TT Draft Tidbits

[Smidgeon]

JS has a decent summary of comments from TT on the draft. One that struck me was the following:

Ted Thompson says he does not pay too much attention to which teams are reportedly interested in which players.

“Because they say the same thing about us,” Thompson said, “and I know for a fact that they don’t have any inside information because for the most part, sometimes I’m the only inside information. And I’m not telling anybody.”

How much pressure is there to be the only person who knows the direction the franchise is going to go? Not worried about building consensus, just worried about making the right decision. Interesting to say the least.

[MadScientist]

How much pressure is there to be the only person who knows the direction the franchise is going to go? Not worried about building consensus, just worried about making the right decision. Interesting to say the least.

I would expect that to be pretty standard with GM's. They make the final call, they collect the information from all the scouts, etc. Some others certainly have knowledge of much of the draft board, and scouts know how they evaluated each player and any questions TT asked about certain players, but in the end it is TT's call.

TT is good at not saying things, and even if there was actual information out there that was leaked from the Packers' camp, this statement is the perfect cover. No reporter can make a case that their source clearly knows who the Packers want after Ted said that, and no other GM can trust any of the reports either, even if their organization is poor at controlling leaks.

[run pMc]

The quote that interested me most was this:

"It certainly gives you, as a defensive coordinator, more flexibility if you have more versatile-type guys."

Players like Jimmie Ward and Ryan Shazier fit that mold IMO. Ward can cover like a CB, and Shazier can play inside or outside. It doesn't guarantee he'll draft those guys, but it gives you a sense of what he's looking for.