2010 NFL draft combine thread

[Smidgeon]

[quote:eb0e880e14="3irty1"]The combine is probably the most important event for any of these guys (save QBs, Kickers, Punters and such). The NFL draft is about potential and the combine tells us more about potential than anything else.

Disagree. Mostly because of what the source said to Peter King. If you're going into the combine without a clear idea (already) of who's better than whom, then I don't want you to be my team's GM.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...ons/index.html

Knowing whos better than whom is not the same as who's got more potential than whom. All of the mock drafts/big boards out there now take into account how people are expected to do at the combine. Meeting or exceeding expectations is the most important thing these individuals have to do once the season ends.

I agree that the combine is big for those players who will be drafted late. But I also believe the most important parts of the combine are the interviews and medical exams.

What? You think the combine is bigger for the second day guys than it is the first day guys? 6th and 7th rounders don't stand to lose millions. Yeah it might be more important from a GM or Mel Kiper standpoint where up until now you've only been able to do a 2 round mock draft at best. The combine is where the measurables are measured and that's pretty important when talking about prospects.

I'll quote the Florio line: "The only time a guy is going to use his 40 speed in a straight line is when something really good happens or really bad happens." A good GM has his board mostly set.

The reason I think the combine is more important for lower round picks is either because they came from a less competetive program and need the measurables to boost their stock or because they have to show they have the potential to do more than they did in school. The top prospects have already established their potential by performing in college.

The Combine is much more than a 40 time. Your 10 yard, bench press, jumps, cone tell just as much if not more depending on the position.

Top prospects also can have fall out of the first round based on a poor performance at the combine. Everett Brown, Dan Connor, and Dwayne Jarrett all come to mind.

And you think that scouts and GMs weren't aware of the limitations prior to the combine that dropped those pundits' "top picks" out of round 1? I think that as the offseason progresses and the combine and pro day and interviews progress, draft boards are being tweaked (and red flags can remove someone from a board entirely) but not overhauled. I think it'd be more accurate to say that it dropped those players from the pundits' round 1 mock drafts. My theory is that it's the armchair scouts' opinions and mock drafts that change the most and become closer to the professional scouts' opinions that already had the examples you mentioned downgraded from where Kiper was projecting.

Since none of us are professional scouts and it's all speculation anyway, both my theory and your theory fit the facts. But both viewpoints are unsubstantiated until you can study what personnel decision-makers are really thinking about prospects. The spreading of disinformation (see: Bush, Reggie vs Williams, Mario) means that we'll never know.

A lot of college players hire personal trainers to help them test well at the combine, there's a lot of money at stake. If the combine is so overrated, how come all 32 teams spend all that time and millions of dollars to have it?

Because it sells, and the NFL is a business.

How? TV ratings? No. T-shirts? No. Magazines? A few maybe.[/quote:eb0e880e14]

Brand awareness. Publicity. Fans care more about the combine each successive year. Kind of like the NFL Draft which has now become a prime time juggernaut. The more successfully you market a brand, the more fans feel invested. The more closely they follow events that don't sell tickets (like the draft and combine) the more connected they feel with their team. The more invested and connected they are, the more they identify as being a part of the team. The more they feel a part of a team, the more likely they're willing to spend money on tickets, jerseys, memorabilia, etc. It's an investment that is growing the sport into more than just a sport. Being an NFL fan is now a year-round hobby. How many other sports (in the US) have as rabid a fan base even in the offseason? That's what the NFL is selling.

[ThunderDan]

Brand awareness. Publicity. Fans care more about the combine each successive year. Kind of like the NFL Draft which has now become a prime time juggernaut. The more successfully you market a brand, the more fans feel invested. The more closely they follow events that don't sell tickets (like the draft and combine) the more connected they feel with their team. The more invested and connected they are, the more they identify as being a part of the team. The more they feel a part of a team, the more likely they're willing to spend money on tickets, jerseys, memorabilia, etc. It's an investment that is growing the sport into more than just a sport. Being an NFL fan is now a year-round hobby. How many other sports (in the US) have as rabid a fan base even in the offseason? That's what the NFL is selling.

I take a football nap until the week before the draft. Then I'll start to get interested again for about 2 week. Then a nap until training camp. OTAs and all are fun but you really don't get much information.

