The gamble to keep two young QB's instead of a journeyman

[RashanGary]

Now we have two guys who will have full seasons under their belt. They both have upside. They will both have the opportunity to get their fundamentals down in the off season. They'll both have the opportunity to get a firm grasp of the offense in the off season. One (or both) could turn into starting quarterbacks.

[HarveyWallbangers]

It would have been ugly if Rodgers hadn't gotten hurt, but it should benefit these two guys. Both might have a future in the NFL.

[PackerTimer]

Now we have two guys who will have full seasons under their belt. They both have upside. They will both have the opportunity to get their fundamentals down in the off season. They'll both have the opportunity to get a firm grasp of the offense in the off season. One (or both) could turn into starting quarterbacks.

There is nothing that anybody would have seen from Brohm or Flynn that could lead them to say they won't be good QB's. They both might have looked terrible but then again so do 90% of rookie QB's in this league. Rodgers didn't look great in his first couple years. Drew Brees looked awful for his first year or two. You just can't make judgments on a QB after one preseason. So yes, I would say the gamble paid off.

[LL2]

Can TT get another 2nd rd pick out of either Brohm or Flynn? It would great to have a 1st rd top 10 pick and 3 2nd rd picks. But knowing TT he would probably trade them all for the entire 7th rd.

[MTPackerfan]

At the start of the year I was all for getting a veteran back up but now I don't think it is quite as important. They will be able to go through all the mini-camps and both should be better next year, plus Rodgers will be seasoned next year.

[BF4MVP]

They both looked lost most of the time when they played (both in the preseason and Flynn filling in for Rodgers against Tampa) but they both did show flashes. A-Rod didn't look good his rookie year either, but he was able to improve immensely without much game experience. We'll see if these guys can do that. I'm hopeful that they will have improved over this offseason enough to at least give us a shot in a game if Rodgers goes down (knock on wood). Neither of them would have done that this year. We'll see how much they can improve and hopefully eventually we can unload 'em for some nice picks to a team that needs a starter.

So, yeah, I'll vote yes. We didn't really have to use 'em this year because A-Rod was able to play through a fairly serious injury, so it didn't matter that there were two rookies backing him up.

[Brohm]

It was a huge risk going into the season, but one that turned out to be a non-issue given the failure at other areas of the team. Rodgers has shown capable of playing through injuries (for better or worse) and I think next year we'll see significant development from the two rookies (well what we can glean from preseason anyways). If Rodgers keeps developing like he should, these two will be nice trade bait down the road (as long as he keeps bringing in good young talent to develop behind them).

[RashanGary]

Another advantage if one of these guys turns into a legit pro, we could lose Rodgers (and we will at some point) and still win games. If it's a great year and one of these guys turns out as good as Rodgers, we could just move on with no drop off and finish the year with a championship. If we ever did build a great defense, you hate to not win a SB because your QB gets injured (and it happens all of the time).

[red]

i really wish we hadn't drafted brohm, not because he didn't look good, but because we didn't need another high draft pick spent on a qb. it was a quality draft pick, and its clear we still need a lot of quality players on this team. that was a very important and valuable draft pick

TT and the coaches already decided that rodgers was the man. we heard all about it during the favre fiasco. we were going in a different direction and we were gearing the offense for rodgers. he was going to be our starter no matter what this year.

so way waste a very high pick on a guy that had no chance of starting?

to me, TT just threw away that pick. just like he did when he drafted swain, when there was no way in hell that he was going to keep him with all the talent we already had at wr.

to me we would have been better off drafteing someone else at a position of need in the second round and bringing in a journeyman vet to back up rodgers and help him learn.

[Bretsky]

i really wish we hadn't drafted brohm, not because he didn't look good, but because we didn't need another high draft pick spent on a qb. it was a quality draft pick, and its clear we still need a lot of quality players on this team. that was a very important and valuable draft pick

TT and the coaches already decided that rodgers was the man. we heard all about it during the favre fiasco. we were going in a different direction and we were gearing the offense for rodgers. he was going to be our starter no matter what this year.

so way waste a very high pick on a guy that had no chance of starting?

to me, TT just threw away that pick. just like he did when he drafted swain, when there was no way in hell that he was going to keep him with all the talent we already had at wr.

to me we would have been better off drafteing someone else at a position of need in the second round and bringing in a journeyman vet to back up rodgers and help him learn.

ditto

[GrnBay007]

TT and the coaches already decided that rodgers was the man. we heard all about it during the favre fiasco. we were going in a different direction and we were gearing the offense for rodgers. he was going to be our starter no matter what this year.

so way waste a very high pick on a guy that had no chance of starting?



