Packers sign punter

Jon Ryan will have some competition as the Packers' punter next season. Green Bay has decided to bring back Ryan Dougherty to get another crack at the job.

Dougherty was in training camp with the Packers this past season, and he fared pretty well although he was injured at times.

Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on Dougherty's pre-season action, "Counting two punts that were wiped out by penalty, Dougherty's 10-punt averages were 48.0 yards (gross), 40.9 (net) and 4.46 seconds (hang time). By comparison, Ryan averaged 48.5, 40.2 and 4.38 in 11 punts."

Ryan has gotten some negative press lately mainly due to a poor showing at Chicago when two punts were blocked and another snap was dropped resulting in him being tackled.

Ryan hasn't been among the NFL's elilte, but as McGinn points out Ryan hasn't done that bad. Ryan had a net average of 37.6 this year that was the best as a Packer since 1969. That includes Craig Hentrich during the Super Bowl years in the mid-90s, folks.

One of Ryan's biggest downfalls as a rookie in 2006 was his poor net average. He's improved tremendously in that aspect of his game. Now he's got to work on pinning opponents inside the 20s and not out-punting his coverage.

Does Ryan deserve some competition? Yes. But when all is said and done, Ryan is going to fare a little better than what people think.