guy was desperately trying to get a snake to look at a video of a rabbit on his phone. The snake, for its part, did not seem interested.