the 2008 Green Bay Packers The season started quite well. They jumped to a 4-3 record early in the season. From there, they struggled a lot and only won two more games the rest of the year. They had a very good offense, but the defense was downright bad. Aaron Rodgers replaced Packers legend Brett Favre admirably. However, it did not translate into a successful season for the Pack. Did the Packers do enough after the season to justify any hope of winning it all this year? If you’re looking for free football picks, you probably won’t be spending money on them winning the Super Bowl this year.

The good news: The best thing about this year for the Packers isn’t really who they took, but who they still have. For one thing, Aaron Rodgers has a full year under his belt as a starter. Given how bad the Packers were last year, many people don’t realize that Rodgers had one of the best seasons of any quarterback in the league. If you play fantasy football, you might not know that Rodgers was actually the second-best quarterback in fantasy last year. This means that he was putting up some monster numbers.

In addition to Rodgers, Ryan Grant has been back in full force since earlier this year. Last year, he held out during training camp over a contract dispute. He didn’t get off to a good start and it took him half a season to get back into shape. Once he got going again, he went back to being one of the best running backs in the league. This time, he should be at full steam from the start.

They also added some help on the defensive side of the ball with nose tackle BJ Raji and linebacker Clay Matthews in the draft. These two players should go a long way in shoring up the defense. If they can contribute right away, it could be enough to help the offense win a few games.

The bad news: For a 6-10 team, the Packers were terribly inactive during the offseason. Apparently, they feel that they already have most of what they need at home and just need to develop. However, that is a very risky approach to take. When you lose 10 games and the only free agents you bring in are a safety and a center, you’re not really trying to do much.

Another cause for concern is quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Although he had a great individual season, he didn’t lead the team to victories. The year before, under Favre, they were 12-4. All they did was switch quarterbacks and they went 6-10. While Rodgers obviously has talent, there are questions about whether he knows how to win in this league.

Panorama: If you’re looking at NFL picks, expect the Packers to be in the middle of the road in the NFC North this year. The Bears and Vikings will likely be ahead of them when all is said and done.