Maybe he was more hell bent on going in a new direction, then he was confident in Rodgers.

Kinda looks that way.

[RashanGary]

Maybe they really like Brian Brohm. Maybe they thought he would compete with Rodgers eventually and even might feel like the backup QB is important, in itself.

[Bretsky]

From listening to the interviews it appears TT really liked Brohm and thought he was a 1st round caliber guy. Remember Rodgers looked like crap in year one as well. He may turn out.

With that being said, I too was hoping we'd go with a DL and bring in a backup. We could still have ended up with Flynn.

[red]

From listening to the interviews it appears TT really liked Brohm and thought he was a 1st round caliber guy. Remember Rodgers looked like crap in year one as well. He may turn out.

With that being said, I too was hoping we'd go with a DL and bring in a backup. We could still have ended up with Flynn.

this is the problem with putting on the blinders and just picking BPA.

IMO, we had much bigger needs then jordy nelson for our #4 wr and brohm with our first 2 picks

i'll admit jordy has looked good this year, but we already had 3 guys on the roster that were capable, 5 if you include ruvells solid play and k-rod. we had much much much greater needs then another wr and young qb

thats why i say, yes you draft BPA, but you do it for a position of need. IMO wr, and qb were not positions of need in the last draft

[Bretsky]

From listening to the interviews it appears TT really liked Brohm and thought he was a 1st round caliber guy. Remember Rodgers looked like crap in year one as well. He may turn out.

With that being said, I too was hoping we'd go with a DL and bring in a backup. We could still have ended up with Flynn.

this is the problem with putting on the blinders and just picking BPA.

IMO, we had much bigger needs then jordy nelson for our #4 wr and brohm with our first 2 picks

i'll admit jordy has looked good this year, but we already had 3 guys on the roster that were capable, 5 if you include ruvells solid play and k-rod. we had much much much greater needs then another wr and young qb

thats why i say, yes you draft BPA, but you do it for a position of need. IMO wr, and qb were not positions of need in the last draft

Well, we kind of did need a good backup because we didn't get a vet....boy would Keller have looked good in that offense though.

[DonHutson]

It paid off due to the toughness of Rodgers, and in a twisted way because the season went down the tubes and playing a rookie at any point in the past month wouldn't have made a difference.

I maintain that Ted made the Brohm pick because he thought Brohm would be better immediately than any vet that was available. That was clearly incorrect.

But if Rodgers had gone down most of the same crappy vets would've been there in mid-season that were there in the off-season (yeah you, Duante), so I guess that's another way it was a decent gamble.

[MadScientist]

It may be better for the future, but had there been a serviceable journeyman QB on the roster, they might have sat Rodgers for a week or two after his shoulder injury. This would have let it heal better / faster, and possibly given them a chance against TB.

[bobblehead]

From listening to the interviews it appears TT really liked Brohm and thought he was a 1st round caliber guy. Remember Rodgers looked like crap in year one as well. He may turn out.

With that being said, I too was hoping we'd go with a DL and bring in a backup. We could still have ended up with Flynn.

this is the problem with putting on the blinders and just picking BPA.

IMO, we had much bigger needs then jordy nelson for our #4 wr and brohm with our first 2 picks

i'll admit jordy has looked good this year, but we already had 3 guys on the roster that were capable, 5 if you include ruvells solid play and k-rod. we had much much much greater needs then another wr and young qb

thats why i say, yes you draft BPA, but you do it for a position of need. IMO wr, and qb were not positions of need in the last draft

And DL wasn't a position of need when we drafted Harell.

[gbgary]

nobody really knew what AR was gonna be like so the picks didn't surprise me at all. they need to decide which to keep and trade the other.

[texaspackerbacker]

Nice poll results so far.

We haven't needed a backup of either kind up to now. It would take three things to occur for the strategy to be bad: 1 Rodgers getting hurt, 2 That happening when the Packers were in the running for the playoffs, and 3 Flynn and Brohm to both have their chance and flop.

The likely goal and the likely end result of all this is for one or even both of these two to bring a decent draft choice in trade--like Brunell, Hasselbeck, I think Aaron Brooks, etc.

[Pugger]

At the time of the draft we needed a backup QB. TT and MM weren't enchanted by any of the FA vets out there after they took a peek at Daunte evidently. When it came time to make the pick TT took the BPA according to his board and I remember a lot of fans were intrigued by Brohm and thought it was a great pick that day. He and Matt struggled as most rookie QBs do. They should improve with an offseason in MM's QB school.

[DonHutson]

And DL wasn't a position of need when we drafted Harell.

