Thompson, Finley unlikely to have impact as rookies

[Sparkey]

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080825/PKR01/80825151/1058

[ThunderDan]

Well... I guess there is two ways to look at this.

1. Those guys stink and we drafted poorly
2. We actually have depth so 22 year-old college boys don't beat out 3 or 4 year veterans

I like to think it is the second.

[LL2]

Very few rookies make an impact right away...so this isn't shocking news.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Finley is 6-5 and underweight. No surprise that he is not ready to play.

[texaspackerbacker]

Martellus Bennett of Texas A. & M., who was a very similar prospect to Finley and I think drafted slightly later, is doing real well for the Cowboys. It will be interesting to see how the careers of these two compare in a few years. I thought Finley was the better of the two, and I still think so.

The reason he isn't playing much is that Tory Humphrey either is really doing well or somebody on the staff sees more in him than he's ever shown that I know of. I think Lee and both young guys stay with Humphrey having the inside track unless he plays himself out of a job.

[Bossman641]

Martellus Bennett of Texas A. & M., who was a very similar prospect to Finley and I think drafted slightly later, is doing real well for the Cowboys. It will be interesting to see how the careers of these two compare in a few years. I thought Finley was the better of the two, and I still think so.

The reason he isn't playing much is that Tory Humphrey either is really doing well or somebody on the staff sees more in him than he's ever shown that I know of. I think Lee and both young guys stay with Humphrey having the inside track unless he plays himself out of a job.

The reason he's not playing much is that he is underweight and isn't a good enough blocker yet. He needs to gain some weight. Did you read the article? Packer TE's are very involved in the run game. Finley isn't reliable enough yet.

[Scott Campbell]

Physics aren't kind to tall and light blocking Tight Ends.

[sheepshead]

tough to break into a 13-3 team anyway you slice it.

[Brohm]

Bubba stuck around as long as he did solely on his blocking ability. Doesn't surprise me if Finely sits a while. On the other hand though, he is essentially a huge WR at this point so I would be surprised to see him on some of the WR packages where he could cause match-up problems for DBs.

[texaspackerbacker]

Bubba stuck around as long as he did solely on his blocking ability. Doesn't surprise me if Finely sits a while. On the other hand though, he is essentially a huge WR at this point so I would be surprised to see him on some of the WR packages where he could cause match-up problems for DBs.

Lee is no great shakes as a blocker either. Finley's role this year if he justifies it in practice, will be in a two tight end scenario. 6'5" and light he may be, but he still should be able to block better than the WR he comes in for. And having the ability to send two TEs deep from a running formation is something I really like the idea of. In obvious run situations--short yardage, etc., likely, Humphrey gets the call, but I think Finley will get some chances for big plays too.

[Brohm]

Bubba stuck around as long as he did solely on his blocking ability. Doesn't surprise me if Finely sits a while. On the other hand though, he is essentially a huge WR at this point so I would be surprised to see him on some of the WR packages where he could cause match-up problems for DBs.

Meant to say would "not" be surprised. And I agree he should block better than WR in any situation. We have not had a great 2 TE set since Jackson and Chmura, would be nice to add that back to the arsenal :D Finley in the seam or on a fade to the corner should be $$.

[CaliforniaCheez]

tough to break into a 13-3 team anyway you slice it.

The other part of that is that drafting late.

Being at the bottom of the draft order means you have to gamble and take longer term prospects than the ready made prospects.

KGB was cut as a rookie and placed on the practice squad.

Thompson and Lee have the luxury of not being thrown in right away.

[BZnDallas]

Martellus Bennett of Texas A. & M., who was a very similar prospect to Finley and I think drafted slightly later, is doing real well for the Cowboys. It will be interesting to see how the careers of these two compare in a few years. I thought Finley was the better of the two, and I still think so.

The reason he isn't playing much is that Tory Humphrey either is really doing well or somebody on the staff sees more in him than he's ever shown that I know of. I think Lee and both young guys stay with Humphrey having the inside track unless he plays himself out of a job.

hey texaspackerbacker has bennett started playing well of late?.. last i remember hearing he was being talked bad about by not putting forth the effort and not having the killer instict or something like that... i heard it on the ticket... i even think some of his fellow teammates didn't think highly of him at all... this might have changed lately, thats just what i heard...

[BF4MVP]

tough to break into a 13-3 team anyway you slice it.
Agreed.

[KYPack]

Bubba stuck around as long as he did solely on his blocking ability. Doesn't surprise me if Finely sits a while. On the other hand though, he is essentially a huge WR at this point so I would be surprised to see him on some of the WR packages where he could cause match-up problems for DBs.

Lee is no great shakes as a blocker either. Finley's role this year if he justifies it in practice, will be in a two tight end scenario. 6'5" and light he may be, but he still should be able to block better than the WR he comes in for. And having the ability to send two TEs deep from a running formation is something I really like the idea of. In obvious run situations--short yardage, etc., likely, Humphrey gets the call, but I think Finley will get some chances for big plays too.

Took Lee a good bit of time to learn how to block. He's adequate at blocking now. Finley blew his assignment last Friday in a 3 TE set. He admitted his technique is way off at this point. I'd like to see him used in the double and triple TE set, but just send him out on a route. This kid can make some plays for us if we use what he can do now. he's at least a year away from being effective at blocking an LB.

[SnakeLH2006]

Not too worried about this....A deep team drafts for potential, not starters....With all but 1 starter coming back (forget who that was, prob. not important :roll: ) they had no chance to unseat a starter, yet it is disappointing they haven't made an impact.

On the bright side, Finley goes from a 76 to an 85 in the 2nd year of my Packer franchise on Madden! LOL...he'll be ok, I'm sure the DE will too as our 3rd and 4th round picks have been gold the past 15 years.