The Swami Predicts....

[The Shadow]

Thompson has a few things up his sleeve:
1. He has his eye on a veteran quarterback not of bargain basement caliber (I would personally wish for Chad Pennington). He realizes he can't go into the season with a Craig Nall and a 5th round rookie to back up Rodgers. Some deal/signing will materialize before the draft. The Packers will then invest the traditional 5th round pick on a developmental project.
2. He has to have taken a long hard look at the Dallas and New York games and realized that Al Harris may quickly be developing into a secondary liability. Even a 1st round investment on a highly-touted rookie may not be a viable solution at the moment. The 2 second round picks are huge; some combination of picks may enable him to land a promising young CB from someone else's roster - and he very well may go ahead and use that 1st rounder on yet more secondary help.
(There is a 'sort-of' precedent for this : Bill Walsh determined that his roster was knocking at the contention door except for a weak secondary, and acquired a ton of help in a single offseason)
3. Ted will again send us - at several points - scurrying for our draft mags to learn more about semi-unfamiliar names.

[texaspackerbacker]

I think in this case, the Shadow doesn't know. I disagree with you on both counts.

I think the Packers could very easily go into the season with Rodgers, Nall, and a 5th rounder or lower. And I think Thompson sees it that way too. His track record is to take risks like that at various positions and win.

As for Al Harris, he is 34 years old, and he did have disturbingly bad games in the instances you mentioned. However, my idea is that Harris wore down at the end of a long and intense season. I'm thinking that he will bounce back strong next season, and maybe even pace himself better or modify his conditioning so he doesn't fade before reaching the finish line--kinda like Favre's '07 comeback from '06. Of course, I'm an incurable optimist.

I wouldn't be surprised if we draft a future Corner in the first or second round, but the presence of Blackmon and Williams makes the situation anything but urgent.

Number 3, though, a.k.a. same ol' same ol', seems very accurate.

[DonHutson]

2. He has to have taken a long hard look at the Dallas and New York games and realized that Al Harris may quickly be developing into a secondary liability. Even a 1st round investment on a highly-touted rookie may not be a viable solution at the moment. The 2 second round picks are huge; some combination of picks may enable him to land a promising young CB from someone else's roster - and he very well may go ahead and use that 1st rounder on yet more secondary help.


Remember Lito Sheppard is still sitting there as trade bait. Eagles are supposedly asking for a #1. If they get real and take a #2, he could provide instant help.

[Chester Marcol]

Berman said this??

Shadow, I think it's a good assessment.


I think the Packers could very easily go into the season with Rodgers, Nall, and a 5th rounder or lower.
If TT doesn't think we are a contender next year, I may agree. However, I think TT does beleive we are still a serious contender next year. There is no way you go into the season without a veteran that may have to potentially take us the rest of the way. Of course we may both be right and we don't address a veteran backup until during the season, in fact starting the season how you predict.


As for Al Harris, he is 34 years old, and he did have disturbingly bad games in the instances you mentioned. However, my idea is that Harris wore down at the end of a long and intense season. I'm thinking that he will bounce back strong next season, and maybe even pace himself better or modify his conditioning so he doesn't fade before reaching the finish line--kinda like Favre's '07 comeback from '06. Of course, I'm an incurable optimist.
The world needs more optimists and I really wish I could join you with the optimism. I think a QB can compensate for his depreciating quickness with his knowledge and experience but not a CB that never had speed to begin with. The offseason workouts would help Harris, but not to the point of vast improvement. Harris may do just fine throughout the season. Have a bad game here and there. Once you get to the playoffs when the talent level at WR will be consistently better than the average of the talent faced dring the season, I think you'll see the Al Harris who was pissing into the wind trying to cover Burress.

[DonHutson]

It's true that Harris only had two really bad games, and several solid ones. However, it's worth noting that those two really bad games were the two biggest losses of the year. Yes, he wasn't the only player who struggled on those days, but he was a huge factor.

