If we're depending on House to have a huge impact on this defense I think we will be sorely disappointed.

As you may have noticed, DThomas, in the comments over the last few days I made my attempt at analyzing the stats of our OLBs in terms of pressures/snap, really snaps/pressure. I found some data issues. Different sites produce some wildly differing numbers for total pressures, hurries, whatever it is called. First, let's reconsider Mike Daniels' numbers.

482 pass rush attempts has to include postseason. The sporting charts stats only include regular season games. Daniels played 664 regular season snaps: if 482 were pass rushing, that would be a 72% pass and 28% run scenario. I doubt it. If you take Daniels snaps from FO of 664 and manually add in the playoffs, you get 802 total snaps (McGinn lists Daniels with 803 total snaps). 482 of 802 is 60% pass, 40% run when Daniels was on the field. I can buy that ratio. So, we have to add any pressures, knockdowns and sacks Daniels had in the playoffs to the sporting chart numbers to get pass rush success rate. [As it happens, McGinn in his Rating the Packers series did not assign a pressure to Daniels against NYG or Dallas - sorry, I shredded the article that dealt with the Atlanta debacle.]

McGinn and sportingcharts are close on hurries generally. I'll list sportingchart hurries with McGinn's numbers in parenthesis and NFL sacks in brackets which includes playoffs:

Daniels 20 (20.5) [4], Perry 17 (18) [12], CM3 15 (14.5) [6], Jones 14 (16.5) [1], Peppers 12 (16.5) [8.5], Fackrell 6 (4.5) [2], Elliott ? (3) [1].

The difference is knockdowns. I can't tell if sportingcharts includes knockdowns in their hurries, though by definition a knockdown should qualify as a hurry since you have to be within a step and a half of the QB when the throw is made, that is so close you can't avoid the QB. McGinn assigns KDs: Jones 14, CM3 8, Peppers 7.5, Daniels 7, Perry 6, Elliott 0, Fackrell 0. So add 16.5 hurries to 14 knockdowns to 1 sack for Jones and McGinn arrives at 31.5 pressures, and 32.5 for Peppers as well.

I find it suspicious. Why post a players hurries but hide the more important stat of knockdowns? I can't find any site that lists knockdowns as a separate and discrete stat. Maybe it is behind a pay wall. [I found the link below for a 2010 article that lists knockdowns, hurries and sacks discretely: it is from FO.] And how did TT let our 3rd best pass rusher who played a bunch of snaps with his hand in the dirt leave for $3.5M on a one year deal? Either GB coaches don't agree with McGinn so TT didn't offer much, or Jones took a $2M pay discount to get out of GB.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2010/2010-hits-and-hurries

After watching the Packers offense take off once Cook was healthy and back on the field it's hard to argue anyone else might have a bigger effect on the team than Bennett and perhaps to a lesser degree Kendricks. It was a night and day difference once Cook was back in the line-up. But after watching the CB's struggle last season, after watching Gunter try to defend Beckham, Bryant, and Jones, it might be even tougher to argue it wouldn't be House.

I think House is one of the Packers starting CB's come September and the payoff will be immediate. Until King joins the team from school, House is the Packers best option at CB against guys like that and maybe even after King reports. He immediately gives the Packers a CB who would at least slow down the likes of Bryant and Jones.

I'm going Jahri Evans: anyone who keeps Don Barclay off the field is my hero.

House is the better bet. Bennett might make an already very good offense excellent, but House has more room for upside on defense. While there is no doubt that Bennett starts if healthy, imo there is little doubt of House beating out 2 of Randall, Rollins or King on the boundary. Yeah, I give Gunter zero chance.

I haven't seen House play very much since he left Green Bay so it's difficult, at least for myself, to assess how much of an impact he will make. I doubt that he can be any worse than any of our CBs were last season once Shields went down, so in that sense he should have a positive impact on the CB position group. We'll find out by Game 2 of the season against Atlanta, since I'm assuming that he will be lined up against Julio Jones. Until then I'm going with Bennett having the biggest impact since he is a legitimate threat down the middle for the Packers and he can block which should help our run game. We haven't had a decent blocking TE in years. Thanks, Since '61

I think Bennett has the biggest impact. He stretches the field and blocks well--a combo we haven't had at TE for ages.

King will be our top CB. He'll have growing pains, but he's just on another level in terms of talent. And Randall could turn improved health into a nice bounceback season.

Will House make a diiference? Sure--a good one. I just don't see him dominating his position like Bennett.

House is going to make an impact. Will he be the leader of the CBs...I don't know. He's had time to see the field as a Packer and in J'ville. He hasn't been a #1 CB, but it doesn't mean he can't be. Will the restoring waters of Green Bay refresh him and push him to be a better player? I don't think so. He'll be good but not the #1 CB.

Bennett would be the second obvious choice as best FA pick-up. He will block like a demon and everyone knows his pass catching ability. My question on him is if he so good...why did BB let him go? I certainly don't know that answer, but all of our hopes are that he will be the Gronk of Green Bay.

My choice for best FA pick-up is Kendricks. He's 6-3 and 250 and runs those seem patterns like a WR. The part that will make him MVP for the team's FA pick-up is his capability to be the H-back. Line him up as a FB, block for Monty, slide him out to run routes and make the defense worry about where he's going. They know where Bennett will be and that is headache enough, but adding Kendricks in either a TE/HB position put added questions and muscle into the offense. His contribution over the season will make Monty a better runner and won't be surprised if he has the 4th most receptions on the team. He's never had a QB throwing to him like AR and AR hasn't had a guy like Kendricks on the team before. At least not as talented.

With most of the attention being focused on Bennett and House as the top signings, the guy who I think will add a ton of help and is being slightly overlooked is Kendricks.

The reason why I think Kendricks will have a bigger impact over Bennett is because essentially Bennett replaces Cook. I expect Bennett to be really good, but we should see similar production from Bennett to what Cook gave us last year.
Kendricks however adds a whole new dimension to the offense, that we simply haven't had. Kendricks will give McCarthy the ability to be really creative in how he calls the offense.

Kendricks much like Cook when he was with the Rams never had a great QB to play with or any great WR's around him.
Now Kendricks will be surrounded with a really good WR group, another great TE and the best QB in the league.

The offense was night and day better last year when they had Cook in the offense compared to when he wasn't.
This year they have 2 legit weapons at TE and I think Kendricks will benefit the most.

First time I have seen someone getting a .5 like/dislike...

I guess at least someone didn't fully dislike what I said.

I agree with Dobber - Jahri Evans on O and Ricky Jean Francois on D. He will make solid run D.

I'm not sure about House. I hope all of you who predict he will play on very high level are right...

Thanks.

The Packers will be better with House ,if Randall and Rollins show improvement then the secondary will be better off this season.

Just a reminder on the Saturday vs Evans comparisons. Saturday was 37 or so when signed. Evans is only 33 - should have a few years left!

BB is very good at getting rid of players before they go into decline. Not saying Bennett won't have a good year, but I think there is a reason the Packers still went out and got Kendricks. We may find out that Bennett is more effective if he can rotate off the field at times.

House may not be a long-term solution for anything, but he is a great insurance policy. He is good enough to start on the outside. He is experienced enough that you know what you are going to get. He is hungry enough that you know you are going to get his best. And if he is as good as the Jaguars thought he was a few years ago, then he is still young enough to bother signing to a long-term deal.

Best free agent signing: Bennett and Kendricks. The offense is going to be difficult to stop. Their presence will change how the offense runs. That is making an impact. House is providing comfort to the CB's. Just a good DB you can count on . King will be the one to watch to make a big impact.

Martellus Bennett simple answer