FA may attract my attention for about 3 days. After the big guys are signed, usually by 2 am, I don't really care.

Seeing is believing, and I get to see if I drive up for training camp practice or see the preseason games.

[Lurker64]

A lot of long-armed tackles this year.

Russel Okung 36"
Anthony Davis 36"
Bruce Campbell 36 1/4 "
Trent Williams 34 1/4"
Charles Brown 35 1/4"
Bryan Bulaga 33 1/4"

Compare some of last year's top guys:

Eben Britton - 32 3/4"
Eugene Monroe - 33 7/8"
Michael Oher - 33 1/2"
Jason Smith - 33 3/4"

Also, Charles Brown apparently put on 15 lbs to rocket up to 303. It'll be interesting to see if he maintains his athleticism.

[Iron Mike]

A lot of long-armed tackles this year.

Hillsdale College OT Jared Veldheer?

[Lurker64]

A lot of long-armed tackles this year.

Hillsdale College OT Jared Veldheer?

I think he measured 6081, 312, 33.

So, 6'8 1/4", 312 lbs, 33" arms.

[mission]

They're saying Campbell is going to be this year's Vernon Davis / Gholston as far as freak of nature, mega-workout monsters. The guy looks like a beast and probably won't drop to us if he runs well. Does that mean Bulaga will, or will him being a bit longer than Gallery was keep him right around his current projection? I know some scouts were thinking he had 32" or smaller arms...

Dang, I still don't know... so many guys I would be happy with and so many guys I will probably wish we had. Either way.

Intriguing draft fellas and fellerettes!

[packrulz]

By Pete Dougherty and Tom Pelissero • pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com, tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com • February 25, 2010

A Hillsdale man

Could Jared Veldheer become the second player from Hillsdale College in Michigan to play for the Packers? Maybe.

The first was kicker Chester Marcol, who was the Packers’ kicker from 1972 to 1980.

Veldheer is an interesting left tackle prospect out of Division II Hillsdale. He measured in Thursday at 6-feet-8 ¼ inches and 312 pounds, and over his college career he developed into a surprisingly athletic player considering his size and the level of football he played. The Packers are likely to draft a left-tackle prospect this year as a possible successor to Chad Clifton, whom they want to re-sign for at least one more season, and Veldheer is a player they’re surely looking at closely. He could be drafted as high as late in the second round.

At the combine Thursday, Veldheer said the first thing teams ask him in interviews is why he went to Hillsdale. He tells them that in the summer between his junior and senior years in high school in Grand Rapids, Mich., he attended some college-prospect camps but didn’t perform well because his high school ran the Wing T offense.

“All we did was down block, no pass sliding or anything,” he said, “so going to those camps with all that passing footwork and concepts foreign, I just tried to rely on basketball footwork, and I guess it didn’t go the way those bigger schools wanted it to. Kind of fell down their radar.”

He went to Hillsdale because he had a brother, Aaron, who played basketball there and enjoyed it.

Veldheer also said that coming out of high school he weighed only 255 pounds, could max bench press only his weight and ran the 40-yard dash in 5.5 seconds. Now he’s 312 pounds, has a max bench of 425 pounds, and in his workout this weekend expects to break 5.0 seconds in the 40, which is a superb time for a left tackle.

“I was familiar with the school, it was a great fit,” he said. “Liked the school’s values and the coaching staff there. It was a great decision.”

[packrulz]

Tackles to dominate early first round; Bryant a top-5 pick
By Mike Mayock | NFL Network
Green Bay: Protecting Rodgers

The logical guy for Green Bay who would probably be there at No. 23 is Bruce Campbell from Maryland. He's a junior that I thought should have stayed in school. I thought he really would have helped himself and been a potential high-level pick. The thing about him is he's very good in pass protection. And obviously with the age in the Packers' offensive line and a tremendous young quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, you've got to protect him.

Campbell is a guy who makes an awful lot of sense right there. But he's not a great run blocker. He's not a drive blocker. He's not an aggressive kid. He's much better kick sliding and protecting the quarterback, and actually that's what Green Bay needs.

If they don't go tackle with their top pick, I really think Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham might be there. He'll fit some teams and not others. He's got a great motor and an ability to rush the quarterback, and he's very stout against the run. Teams are going to ding him a little bit for his size and his arm length, but he passes all the smell tests on tape. He played really well against Bulaga from Iowa. And he had a tremendous Senior Bowl week

[Maxie the Taxi]

Jared Veldheer is projected to be picked around the 5th round. Guys like him are actually the reason I don't see TT picking a big-name OT with #23. There are guys like him down the board.

The thing you have to base your judgement on is not overall value, but MARGINAL value. Are guys like Bulaga or Trent Williams really so much better than guys like Veldheer that it justifies their choice.

From TT's point of view, if there isn't much marginal difference between a 1st rnd and 5th rnd pick, why go with the 1st. It's much much safer to go with the 5th.

Additionally, the marginal difference between what's available in a pass rusher at OLB or DE is huge between guys like Kindle and Graham in the 1st rnd compared to their 5th round counterparts. It's kind of a no brainer.

By the way, when Veldheer says that he "liked the school’s values" he's talking about the schools Christian/Libertarian bent. It's the only college in the country (I think) that refuses federal money of any kind just out of pinciple. The guy has solid character and attitude. IMO, he's Packer material.

[packrulz]

Mike McCarthy Press Conference Transcript - Feb. 26
posted 02/26/2010

(How have you divided your time down here so far?)
Well, I got in yesterday. I had an opportunity to go to the interviews last night, and I actually spent some time this morning on special teams, with our special teams play. Had a couple meetings this afternoon, and my favorite part of the day has arrived.

(Do you at this point have a sense of what you're going to do on the offensive line next season?)
You mean how we're going to line them up? I think it's too early to obviously set a starting lineup because, as much as I've talked about it the last four years, I'd like to have one set and like to see them practice together every day and play together all year. Obviously with Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher, with their situations, we're not ready to have a starting lineup yet.

(Have you expressed to Ted you want both of those guys back?)
Definitely. We'd definitely like to have Chad and Mark back. You can never have enough good football players. We've definitely reached the point with our football team that now we're going to have to make tough decisions, and the competition is where you'd like to see it especially from the coaching staff standpoint. That's part of building through the draft, and it's taken us a few years to get to this point. But we'd definitely like to see all of our free agents come back.

(When you first worked with Aaron Rodgers, did you look at his tape and see anything you felt you needed to adjust with his mechanics and release point, things like that?)
When I look at Aaron Rodgers' tape today, you still look for things to improve. I think quarterbacks, the techniques for quarterbacks is no different than any other position. You're always trying to improve, you're always trying to get better. The way we do it in our quarterback school, we address areas of fundamentals that we feel are a must, that we feel we need to address and try to fix immediately. Then there's things we're cautious of that you see the particular quarterback may have a tendency to do once in a while. In Aaron Rodgers' particular situation, he had a very high ball carriage, which I felt there was a stiffness to the way he carried the ball. It wasn't as natural, because he is a very good athlete, and it's something you didn't see in my opinion in his earlier days, how good of an athlete he was. I think it's something that we've adjusted and he's very natural with it. Every quarterback that I've ever coached, you're always looking to improve their mechanics.

(Are these spread quarterbacks that come out of college at a disadvantage as they enter the NFL because of their mechanics and they way they're taught out of the shotgun and the way their offensive line is protecting them?)
I think the spread quarterbacks in college are definitely maybe at an advantage, just because in my time in the NFL you're seeing more offenses being more wide open. They're throwing the ball more. The transition from college to pro is all those reps of building a time clock, the ability to get the football out of your hand, checking protections. I actually think the spread offense helps quarterback get ready for the NFL. Now, things you're asking them to do from a technique standpoint is obviously changed. It's almost the norm now because you see so much spread offense, not only in college but in high school, you're going back and teaching quarterbacks how to take a snap, where 15 years ago that was assumed. I think the spread offense helps quarterbacks get ready from a competition standpoint, getting ready to play. But you're always trying to improve your quarterbacks and any other position fundamentally.

(Can you break that down more as far as adjusting to taking the snap, having a drop, marrying that up with the routes, the technical part of it?)
To me it's all about the time clock. Every offense is a little different. I'm sure every quarterback coach and every coordinator may have a little different opinion of how long a three-step is and what the route combination on the other side of that drop is. They're such valuable reps that take time to develop. It's nice when you see a young quarterback that has a history in certain concepts that you're putting in your offense, because frankly those are the concepts that he's probably going to perform at a higher level of efficiency early in his career. Because at the end of the day, whether he's taking the ball from center or he's taking it from the shotgun, you have to build that time clock, and it takes reps. Every quarterback throws it a little differently, every quarterback gets the ball to his point of release a little quicker. There's just an adjustment from one individual to the other. Some receivers run routes different. There's just no replacement for the reps that it takes to get your time clock in order.