What happens if he has four really bad days this year? Or six? It's worth being proactive and investing in a solution BEFORE Harris becomes a major liability. Teams that remain competitive year in and year out - act, the teams that go up and down all the time - react.

[DonHutson]

Thompson has a few things up his sleeve:
1. He has his eye on a veteran quarterback not of bargain basement caliber (I would personally wish for Chad Pennington). He realizes he can't go into the season with a Craig Nall and a 5th round rookie to back up Rodgers. Some deal/signing will materialize before the draft. The Packers will then invest the traditional 5th round pick on a developmental project.

This is probably true. However, I think it's entirely possible that Ted sees some of the upper level rookies as better #2 prospects than any of the vets out there. I think they take one in the 4th or 5th for sure, but if there's one available in the first two rounds that they think can step in and be the backup immediately, it wouldn't surprise me to see two QBs get picked.

[texaspackerbacker]

Berman said this??

Shadow, I think it's a good assessment.


I think the Packers could very easily go into the season with Rodgers, Nall, and a 5th rounder or lower.
If TT doesn't think we are a contender next year, I may agree. However, I think TT does beleive we are still a serious contender next year. There is no way you go into the season without a veteran that may have to potentially take us the rest of the way. Of course we may both be right and we don't address a veteran backup until during the season, in fact starting the season how you predict.


As for Al Harris, he is 34 years old, and he did have disturbingly bad games in the instances you mentioned. However, my idea is that Harris wore down at the end of a long and intense season. I'm thinking that he will bounce back strong next season, and maybe even pace himself better or modify his conditioning so he doesn't fade before reaching the finish line--kinda like Favre's '07 comeback from '06. Of course, I'm an incurable optimist.
The world needs more optimists and I really wish I could join you with the optimism. I think a QB can compensate for his depreciating quickness with his knowledge and experience but not a CB that never had speed to begin with. The offseason workouts would help Harris, but not to the point of vast improvement. Harris may do just fine throughout the season. Have a bad game here and there. Once you get to the playoffs when the talent level at WR will be consistently better than the average of the talent faced dring the season, I think you'll see the Al Harris who was pissing into the wind trying to cover Burress.

There have been a helluva lot of NFL players over the years, including a lot of DBs who SEEMED to be fading in their early 30s and snapped back for several more good years. Harris should have a better shot at that than somebody who made his living on speed and then lost a step or two. IMO, it's entirely believable that if Al Harris is dedicated--and nobody has remotely claimed he isn't, that he can avoid the type of late season swoon and maybe better compensate for age creeping up on him.

And as for having nothing more than Nall and a low round pick backing up Rodgers, Nall, IMO is just as good as most of the retreads out there. And why do you need to waste a high pick on a clipboard holder anyway. This is a pretty good year for QBs, and I wouldn't rule out picking up somebody like Woodson or Booty who other years might be second rounders, if they fall to maybe the 4th round. Other than that, though, getting some really green kid with decent potential is the way to go--develop him and trade him in a couple of years like we did with Brunell, Hasselback, Brooks, etc.

[Deputy Nutz]

at 34 we can all admit that Harris is in the twilight of his career, but by no means is he finished playing football. This is his make or break season though, if he fails on a regular basis, he will do so for 16 games, he won't be replaced in 2008, he will be let go after the season, so any draft pick or veteran traded for will still be regulated to a back up role.

[Tony Oday]

but really if you think about it most teams run three WR sets all the time....so...It could be good to have 3 good CBs

[texaspackerbacker]

but really if you think about it most teams run three WR sets all the time....so...It could be good to have 3 good CBs

True, and I, like a lot of others, think and hope we take a Corner in the first round.

But it kind of irks me to completely discount the quality of Will Blackmon and Tramon Williams, who played damn well, and could just be the solution in house right now to when Woodson and Harris need to be replaced.

You can never have too many good (or great) corners, though.

[Joemailman]

I think TT will wait until after the draft to address the QB situation. There could be some teams looking to unload a veteran backup after having drafted a QB.

[The Shadow]

I think he pulls the trigger before or even during the draft.