The leadership void

Posted by Mark Daniels on

In the span of 10 days, the two senior members of the Green Bay Packers are no longer on the team.  Donald Driver called it a career after 14 years and last week, the Pack released 15 year veteran Charles Woodson.  Because of age and injury, the impact of both players declined in 2012, Driver caught only 8 passes and Woodson missed 9 weeks because of a broken collarbone.   Donald read the handwriting on the wall and kept his promise to fans to end his career where it began.  As for Charles, his career reached a peak in the green and gold after eight productive seasons in Oakland.  The 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the year was an unbelievable playmaker Sunday after Sunday, intercepting 38 passes for the Pack and scoring a club record 10 defensive touchdowns. You could see however, the on field production of both being replaced.  Jordy Nelson, James Jones and the emergence of Randall Cobb easily picked up the Driver slack and Casey Hayward make several all-rookie teams with a half dozen picks as the inside nickel back.  M.D. Jennings and Jerron McMillian also flashed enough talent to emerge down the road.   But what General Manager Ted Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy will miss most is the unquestioned leadership abilities of both veterans.   Driver led by example, the way he practiced and played, giving every ounce of his ability.  Woodson was easily the most respected player in the locker room and time and again, the squad leaned on his words of inspiration when it was needed most, who can forget the speech in Solider Field that lit the fuse for the Super Bowl XLV championship.   So how will that leadership void be filled?  You'd like to think it would be Greg Jennings among the receivers, but there's no guarantee he will be back.  It will have to come from Aaron Rodgers.  Clearly the face of the franchise, Rodgers will have to take an even more recognizable role as the team's conscious as well.   On defense, there are a couple of candidates.  Clay Matthews longs for the role, but he quietly aquiesced to Woodson during his first four years, understandably so.  Now may be the time.  He has the Pro Bowl pedigree to back it up.  B.J. Raji is another candidate.  He will have to become a much more consistent play maker on the line for others to gravitate towards him.  Safety Morgan Burnett is also positioning himself for the job.  He quarterbacks the secondary just fine, now he'll need to make the game changing plays that were a staple of Woodson's tenure.   Locker room leaders are not appointed, they ascend, but the Packers challenge through the off-season and into training camp will be to identify and succeed two of the best leaders they've ever had.

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