Draft Prospects

[Smidgeon]

PFT is reporting these are the only known private workouts the Packers have conducted:

Green Bay Packers
*Baylor cornerback Antareis Bryan (3/23).
*East Carolina offensive tackle Willie Young (3/?).

Any info/opinions on either of them?

[red]

PFT is reporting these are the only known private workouts the Packers have conducted:

Green Bay Packers
*Baylor cornerback Antareis Bryan (3/23).
*East Carolina offensive tackle Willie Young (3/?).

Any info/opinions on either of them?

can't find much on either one. bryan is a speedster at 6-1, who's pretty much been injured the last 2 seasons

i can't find squat on willie young

i'm guessing this is how TT finds those late round/undrafted gems

[swede]

What is Green Bay's track record for actually drafting the kids they work out?

[Lurker64]

What is Green Bay's track record for actually drafting the kids they work out?

Not very good. Green Bay uses their visits differently than other squads. TT just uses them to fill in his scouting reports on the guys he doesn't have enough information about, so he can accurately place them on his board. Mostly this is more so you don't overrate somebody more than anything else.

IIRC though, they did have T.J. Lang in for a visit the year they drafted him. So it's not automatically the kiss of death. It's just not a good indicator of 'the Packers love you' (not that being picked in the fourth round isn't love).

[sharpe1027]

Not very good. Green Bay uses their visits differently than other squads. TT just uses them to fill in his scouting reports on the guys he doesn't have enough information about, so he can accurately place them on his board. Mostly this is more so you don't overrate somebody more than anything else.

IIRC though, they did have T.J. Lang in for a visit the year they drafted him. So it's not automatically the kiss of death. It's just not a good indicator of 'the Packers love you' (not that being picked in the fourth round isn't love).

That sounds like an indication that they hadn't yet bothered getting much information on them, which might suggest that they weren't very high on their radar.

[Smidgeon]

Not very good. Green Bay uses their visits differently than other squads. TT just uses them to fill in his scouting reports on the guys he doesn't have enough information about, so he can accurately place them on his board. Mostly this is more so you don't overrate somebody more than anything else.

IIRC though, they did have T.J. Lang in for a visit the year they drafted him. So it's not automatically the kiss of death. It's just not a good indicator of 'the Packers love you' (not that being picked in the fourth round isn't love).

Do they sign a few of these guys as undrafted free agents, or does TT tend to not bring those guys in either? I'm guessing the latter.

[Lurker64]

Do they sign a few of these guys as undrafted free agents, or does TT tend to not bring those guys in either? I'm guessing the latter.

I don't have a strong enough recollection either of which guys the Packers have brought in as UDFAs that didn't end up making the team, nor of which guys they brought in for visits to really comment exactly.

My guess is that there's not a strong correlation, particularly since guys you "target" as undrafted free agents may well end up electing to go elsewhere or may end up getting drafted in the 7th (maybe even by you) to prevent the former. If I recall correctly, teams will often spend a late 7th on a player that is ranked lower on their board that they don't think they can sign as an undrafted free agent over a higher ranked player that they are pretty confident they can sign as an undrafted free agent. Of course, this year (ceteris paribus), there won't be undrafted free agency after the draft so who knows.

[RashanGary]

My understanding is the Packers don't, "target" specific players. They have a draft board that goes very deep, but they don't pick out certain players they intend to draft. I guess if higher rated players are targets, sure. The #1 player on their board is their #1 target and then down the list with need tipping the scale if quality is equal. Typically it's in tiers so you could define the player they need most in a particular tier as someone they would hope is available in that tier. I don't think they go about building their board with a few key players in mind though. They structure the whole thing diligently, from top down.

As far as how they use visits, I've heard Thompson quoted as saying they use the visits to get more information on draftable players who didn't attend the combine or for whatever reason the Packers don't have the amount of info they would like (medical info, just meeting the player, workout maybe)

It seems they are doing due diligence on a few draftable players they need info on. If the board falls with these guys as best available, the info gathered makes that decision as educated and solid as possible. So really, there is no more chance they take these guys than any other team, but they probably do consider them draftable or they wouldn't waste their time.

[Lurker64]

Well, when I say you have a guy "targeted" at a certain level (UDFA, first round, whatever) what I mean is that "they have that grade on them."

I understand that Ted Thompson lays out his board as follows. Every position is ranked from the top prospect to the last prospect at that position you'd actually consider. Each position makes up a column on the board. Across the board zig-zaggey horizontal lines separate tiers of players that you have a certain grade on, e.g. "high first", "second round", "third round" or however you want to lay out the tiers, and guys are crossed out as they are picked. This seems to be an efficient way to convey a lot of information at a glance (what positions are pretty picked over, where the most value is, etc.)

[Guiness]

No UDFA's this year. I have to think that affects draft strategy.

I can see some teams trying to trade for more picks in the 7th round, so they can have the rights to more guys that they normally would've tried to land as FA's.

[Tarlam!]

My understanding is the Packers don't, "target" specific players. They have a draft board that goes very deep, but they don't pick out certain players they intend to draft. I guess if higher rated players are targets, sure. The #1 player on their board is their #1 target and then down the list with need tipping the scale if quality is equal. Typically it's in tiers so you could define the player they need most in a particular tier as someone they would hope is available in that tier. I don't think they go about building their board with a few key players in mind though. They structure the whole thing diligently, from top down.

As far as how they use visits, I've heard Thompson quoted as saying they use the visits to get more information on draftable players who didn't attend the combine or for whatever reason the Packers don't have the amount of info they would like (medical info, just meeting the player, workout maybe)

It seems they are doing due diligence on a few draftable players they need info on. If the board falls with these guys as best available, the info gathered makes that decision as educated and solid as possible. So really, there is no more chance they take these guys than any other team, but they probably do consider them draftable or they wouldn't waste their time.

IMHO, this post fully nails the way TT goes about drafting.