But we sure needed him this year. And with Jones hurt most of the year, it was great having Nelson available.

You draft a guy for (hopefully) the next 5 years or more. It will likely take the guy a year or two (or more) to really become effective. Meanwhile, needs change radically every year.

So if you pass on better players to fill an immediate need with a lesser player that probably won't be ready to play immediately anyway - that's like the little Dutch boy sticking his fingers in the dike to stop the flood. Just get the best players and build a better wall in the first place.

Now obviously that needs to be tempered by common sense. You can't just keep picking the same position year after year. I don't think Ted has done that. His first and second round picks have been: QB, S, WR, LB, WR, G, DT, RB, WR, QB, CB

So he's spread his top picks around pretty successfully, when you consider the first WR on the list was Terrence Murphy.

[RashanGary]

Nice post, DH. Using that logic (which I think is sound and right up TT's alley) I would think the player we pick could be one of several position.

OC, P and K are almost never high first round picks
S, OG and TE are rarely high first rounder
WR and QB we really don't need right now


Of the positions that tend to be highly valued by NFL GM's, I think we need a few more than others. These would be positions that need woudl break the tie breaker. They are: (best odds but based on availablity in the draft)

DE
DT
OT
CB

Then, if there is a superstud at an unusual position there would be a chance at: (also good chances but based on availablity and these positions don't tend to be valued as highly by most GM's and we have a high pick)

TE
S
OG

Then I think it would go to a position we really don't need but TT can't find a trading partner and believes very strongly in one guy over another. In this case we could get: (positions that are often taken high but we don't need. Ted is stubborn enough to take one of if he thinks he has a Randy Moss or Peyton Manning)

WR
QB

The only positions I really don't think we'll draft with a high pick because nothing worthy will be available are:

K
P
OC

[RashanGary]

At the end of the day, I guess it could be jsut about anyone, but tie breakers and deduction can give us better odds for some psoitions than others.

[DonHutson]

Yeah, looking at the (very) early draft boards, DL or OT seem to offer the best confluence of quality and need.

That TE from Oklahoma could be a dark horse candidate. I would hate to miss out on a good pass rusher for a TE, but that guy is an all-around beast.

[Bretsky]

And DL wasn't a position of need when we drafted Harell.

But we sure needed him this year. And with Jones hurt most of the year, it was great having Nelson available.

You draft a guy for (hopefully) the next 5 years or more. It will likely take the guy a year or two (or more) to really become effective. Meanwhile, needs change radically every year.

So if you pass on better players to fill an immediate need with a lesser player that probably won't be ready to play immediately anyway - that's like the little Dutch boy sticking his fingers in the dike to stop the flood. Just get the best players and build a better wall in the first place.

Now obviously that needs to be tempered by common sense. You can't just keep picking the same position year after year. I don't think Ted has done that. His first and second round picks have been: QB, S, WR, LB, WR, G, DT, RB, WR, QB, CB

So he's spread his top picks around pretty successfully, when you consider the first WR on the list was Terrence Murphy.


Right when it happened I noted TT picked Harrell knowing he was not going to pay Corey Williams. Not sure how accurate that was but it looks like that is the way it ended up. Unfortunately Harrell has offered nothing to make up for the loss.

[Bretsky]

And DL wasn't a position of need when we drafted Harell.

But we sure needed him this year. And with Jones hurt most of the year, it was great having Nelson available.

You draft a guy for (hopefully) the next 5 years or more. It will likely take the guy a year or two (or more) to really become effective. Meanwhile, needs change radically every year.

So if you pass on better players to fill an immediate need with a lesser player that probably won't be ready to play immediately anyway - that's like the little Dutch boy sticking his fingers in the dike to stop the flood. Just get the best players and build a better wall in the first place.

Now obviously that needs to be tempered by common sense. You can't just keep picking the same position year after year. I don't think Ted has done that. His first and second round picks have been: QB, S, WR, LB, WR, G, DT, RB, WR, QB, CB

So he's spread his top picks around pretty successfully, when you consider the first WR on the list was Terrence Murphy.


LEAPER gets the kudos for that year

He wanted Reggie Nelson from the start and that looks to be the best guy selected around that area. Dude looks dam good :!:

[Fritz]

Can TT get another 2nd rd pick out of either Brohm or Flynn? It would great to have a 1st rd top 10 pick and 3 2nd rd picks. But knowing TT he would probably trade them all for the entire 7th rd.

Okay, LL, I'll tell you the same thing I told 007 who made a similar comment about TT loving seventh round picks at the expense of all else: TT has had more second round picks than in any other round, okay?