(What are you looking for from these guys at the Combine?)
I've always felt, outside of going to work a quarterback out loud, that the NFL Combine film was the best evaluation of their fundamentals, because the way they have the camera real close. You can see the size of their hand, not only the width, but the height of the hand, the tightness of the video of the flexibility in the elbow, the point of release, the draw. So I've always put a lot of stock in the fundamental breakdown of the Combine film, because a number of times you'll see the quarterback that's prepared for the Combine where his mechanics don't match what you see on film. All film is different. Some film is better than others. It's sometimes hard to get a real good fundamental evaluation on a quarterback on game film. But the opportunities that you do, you want to compare that to the NFL Combine film. I thought the workouts they have here are excellent for quarterbacks.

(As a quarterback guy, can you make a Tebow, and would that be the kind of project that as a coach you wouldn't mind getting him in your quarterback school?)
I don't know enough about Tim Tebow, but what I do know about him, I would definitely love to coach him. I think the guy's a winner, just the way he plays the game. I know a lot's being said about his mechanics. Just the way he approaches the game of football, I think he'll do everything he needs to do to improve. You look for football players, and his record in college I think speaks for itself. I'd love the opportunity to work with a Tim Tebow.

(What's a realistic timeline for him, given what they're trying to change in his mechanics, to get him comfortable?)
I couldn't give you a timeline. I'd be up here trying to act like I really know what I'm talking about, to give you a timeline. That's something I think will be answered once people have an opportunity to work with him.

(You lost Brohm off the practice squad. Would you like to get another young guy?)
In season, there's definitely benefits in having two. We're fortunate, we really like our two guys. I'd have five if I could. I just think the quarterback position is so important and you cannot ever have enough of those guys. We're just getting started with Pizzotti, and we'll definitely look at all these guys here. I'm excited to get started on the process like I do at this time of year. This is always really a good evaluation, how they throw and see them live, and go back and break down the fundamentals of the film afterwards. The draft board really will dictate that.

(Does it help to have Shawn Slocum and Joe Whitt Jr. down there helping with some of the workouts on the field?)
I think it helps a whole lot. You'll see a number of our personnel people also involved. Obviously Ted Thompson is very involved in the coordination of the drills of the combine, and has been for years. We have Alonzo Highsmith, Sammy Seale, they have groups that they are responsible for. We always encourage our coaches to be on the field for that. It's all part of that evaluation process. We definitely feel that it gives you an advantage.

(Last year you had some new coaches. Did you do anything during the combine process to adjust to those guys as far as who you picked and how they fit the scheme?)
Everybody knows our draft philosophy is to take the best player available, and when you do that you like to stand up here and say, 'He can play in any defense or offense or any type of special teams.' That hasn't changed. I don't ever look at the prospects on the field as in I am looking for this exact guy to fit into our system because I think if you do that, you need to take a step back and look at your system. I feel that our systems on offense and defense give us the opportunity to take advantage of football players' ability, and if they have a special ability, something that they are unique at, we should have that within our system to take advantage of that. So that's the way I have always viewed it from an offensive standpoint, and I feel very confident that we also have that in place in our defensive system.


