The one general theme I wanted was this: BEEF. Need some big boys...defensive front 7 and OT. Last year, they went WR, QB, CB, TE with their first 4 picks. They needed some beef, and got some. Will these guys be any good? Who knows, but the initial reviews are outstanding. Mr Hair Mel Kiper gave the Packers his only "A" grade. They drafted 5 guys in Mel's top 100 and 4 of Bob McGinn's top 100...for whatever that's worth. Not bad when they didn't have a single pick in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Even Ted haters liked this draft.
Round 1
BJ Raji, DT, Boston College
Got nervous when Crabtree was still on the board. All I was saying was "not Crabtree, not Crabtree..." Position-wise, Raji was the perfect pick. Is he the right guy? I had some reservations about his character, but didn't realize the Jeff Jagazinski (sp) connection. He was the BC coach two years ago. You know Ted spent considerable time on the phone talking to Jags about Raji's supposed character issues. Must have gotten a pretty good review. Yeah, he could eat his way out of the league...especially in Wisconsin. Lets just hope BJ doesn't stand for "Bowl of Jelly." Hey, and Ted even made a funny! He met the media after the pick and had this dialog:
Round 1
BJ Raji, DT, Boston College
Got nervous when Crabtree was still on the board. All I was saying was "not Crabtree, not Crabtree..." Position-wise, Raji was the perfect pick. Is he the right guy? I had some reservations about his character, but didn't realize the Jeff Jagazinski (sp) connection. He was the BC coach two years ago. You know Ted spent considerable time on the phone talking to Jags about Raji's supposed character issues. Must have gotten a pretty good review. Yeah, he could eat his way out of the league...especially in Wisconsin. Lets just hope BJ doesn't stand for "Bowl of Jelly." Hey, and Ted even made a funny! He met the media after the pick and had this dialog:
Media: The last two years you were booed after your first pick.
TT: What did they do this time?
Media: They cheered
TT: Pffff, they're getting soft.
That's as good as it gets for Robo-Ted!
Clay Matthews Jr, OLB, USC
We now lead the league in white, long-haired OLBs. Packers probably gave up too much...and I hate trading with New England. It's like buying a car. No matter how much they take off the sticker price, you still feel like you got screwed. Anyway, it was refreshing to see TT be aggressive and get the guy they really wanted. Clay was #12 on McGinn's board. He's a self-made, straight up football player would could start in week 1. Just slaughters guys.
Round 4
TJ Lang, OT, Eastern Michigan
Ted had to draft one small school guy, right. Sounds like he's nasty, a real mauler. Might start at RT, but I doubt it. "Good value," according to the experts
Round 5
Quinn Johnson, FB, LSU
Jamon Meredith, G/T, South Carolina
More beef!!! Guy had a 2nd/3rd round grade. Supposedly "hard to coach." Eh. Jamon, just respond to "pad level" and you'll be fine here.
Round 6
Jarious Wynn, DE, Georgia
DE's from Georgia probably have some talent.
Brandon Underwood, CB, Cincinnati
Long, rangy, fast. Didn't make the grades at Ohio State. Read that last sentence again. That's gotta be hard to do.
Round 7
Brad Jones, OLB, Colorado
Great first name. Has the best blub of the draft: Enjoys playing the viola. Awesome! I can't imagine this guy shooting up a bar in Little Chute any time soon...if he makes the team.
So, Green Bay got possibly 4 starters (Raji, Matthews, Johnson, Lang (long shot)) in a draft with no 2nd or 3rd rounders. And a bunch of guys from big programs, if that's your thing. I'd say it looks pretty good - on paper.
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10 comments:
Raji sweats a lot.
Oh he's deep in the sweat game. It was like he just finished an entire meal of cajun food.
http://www.facebook.com/people/TJ-Lang/30309363
You can be friends with TJ Brad
Attaboys for Teddy.
Can't wait to see this Johnson kid blow somebody up!
As long as Quinn doesn't get blown up like Kuhn and Hall did on every 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and an inch...
If Quinn can stay on his feet and not his back, he's automatically starting.
I was real disappointed that they traded out of the third round... there were some pretty crappy punters available!
On a serious note, I was kind hoping for Everette Brown instead of Matthews and thus did not like the trade up but, I'm not the GM so hopefully this guy is a tackling machine! (Unlike most of the linebackers ... esp. Poppinga)
Raji was a tremendous pick. Matthews will be a bust. He was a one year wonder on the most talented collegiate defense ever. Outside of Raji, we'll be lucky if get another quality starter out of this draft. Typical Theodore.
When Matthews walked on at USC he was 160 pounds. Now he's like 240. Interesting.
From freind of Chuckie hacks and Draft Day Enthusiast here is Adam’s take on this years draft
All I will say is this:
Ted Thompson has done an overall very solid job drafting since taking over as GM. While the casual fan likes to pile on over the whole Brett Favre issue, I could not disagree with them more. Committing to Aaron Rodgers was the right move then and will continue to pay dividends going forward. While he does not typically make much of a splash in free agency, he still “gets it.” Winning teams are built through the draft, not by overpaying in the first minutes of free agency (Has Dan Snyder won anything yet?).
Ted got just what the Pack needed in the first round. A run stuffer and a rare inside pass rusher (one of which the team has not seen since Jim Flanigan) just made for the 3-4 D, and a very solid pass rusher to who doesn’t just rely on speed to get around the corner like someone else who used to play here.
The later round guys were also excellent values. He recognized that they slipped past their “fair market value” for various reasons, but still feels comfortable with the total package. Camp is going to be amazing! We will be seeing position battles in the trenches that we have not seen in a long time.
Looking forward to the season. Lord Football is approaching!
Matt:
I gained 55 pounds my freshman and sophomore year in college, but blamed it on keystone light and weed. I cannot imagine gaining 80 via the same methods.
I loved your blog. Thank you.
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