Morning Buzz: Randall confident Packers will run NFC

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers and the NFL from around the web and here at PackersNews.com. The NFL never sleeps, so grab a strong cup of coffee and get caught up on everything you need to know as the NFL combine kicks into gear.

Speaking of the combine, we’ll start with Pete Dougherty’s column cautioning Packers fans not to get too caught up in the workout warriors that will grab the headlines this week.

From Pete:

When you start hearing the great testing numbers and maybe even a broken record or two coming out of the combine in Indianapolis this week, take a deep breath. Yes, the testing matters, that’s why they do it. But it’s just a part of a player’s story and not the biggest part.

“The combine and those tests are a point of reference,” said a position coach for an NFC team Monday. “It’s not who they are. The tape does not lie. And don’t look at a highlight tape. You can look at a highlight tape to start just to see, ‘This guy’s interesting.’ But you have to look at a game and see what that (shows).”

The NFL has been holding the combine in essentially its current form with every team in the league attending since 1985. Its value is three-fold: the chance for teams to get a complete medical workup on 300-plus prospects, to observe players’ behavior in an interview and other settings and to test athleticism and position skills in individual drills.

The physical tests get the most publicity because they’re quantifiable, allow for apples-to-apples comparisons to previous years and now are shown on the NFL Network. And they have value. For starters, they allow for what some scouts and coaches call the Disneyland test, as in, you must be a certain height to go on this ride.

A quick look at 10 prospects who undoubtedly will be making headlines this week:

I chatted with readers via Facebook Live late Monday afternoon:

Elsewhere, Damarious Randall makes a bold early offseason statement:

Zach Kruse writes on getting the most out of Jordy Nelson in 2018:

The Packers were one of the biggest cash spenders in 2017:

Dan Graziano has the Packers at No. 3 in his Quarterback Confidence Index:

From Dan:

Rodgers is expected back at full strength off last year's shoulder injury, and he's better than anyone when he's right. He's also 34 (not old for a player at this position) and due a big contract extension this offseason that will underline the team's confidence in him. The Packers managed to win games with Hundley and stay in the playoff race while Rodgers was out. So unless they trade Hundley, they enter the season with a fair bit of confidence in their backup situation.

Lombardi Ave. stumps for Shaquem Griffin:

The Power Sweep looks at the play of Clay Matthews:

Peter Bukowski writes the Packers shouldn’t be shopping for tight ends:

The team website looks at the history between the Packers and the Union Hotel:

Aaron Rodgers will be a keynote speaker for a Red Cross event:

Former Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk tries some military training:

Mike Daniels takes us through what to watch for during defensive line drills in Indy: