This is why it chaps my a$$ with all of the Packer trade

[SudsMcBucky]

downs by TT. This article makes a quote that echoes statements I've made about this before. Trade downs are a great strategy when you're trying to build a team and have a lot of holes to fill, but not when you're quite deep at a lot of positions. At that point, you should be picking HIGH level talent. The following comment comes from that article:

"The proof will be in the competition, which starts with a rookie camp this weekend. But one sign of where the Packers stand is that all of the rookies, except perhaps those taken in the first three rounds, are going to have to fight hard to make the team." http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=744290

If the team is so deep at various positions that it will be very difficult for anyone outside the first 3 rounds to make the team, why would you trade down in those first 3 rounds for extra 4-7 round picks, when, in reality, the odds of them making the team aren't great. If you're now trying to build high-end quality depth or just trying to plug a couple of holes, wouldn't your strategy now switch to maybe trading up and giving up those lower round picks, or at least standing pat?

I dunno, maybe that's why I'm not an NFL GM, though.

[Tarlam!]

Well, I am not TT, but this is EXACTLY what I was thinking going into the draft.

I give TT Kudos for landing a 6th for next year - great move! Let's not forget our starting RB cost us a 6th!

Some of the draftees may only be PS material. We currently have TEN WR's on the roster. 10!!

I still like our draft after it's all said and done. And, I am not TT.

[vince]

We did trade up to get Jeremy Thompson, who Ted clearly liked. The trade down to get Nelson (who's a sure bet to make the team) netted the opportunity to trade up at that spot (to get the coveted DE) without losing out on another chance to add value later on. The trade downs in the fifth were just gaining another opportunity to hit late when - even if we'd have sat tight - the player chosen would not be assured of anything. Better to have two flyers than one at that point.

[SkinBasket]

The other point that's been made about Ted's draft philosophy is the belief that evaluating talent that translates to the NFL is not easy. Just because you pick a guy in round 3 does not mean he's going to be a better player than the player drafted in the 7th. The more picks you have, the better chance of finding NFL talent, not just drafting college talent.

That and it's not like they missed out on a given player by trading down that was any more a sure thing than what they ended up drafting later. For all we know Ted got every player he wanted, but he took them where he could and picked up extra picks instead of taking the same player 10 spots earlier.

[The Leaper]

Thompson played this draft perfectly, Suds.

The top 100 guys were where the very good talent was accumulated this year...which is why Thompson traded down to acquire an additional 4th round pick that allowed him to move back up and grab a 5th guy in the top 102 picks. The chances are extremely high that all 5 of those players make the final roster. Nelson, Brohm, Lee and Finley are all but guaranteed roster spots...and Thompson clearly has an extremely good chance of sticking as well.

We only had 4 picks after that, one of which was a compensatory that we had to take.

I don't see how anyone could make the case that Thompson foolishly stockpiled picks late at the expense of landing good talent. With an extremely low pick in the 1st round as your strongest ammo, it can be very difficult to acquire talent...yet Thompson came up with some very strong players by stockpiling in the 2nd and 4th rounds and targeting that 50-100 region as being where the best value in the draft would assemble.

The best way to build a team is through competition...having other guys there fighting for the same job means it is far more likely that hard working, hard nosed players will be the ones that ultimately come out on top in a position to succeed. The Patriots have been doing that for almost 10 years now...which is why their team has been the strongest over the course of that decade.

[Patler]

Not very many players selected in rounds 4-7 will make much of an impact, let alone have lengthy careers. Picking a good one is sort of luck based as skill. Identify players with potential, and then getting the right one from the group. As long as there are players the team likes and thinks MIGHT have a chance to succeed, picking 6 instead of 4 increases the possibility of finding a Donald Driver, Aaron Kampman, Scott Wells, Mark Tauscher, etc. You just never know when one of those player will turn up. All were considered longshots when drafted.

