Morning Buzz: Packers' roster still a work in progress

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com. Grab a strong cup of coffee and get caught up on everything you need to know about the Packers.

We’ll start with Michael Cohen’s look at the plethora of young cornerbacks already on the Packers roster and their prospects for helping the team in 2018.

From Michael:

“Starters?” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said rhetorically before pausing for several seconds this week at the annual league meeting. “One for sure, but it’s what’s in front of them. They have to develop. They all have something that obviously you love about them, it’s just working on the other things and continuing to develop. I think (pass game coordinator) Joe Whitt and you’ve got (secondary coach) Jason Simmons, those guys are as good as there is, so yeah, they’ll definitely have the opportunity.”

McCarthy declined to say which specific player he was referencing, but Lenzy Pipkins is a quality guess. Pipkins made the 53-man roster last summer after a strong graduate transfer season at Oklahoma State. He played 122 snaps for the Packers and impressed the coaches with his energy, fearlessness and physical brand of tackling. He has a sturdy frame at 6 feet and 202 pounds with enough speed (4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash) and explosiveness (33½-inch vertical leap) to mature nicely at the NFL level.  

The other homegrown options would be Josh Hawkins, a bonafide speedster who played 407 inconsistent snaps last season; Donatello Brown, a former Division II standout promoted from the practice squad to the active roster in early November, and Herb Waters, a converted wide receiver who sparkled during organized team activities but spent the year on injured reserve after aggravating a shoulder problem early in camp.

Former Packers defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins is exploring new avenues to deal with pain:

I discussed the new rules and took a look at the draft in my latest podcast:

I chatted with fans late Thursday afternoon via Facebook Live:

Elsewhere, I spoke with UK Packers about the offseason:

The Packers will be meeting with Central Florida cornerback Mike Hughes prior to the draft:

James Jones spoke to the Big Lead about his new gig breaking NFL news:

Rob Demovsky grades the Packers' offseason:

Jon Meerdink looks at Jordy Nelson's game in 2017:

Great look back the start of it all from Cliff Christl:

Aaron Rodgers is one of the biggest fantasy stars of recent drafts:

LeRoy Butler had some fun on Twitter:

Andy Herman looks at the play of DeShone Kizer and Brett Hundley:

Gutekunst confirmed that he was the one who initiated the trade with Cleveland:

Chris Simms thinks the Packers make sense as a landing spot for Odell Beckham Jr.

The new lowering-the-helmet rule has not been welcomed with open arms:

Here’s a throwback to a great Lombardi quote: