The Green Bay Packers’ second preseason contest had a little less of a buzz to it without an appearance by Jordan Love. 

Third-stringer Kurt Benkert made the most of his opportunity in Love’s absence, playing well though also demonstrating his limitations. There’s a possibility Benkert makes it on to the 53 as a third quarterback, but it likely depends on what the Packers do for depth at other positions (such as wide receiver).

With only one preseason game to go, even the untrained eye can start to see where the Packers’ biggest weakness lies.

Many might have expected it to be the Packers’ defensive front, or their depth in the secondary or offensive line.

But no--far and away the team’s biggest weakness right now: punter.

For a team that punts as infrequently as the Packers do, that might not seem like much of a concern. And it’s absolutely true that if your punter is your team’s weak link, you’re probably doing pretty darn well with building out your roster.

But if football is a game of inches, you can’t afford to have a punter who costs you dozens of yards every other punt.

Once again, Packer fans have been treated to the maddening inconsistency of JK Scott, the team’s 2018 draft pick out of Alabama. Scott entered the league with a reputation for absolutely crushing his kicks and was seen as a sure-thing prospect at the position. 

The Packers, coming off a couple years of rough punting, were apparently enticed by Scott’s credentials and figured a day three pick wasn’t too steep a price to pay.

If the Packers have proven anything over the years, it’s that you’re better off not spending any draft picks on punters at all.

To say Scott has failed to live up to the Packers’ hopes is an understatement. Corey Behnke’s favorite player has made a habit out of shanking the ball into the bench every few snaps he takes.

Will this have a major effect on the regular season? Probably not. But here’s the thing--a single special teams snafu can push the needle in either direction in a tight game. 

The Packers already have a recent history of extraordinarily bad special teams. Do they really want to compound the problem by keeping Scott around for another year?

The Packers released Scott’s supposed competition, Ryan Winslow, in the first round of cut downs, so if the Packers bring in a new punter it will be someone off the waiver wire or a street free agent.

But Scott proved once again versus the Jets that he cannot be relied upon to be a consistent NFL punter. 

Occasional big-leg bombs are not worth the 20-yard disappointments that Scott produces in equal measure. The Packers would be better served by a punter who is wholly average.

Simply put: the current punter is a liability, and if he remains on the 53-man roster for another season, the odds are much higher than one would like that he will cost the Packers a close game this year by losing the ever-important battle of field position.

What will the Packers do with their wide receivers?

I wrote an article for Game On Wisconsin last week discussing the conundrum the Packers have with their wide receivers--namely, the fact that they have too many talented players at the position to keep on their roster.

Now, this is a great problem to have, especially given all the banshee-like wailing from the fanbase the last couple years about how Brian Gutekunst has managed the position. But it’s still a problem, and the Packers are most likely going to lose at least one player they really like.

You can figure your absolute deadlocks for the roster are five players: Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Amari Rodgers. After that, what happens really depends on if the Packers intend to keep six receivers or seven.

There is some precedent in recent years for the Packers keeping seven, and I could see them doing it again this year. 

Devin Funchess was the obvious standout on family night and during the Packers’ first preseason game against the Texans, but an injury he suffered opened up a bit more competition.

Malik Taylor probably has the next-best chance of being the sixth man in, and probably the best chance of being a seventh. Taylor has played well on offense, and also has something the other six aforementioned players do not have: special teams acumen. Taylor has operated as a return man, and has taken snaps as a gunner on the punt team. He’s certainly a better special teams option than a guy like Reggie Begelton.

Begelton, meanwhile, is almost certainly not going to make the roster. Juwann Winfree had a strong start to camp, but an injury basically ruined his chances of making the 53. I expect him to be on the practice squad.

This is probably the end of the road for Equanimeous St. Brown, who showed flashes his rookie year but never really got back to form after his injury and is just lost on the depth chart with all these other talented players around him.

If I’m going to make a prediction, I’ll say the Packers keep seven, and both Funchess and Taylor make the roster.

Wisconsin Beer of the Week

This week’s brew is from Young Blood Beer Company, a great up-and-coming brewery in Madison. 

I’ve had a bunch of their beers on tap around Milwaukee and have been seeing their cans pop up more in distribution at places like Woodman’s. This summer I had the opportunity to visit their tap room for the first time. It’s just off the capitol square in Madison, and is a great little space with a nice patio and some delicious food options. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a good place to crush a few beers next time you’re in town there.

Anyway, this particular golden beverage is Different Styles, Different Kyles. About the name, here’s what the description says:

“Here at YB we arrange our beers into 1) things that are sour, 2) things that are hoppy and 3) Kyle beers. It is mildly more nuanced than that, but not by much. This is a Kyle beer. We subtly dry hop this lager with Summit to accentuate the grassy spice present in the rye portion of the mashbill. Kyle says we all should be drinking more lagers.”

I can tell you that this one went great with a bowl of popcorn and some Xbox the other night.