I think at the end of this draft, we saw TT had not much interest in any remaining players, so he traded a 7th this year for a 6th next year, thinking there might be better longshots next year in the 6th round than this year in the 7th.

[Guiness]

Vince and Skinny have it.

The guys drafted in the first two rounds have been heavily scouted so moving out of that range decreases your chances of a hit. You could even argue that about a 3rd rounder (like our new TE).

But the difference between a 4th and a 7th rounder? I don't believe you're getting less of a player at one end than the other, and might as well bring in more guys to evaluate while playing against NFL caliber talent.

[Merlin]

We don't have a lot of depth on our team. At WR, sure but the talent level severely falls off after the top 4-5 WR's. We lost a DT and we need a good full time DE and more depth at DE. We have nothing to back up our LB's & CB's. Our offensive line is set at tackle but not even close at guard as we don't have anyone on the team who should be starting at guard in the NFL right now. We have Grant and hopefully he isn't a one year wonder. I don't think he is and we really have no one proven behind him accept Herron and he will more then likely be cut in favor of the often injured Wynn and Jackson who did have a strong showing at the end of the season. We have nothing as far as QB goes and we all know that one TE isn't going to cut it. I think Nelson is a little short for TE but he "looks" solid enough to be a blocker, maybe a few more pounds. He definitely has the speed.

All in all I think Thompson finally wised up and did the smarter things in this draft, like not taking a player too high who wasn't deserving of that pick. Like stock piling picks and taking your chances on sheer numbers over that one player's questionable quality. Once you get past the first round, the money looks a lot better too. The Packers got burned by Mandarich years ago and you would have thought that other teams would have learned that lesson. You don't overpay for a lineman because you need five of them to work together to make it work. One lineman alone cannot change a team.

I was surprised at how many Badgers got drafted because they really had no standout players that graduated. Good football players though.

[SkinBasket]

We don't have a lot of depth on our team...

Looks like this off season will be filled with just as much intelligent conversation as last year. Nothing against you personally Merlin, since I know you're a bit sensitive about your opinions and all.

[The Leaper]

We don't have a lot of depth on our team.

Please name 10 teams with better depth top to bottom in the league...if ours is so damned horrid.

[Merlin]

We don't have depth on our team. Thus the argument for stockpiling picks. It's obvious we aren't going to go sign a bunch of FA's. Come regular season I fully expect us to finally have some depth at positions we don't now. I also expect some of our picks won't be playing the position they were drafted as. It's just a counter argument to the draft mentality this season. I agree with what Thompson did. I may not have traded up but I am not pissed about it. He saw something and leveraged it. Can't argue with that. You can argue on BPA but that BPA is who Thompson believes is BPA on his board. That doesn't mean they are the "real" BPA and I will always have contention with Thompson for not clearly defining his blanket BPA statements.

[The Leaper]

We don't have depth on our team. Thus the argument for stockpiling picks.

We didn't stockpile picks. We only took 9 players...fewest of the Thompson era so far. More than half of those picks were in the first 102. I wonder how many other teams stuck in position #30 have drafted five guys in the top 102 in the last few decades.

[Merlin]

We don't have a lot of depth on our team.

Please name 10 teams with better depth top to bottom in the league...if ours is so damned horrid.

Please name me 10 teams that are younger then ours...

Wait, you can't. End of discussion, now go pick an argument with someone else.

Once again, don't read the entire thread, or hell even what I said in it's entirety. This shit is really old.

[Merlin]

We don't have depth on our team. Thus the argument for stockpiling picks.

We didn't stockpile picks. We only took 9 players...fewest of the Thompson era so far. More than half of those picks were in the first 102.

No shit sherlock. Read what is written and take your blind hatred somewhere else.

[The Leaper]

Please name me 10 teams that are younger then ours...

Has nothing to do with depth, which is why you changed the topic. Young teams can still have strong depth.

If you said we aren't high on experience, I'd agree with you. Claiming we don't have depth is off the mark.