… “Green Bay finished 31st out of 32 teams, marking the fourth time in the past five seasons in which the Packers have fielded one of the league’s worst special teams units. They were last for both the 2005 and ’06 seasons and 26th in 2008.
The 2009 Packers were charged with 460 1/2 points in Gosselin’s rankings of 22 kicking-game categories. The Carolina Panthers edged Green Bay for last place with 473 points.
The rankings revealed that the Packers were the worst team with inside-the-20 punts (15) and penalties (28).
Although the rough season didn’t cost Shawn Slocum his job after his first year as special teams coordinator, general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy have begun to shake things up with that area of the team.
McCarthy removed Curtis Fuller from special teams assistant coach – Fuller was reassigned to a different coaching role – and replaced him with former return standout Chad Morton(notes), who was a coaching administrator for the Packers last year.
Green Bay signed free agent Tim Masthay(notes) shortly after the season ended to provide competition for incumbent punter Jeremy Kapinos, who ranked last in the league with a net average of 34.1 yards.
Finding an off-season challenger for kicker Mason Crosby(notes) also could be in the works.
Crosby didn’t kick well for much of the second half of the season and finished 27-of-36 on field goals. The conversion percentage of 75.0 was Crosby’s lowest in his three years as Green Bay’s kicker.” ….
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