Who Should TT Draft 1st Round?

[Maxie the Taxi]

What if that Charles Brown slips to the second round? Or is there someone else to consider further down the line at OT?

To tell you the truth if TT is set on drafting an O-lineman with the 23rd pick or later, I won't have anything to say about it one way or the other. The only one I've seen play is Pouncey.

That Ciron Black will probably be gone before we get a shot. I don't get why they say he can't play LT, that's been his position. I saw him a bit last season. One game, he dominated. The next, he disappeared.

I agreee with your posts above. I can't say I can evaluated college boy OT's either. The pro scouts didn't do that good, either. Jason Smith was supposed to be sure fire, he had a very spotty rookie year. The only OT rookie that really shined last season was Oher.

OT and safety would have to be our focus, so therefore I KNOW TT will draft a WR.

Honestly, if the value is that much better than anyone else available, I personally think a stud WR to play (in the future) opposite GJ is a need. DD isn't getting any younger and three excellent skill position players receiving the ball (GJ, JF, and the yet unselected WR to replace DD) would make the offense even more unstoppable. That is, if the offense can be any more unstoppable...

But I agree, value being the same, I would prefer to see an LT or S I can get excited about. Heck. I don't even care about what position the guy plays. I just want a player I can get excited about.

It seems the "sure bet" OT's go in the first round. They're usually big school, big name guys. Then, in the 2nd/3rd rounds the small school, high potential guys go. (I think that's where we got Sitton.) In the 4th and beyond are the real pot luck guys like Barbre. But O-lineman are a crapshoot.

As far as safeties go, the only one that worries me is Taylor Mays. He could be over-hyped and turn out a bust. Bad news, esp. if a #1 pick. I'd sooner go with a real ball player, like Javier Arenas and turn him into a safety ala Leroy Butler (Arenas reminds me a lot of Butler).

There are a number of good WR's. Damian Williams really fits the Packers' needs. He's fast, good run after catch and, best of all, he's been called the best route runner in the college game. But we could probably pickup a WR with potential in later rounds too.

All this makes me think TT will draft a RB!

[packrulz]

I agree with you, packrulz, it's a bit early to get excited. However, even after the combine, who knows about offensive linemen? There are plenty of problems evaluating OL prospects:

1) There's not a lot of film available to the public (youtube, etc.) on O-linemen;

2) Even if there were film, most of us (me included) are not technically smart enough to evaluate it properly;

3) The biggest problem with following scouting reports online is that they seem pretty good at comparing and ranking prospects within their class year, but few if any rank them with current NFL players. So a particular tackle might be the best of this year's crop, but not good enough to start in the NFL, let alone become an all-pro.

Most of us can evaluate skill-position players pretty good because there's a lot of film available and most of us can recognize a speedy back or receiver who's elusive and has good hands.

Unlike us, the NFL team scouts are pretty good evaluators of O-line talent though. If a lot of tackles go in the first round, you can bet the talent available is on a parr with current NFL talent. If only one or two tackles are selected in the first round, the talent available isn't too good.

Good point Max, and even the scouts are wrong sometimes. Two ex Wisconsin Badgers come to mind that were undrafted, Jim Leonhard (safety, Jets) and Jonathan Casillas, (WLB, Super Bowl bound Saints), and ended up not only making the team but playing a lot. Plus, TT has been drafting O-lineman, sometimes it takes time for them to develop, like with Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera.

[Fritz]

That's the thing about offensive linemen; if you draft one in the first round you can't get too excited about the first year because unless the name is Joe Thomas it takes time. It's not like the impact a Clay Mathews can visibly have, either - if an o-lineman is doing his job you don't hear anything.

[Bretsky]

That's the thing about offensive linemen; if you draft one in the first round you can't get too excited about the first year because unless the name is Joe Thomas it takes time. It's not like the impact a Clay Mathews can visibly have, either - if an o-lineman is doing his job you don't hear anything.

Michael Oher had a pretty dang good first year; my view is that the guys who play at big time programs are more apt to be ready for the big show

The projects that come from smaller schools and have upside often take some time. There are examples to support and refute that but generally on the OL I think that will ring true quite often.

[Lurker64]

Michael Oher had a pretty dang good first year; my view is that the guys who play at big time programs are more apt to be ready for the big show

Baylor (Jason Smith) isn't really that much less of the "big time" than Ole Miss (Oher) is. They're both bottom-feeder schools in top conferences.

[packrulz]

Michael Oher had a pretty dang good first year; my view is that the guys who play at big time programs are more apt to be ready for the big show

Baylor (Jason Smith) isn't really that much less of the "big time" than Ole Miss (Oher) is. They're both bottom-feeder schools in top conferences.

Ditto for Joe Thomas & Mark Taucher (Wisconsin)

[Maxie the Taxi]

That's the thing about offensive linemen; if you draft one in the first round you can't get too excited about the first year because unless the name is Joe Thomas it takes time. It's not like the impact a Clay Mathews can visibly have, either - if an o-lineman is doing his job you don't hear anything.