I’m a big fan of rye as a malt base, especially in lagers like this as it adds a bit more flavor complexity. The dry hopping wasn’t too much--it added some good aroma and brought out the flavor without creating a beer that was hopped like a pale ale. 

Like I said, this one’s more complex than you’d imagine for a lager style. Style crisp and crushable at 5 percent, but there’s more going on here than you’ll find in a standard macro lager. 

This would be a great beer for people who are just expanding their palate and looking into more craft brews.

A Kamal Martin surprise

As I was putting this piece together, the Packers announced they released 2020 5th-round pick Kamal Martin in a surprise move.

I was quite surprised Martin didn’t at least get to final cuts, let alone the 53. While Martin certainly looked lost at some moments in 2020, there were also a lot of flash plays where it looked like he had a real shot at developing into something.

But something happened to Martin this offseason, and he just never progressed the way he should have. The team tried him at outside linebacker earlier this offseason and he couldn’t catch on there, and he was apparently outplayed by at least four other inside linebackers as well. 

It is disappointing--Martin was one of the few 2020 draft picks to get some good action on the field last season. At the very least, he always brought a ton of energy.

But on the bright side, the 2020 draft class is poised to take on a larger role this year. AJ Dillon will be getting a lot more carries, Josiah Deguara is going to be a crucial utility figure in this offense, and of course, Jordan Love is a year away from taking the reins of the offense.

DITCH THE WAVE ALREADY.

On Monday afternoon, Matt LaFleur once again brought up the fact that Packer fans continue to do the wave while the team is on offense.

Chalk it up to it being preseason, or a gold package crowd, or whatever, but it’s no less than embarrassing for a franchise entering its 103rd season that the team still apparently needs to train fans on how to be quiet when the team is on offense.

This is far from the first time over the last several years that LaFleur, Aaron Rodgers or someone else on the team have begged fans to be quiet and cut out the wave while the team is on offense.

The response from a certain subsection of fans is going to be “I paid for the ticket so I can do what I want!” Which, I guess, sure, but would you rather your actions in the stand contribute to the team’s chances of winning, or make it harder on them?

It’s basic fan etiquette. Plenty of other fanbases around the league have gotten this down without it being a big deal. It has only elevated the experience of attending a game in those stadiums, and has significantly enhanced the mystique or challenge associated with visiting teams playing there.

The uncomfortable fact is that while the Packers pre-game fan experience outside and around the stadium is second to none, the in-stadium fan experience during the games is lacking in comparison to some of the other top-flight franchises in the league.

When players and coaches are lamenting fans’ knowledge of when to be quiet or loud, it’s a problem. There has also been a years-long problem with the stadium not getting loud enough on defense, especially in crucial situations.

Hopefully this year with the return of fans in the stadium after a full year gone, the energy level will be amped up and people will be ready to be a part of the game action, rather than detracting from it.

Offensive line the big mystery

If punting is the biggest weakness and wide receiver is the most competitive position, offensive line is differently the biggest mystery at the moment.

Some of the mystery is aided by the absence of David Bakhtiari to start the season. With Elgton Jenkins playing outside in the meantime, that leaves two guard positions up for grabs. 

Right now, it sounds like Royce Newman is in the lead for a starting guard position, which would be a heck of an achievement for the rookie.

Today at practice, Newman started at left guard and Lucas Patrick at right guard. 

Patrick had some rough moments in 2020, but has a lot of game experience at multiple positions, which is valuable for the Packers to have around while waiting for Bakhtiari’s return. Jon Runan Jr. also still has a shot at getting some playing time. 

The starting lineup certainly isn’t set--there’s some competition happening at that guard spot, and once Bakhtiari returns it will be interesting to see who goes back to the bench while Jenkins shifts over to his left guard spot. 

If Newman does indeed get the nod, the Packers will have two rookie offensive linemen (Newmjan and Josh Myers at center) starting at the same time for the first time since 2000, when Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher started their long and successful careers as bookends at the tackle positions.

Fall Creep: the newest answer to Christmas Creep

You might have heard of Christmas Creep, the idea that the “holiday season” gets started earlier every year for marketers and businesses. You might hear Christmas music playing on the radio in early November, or see stores putting up their Christmas decorations as soon as Halloween is over.

The same thing is starting to happen generally with the fall season. 

Pumpkin spice lattes. Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers. They’re showing up earlier than usual every year. Several breweries near me had their Oktoberfests out before July was even over!

This is very much an “old man yells at cloud” sort of moment for me, but I gotta say… I love fall. I love the weather, I love the smell of the leaves, I love the food, I love Thanksgiving, and most of all, I love football.

But let us have summer! The warm weather is so fleeting, especially here in Wisconsin! At least wait until September 1st to bust out all the autumnal goodness!

Bah humbug!

That’s all for today folks, a bit of an abbreviated column. Once the regular season starts up there’ll be a whole lot more to discuss, but in the meantime… good luck to all the bubble players in the final days before roster cut downs!