BPA or Need - what did TT do?

[cheesner]

Who said they saw the Packers board; safe to say they had some access to inside members of the organization...possibly scouts

certainly better access to our homeristic speculation

Sounds like you're in the minority here, B.

Raji looks like the best player. He's a brute. I think he's the best player in this draft.

Yes, as usual I'm taking the anti homer view so I'm in the minority

But I'm happy with Raji; we would have all been happy with Raji a few months ago when we speculated how dam cool it would be if a great talent at a position of desperate need.

Your Crabtree homerism is forcing you to ignore the facts as they played out in reality.

No-one on the scouting staff is likely to leak real information to the press that could undermine waht the team actually wants to do one night before the draft. Believing that is either naivete or Crabby-envy.

so all of these sources that reported these things pre-draft are making 100% of it up ?

It only hurts the Packers to have this information out there. Therefore the Packers would likely not allow the truth to get out. The reports on what the Packer draft board look like are pure speculation.

I happen to know that Thompson will not allow any of his people to say anything about who they may select. Not the players, interenet rumor mongers, scouts from other teams, and certainly not the press. Thompson also refuses to do anything 'not above board' meaning no fake rumors or any form of deception.

[Bretsky]

How do you know the last two points to be true ?

[SnakeLH2006]

Yes, I didn't even want to get my hopes up about Raji. I thought there was no way he'd be there.


"Raji can play any way he wants to play," said Bill Polian, president of the Indianapolis Colts. "He's probably more like Sapp in a 350-pound body. Raji isn't that fast, but he's fast. Or he would be a moving-type nose tackle."

"This guy is more athletic than Gilbert Brown," Polian said. "He gets tired but he can rush the passer when he's geared up and fresh. He's a freak. But keep in mind that he's got a weight problem and it's always going to be there."

The squatty Raji, who stands 6 feet 1½ inches and weighed 330 pounds a month ago, is the only legitimate candidate to play nose tackle in the draft, according to Phil Savage, former general manager of the Cleveland Browns.

"Raji has a low center of gravity and can move up and down the line of scrimmage," Savage said. "I was really impressed with him."



Yeah. Raji is rare and unique. He instantly changes this defense. I like what Polian said best. Right now, Raji is best when he's rested and going at the QB. The guy is going to be tough to stop inside, especially since we have Pickett to keep him fresh. It's going to be like Jolly/Corey Williams of a couple years ago. Pickett is going to play base and Raji is going to terrorize the QB. As Raji loses his burst and quickness, he'll settle into an elite plugger at NT. Right now, I think he's an elite pass rusher inside and should be used as such.

Polian calls him a "freak". He's obviously one of the elite physical talents in this draft and he's great at football too. Like I said, I think he's the best player in this whole draft.

Unbelievable post JH. Word for word (without Snake's funny quips of course) this is exactly what I felt too. Good stuff. Raji is a rare freak, but I don't know about him looking like a weight issue dude. He looks like a muscled tree trunk. Far from "Gravy Train" Grady or even "Manboobs" Smith from this draft. Regardless of need, even, Snake had been eyeing this dude for the last year as a unique talent I didn't think we'd have a chance to nab at #9 (till the failed drug test thing came out)..then lock n' load baby!

[sharpe1027]

Yes, as usual I'm taking the anti homer view so I'm in the minority

But I'm happy with Raji; we would have all been happy with Raji a few months ago when we speculated how dam cool it would be if a great talent at a position of desperate need.

Funny how your view is anti-homer and anyone who disagrees is a homer. Basically you are the objective and anyone who disagrees is not objective and being a "homer." It may make you feel warm an fuzzy inside, but it doesn't make your position any more right.

I, for one, don't think that Raji is necessarily the best player in the draft. People who are saying that are pretending to know more than they do.

On the other side, IMO, a few pre-draft rumors don't outweigh the fact that they picked Raji. However, they pick with need as a consideration, always have, always will. Basically, they weighed all the factors and picked the player they thought would help them win. This discussion on whether or not Raji or Crabtree was "higher" is meaningless because THEY PLAY COMPLETELY DIFFERENT POSITIONS. The Packers don't use a vertical draft board, they rank players at each position and then use a horizontal selection process between the best player at each position. Inevitably that takes the position into account.

I frankly don't even understand what the argument is. They don't draft without considering "need." Never have, never will. What they won't do is draft a guy just because he plays position X. Common sense.

[Bretsky]

Yes, as usual I'm taking the anti homer view so I'm in the minority

But I'm happy with Raji; we would have all been happy with Raji a few months ago when we speculated how dam cool it would be if a great talent at a position of desperate need.

Funny how your view is anti-homer and anyone who disagrees is a homer. Basically you are the objective and anyone who disagrees is not objective and being a "homer." It may make you feel warm an fuzzy inside, but it doesn't make your position any more right.

I, for one, don't think that Raji is necessarily the best player in the draft. People who are saying that are pretending to know more than they do.

On the other side, IMO, a few pre-draft rumors don't outweigh the fact that they picked Raji. However, they pick with need as a consideration, always have, always will. Basically, they weighed all the factors and picked the player they thought would help them win. This discussion on whether or not Raji or Crabtree was "higher" is meaningless because THEY PLAY COMPLETELY DIFFERENT POSITIONS. The Packers don't use a vertical draft board, they rank players at each position and then use a horizontal selection process between the best player at each position. Inevitably that takes the position into account.

I frankly don't even understand what the argument is. They don't draft without considering "need." Never have, never will. What they won't do is draft a guy just because he plays position X. Common sense.

Great Post

I would not consider everyone who disagrees with me a homer though. I thought you gave a very well balanced view and I would not consider that homerism.