Michael Oher had a pretty dang good first year; my view is that the guys who play at big time programs are more apt to be ready for the big show

The projects that come from smaller schools and have upside often take some time. There are examples to support and refute that but generally on the OL I think that will ring true quite often.

I think you're right. That's why you rarely see a small school O-lineman taken in the first round.

[KYPack]

You know, I hope we have our eye on some good OLineman that run slow 40's and can't lift well. That way, we'll gettem with lower picks. I mean, who cares how fast Lang ran a 40 or how many reps he did? The kid turned out to be a pretty good player. That shit has very little to do with actual performance.

Last year, Cincy got Rey Malaluega with a second round pick. He played poorly in the Senior Bowl and screwed up the 40 at the combine. nobody cares about that now, but they got a first round guy with a second round pick.

I hope we have our eye on some top talent and they do the same. Then turn out to be rookie terrors. We had a great draft last year. One more like it could put us over the top.

[Maxie the Taxi]

You know, I hope we have our eye on some good OLineman that run slow 40's and can't lift well. That way, we'll gettem with lower picks. I mean, who cares how fast Lang ran a 40 or how many reps he did? The kid turned out to be a pretty good player. That shit has very little to do with actual performance.

Last year, Cincy got Rey Malaluega with a second round pick. He played poorly in the Senior Bowl and screwed up the 40 at the combine. nobody cares about that now, but they got a first round guy with a second round pick.

I hope we have our eye on some top talent and they do the same. Then turn out to be rookie terrors. We had a great draft last year. One more like it could put us over the top.

I agree with that sentiment, KY. I was thinking about starting a thread on that subject: How much stock do we put in "measurables" vs "gamesmanship? I think Javier Arenas is a perfect example of a guy who will have (probably) poor measurables but is a flat out player of the game who has been underestimated by scouts his entire career -- starting at high school. Yet, you pull up film of him on Youtube -- even high school film -- and it's obvious the kid knows and loves football...a natural. He outplayed all the high-measurable guys at the Senior Bowl. Some guys are just football fast and football smart.

I think I read in a scouting report that one player (I think it was Carlos Dunlap, a DE out of Florida) was inconsistent because there was some question whether he really enjoyed playing football!!! Damn, if I was a scout I'd really be wary of a guy like that. Football is an emotional game and "heart" counts almost as much as physique in my book.

There are countless guys in the NFL who shouldn't be there on paper, but the game isn't played on paper. It's played on a field. So I'd watch film of the guy in action and put more stock in what I see on film than what I see on a stopwatch.

[Fritz]

Waldo is fond of pointing out that TT is perhaps more interested in numbers than we think.

Who was that third round middle linebacker from Iowa a few years back - a terror on the field for the Hawkeyes, but with some so-so measureables. But he was a football player and we - myself included - loved that.

I dunno. I frankly know just enough about drafting to complain bitterly post hoc while forgetting, years later, all the mistakes I would've made.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Waldo is fond of pointing out that TT is perhaps more interested in numbers than we think.

Who was that third round middle linebacker from Iowa a few years back - a terror on the field for the Hawkeyes, but with some so-so measureables. But he was a football player and we - myself included - loved that.

I dunno. I frankly know just enough about drafting to complain bitterly post hoc while forgetting, years later, all the mistakes I would've made.

Abdul Hodge. I loved the guy and was shocked he wasn't better. Maybe injuries got him.

[KYPack]

Waldo is fond of pointing out that TT is perhaps more interested in numbers than we think.

Who was that third round middle linebacker from Iowa a few years back - a terror on the field for the Hawkeyes, but with some so-so measureables. But he was a football player and we - myself included - loved that.

I dunno. I frankly know just enough about drafting to complain bitterly post hoc while forgetting, years later, all the mistakes I would've made.

Abdul Hodge. I loved the guy and was shocked he wasn't better. Maybe injuries got him.

Couldn't cover, then tore up his knee.

He plays for Cincy now.

Back-up LB at a couple spots and ST.

He is just now learning to cover. Greenway was defintely the guy from that team. I like Hodge, but he didn't have the cover skills.

[MadtownPacker]

Waldo is fond of pointing out ...

And you are fond of pointing out what he is fond of points out like some kind of groupie. Get a grip.

As long as he drafts a Fresno St player I dont give a fuck. But OL and CB are priority.

[KYPack]

Waldo is fond of pointing out ...

And you are fond of pointing out what he is fond of points out like some kind of groupie. Get a grip.

As long as he drafts a Fresno St player I dont give a fuck. But OL and CB are priority.

Hell yeah! Send us a Bulldog, Maddog.

That FS defense could really swarm. They got anybody that would help the Pack?

[ND72]

For the first time I think we're in a very good spot draft wise. We have a ton of ways we can look at our draft. As far as I'm concerned, we should have 22 starters coming back next year. You either take the best player at your spot, or, if there is a guy you want, you go get him. We continue to backload this team, and have our depth continue to grow and grow.

I would love for us to find a stud LT, a new starter at SS, another OLB, and a stud athlete to put anywhere and everywhere on offense, and another guy we could put anywhere on the DL.

#1 - LT
#2 - SS
#3 - OLB
#4 - Athlete
#5 - DL

That's my dream list.