(What are the areas you have to get better at to be a Super Bowl team?)
I have had a chance to get through all of the offensive cut-ups and actually I am going to finish up the special teams this week with Shawn Slocum and Chad Morton, and then I'll start with Dom when I get back. But just going through the special teams some today, penalties and the punting production, clearly those are two big emphases that we'll have as soon as our players get back. We led the league in penalties on special teams for the second year in a row. I think it was 42 percent of our penalties on special teams were a first-year player, so we've got to do a better job from a coaching staff standpoint of getting our younger players ready to play with better technique in special teams. That's something that the players are going to hear Day 1 when they get in there, and our performance in the punting game was not nearly good enough. Offensively, it's well-documented, we had an opportunity to go back through the sack reel again and that's the one glaring (area) on offense that we need to do a better job at. Then you look at defensively, and I'll go through that page by page with Dom, but the veteran quarterback. When we played the Brett Favres and the Kurt Warners and the Roethlisbergers in the spread-out type situation in those type of games, we didn't do very well, so that's something that we're taking a close look at. Sudden change is another area on defense that we need to do a better job of. On top of that, the positives clearly outweigh the negatives. Those are the negatives, those are highlighted things that we'll talk about and we'll have a clear-cut evaluation and point of emphasis for our players when they get back, but we have a lot to build off. We have a lot to build off on defense, especially with it being our first year. I was very pleased with the way the players bought into it throughout the offseason, the commitment they made. We struggled there a little bit in the beginning, but I thought we got going where we needed to be. Offensively, we can be better. We broke a number of records offensively in the history of the Packers, but we've got an opportunity to get better. Our quarterback gives us that chance, and special teams is the area where you are going to see the most improvement on our football team.

(How do you think the dynamics of the division would change if Favre does actually retire this year?)
I don't know how it will change the dynamics of the division. Minnesota won the division and they'll carry that target with them as we go into the season regardless of who their quarterback is. Really, our focus will be on self-improvement like it is every year in March, April, May, whether that is with our players coming back and spending the extra time with the coaches in the offseason program, whether it's through signing our free agents back and the draft process. We really stay focused on us, but as far as the division, we'll watch what goes on and we'll do our offseason study of our division opponents and we'll be ready to go.

(You haven't run the Wildcat at all. Is that a philosophical reticence or do you not have a guy or guys to run that?)
Right now I really don't feel that we have that type of player. I've had a number of our perimeter players outside of the quarterback throw the ball and I was not impressed, so we could put another running back back there just to run it. We look at all of those types of things. We'll take it if we think it's going to help us win. We have no problem looking at other people in the offseason and in-season when you see someone that is doing something that is giving them an advantage to win games. We obviously take a look at that. It just doesn't fit our offense right now.

(Do you think Favre will be back?)
I have no idea.

(You are entering Year 5 as head coach. Is this team taking shape as to what you and Ted sought out to do with it?)
Yeah, I definitely feel that the vision of the football team is coming into focus. Just A, look at what we are going through right now. Now we're trying to sign our own free agents back. There is a lot of depth on our boards. I can remember coming to the combine my first year and the depth charts in my office were probably half-full compared to what they are now. There are players now that we have been together two, three, four years, so that part of it is definitely. I think the way we are playing, our defensive versatility matches our offensive versatility, so I feel like that is definitely where it needs to be. Definitely the vision is what you are seeing, particularly this year.

(Are you confident that you can get enough big plays out of your running game?)
Yeah, I think our running game was good this year. We can get better. We can get better at stretching the defensive ends. That's something that came out of our offseason study. We can do a better job of breaking more second-level tackles. So those are the types of things that we'll continue to work on. I'm confident with the people we have. We're always trying to improve, whether it's through the draft or a perimeter or in-line standpoint. I think our run game has really evolved, and there will be some changes, whether you notice them or not, that we'll do this year schematically. Our quarterback gives us a lot of flexibility in our run game because of his ability to handle so much information at the line of scrimmage, but I like where we are running the football.

[packrulz]

Ted Thompson Press Conference Transcript - Feb. 26
posted 02/26/2010

(If there is no salary cap, there could be more than 200 players becoming restricted free agents rather than unrestricted. Is there potential for discontent, that a large number of those guys will be unhappy, increasing the possibility of missing mini-camps, OTAs and other things?)
I think that would be better addressed to those particular players in those circumstances. I think, you use the word discontent, I think there would be a certain amount of discontent on everybody's part with any sort of labor unrest or difficulties that we may or may not be going through.

(Do you know exactly what you want to do with contracts in 2011, 2012, or are you still figuring that out?)
We've been in ongoing conversations about what strategies the organization might take. We haven't really firmed all that up yet though.

(Are you surprised so many of the top quarterback prospects aren't working out?)
Quite frankly I've been running around watching heights, weights and measurements. I don't know the score, the tally of who is and who isn't working out. Some of the guys might have had some injuries coming into this thing. I don't know really what you've been referring to. I haven't been keeping score.

(Aaron Rodgers tweaked his release a little bit. In terms of Tebow, how difficult is it for a quarterback to do that? How much time does that take?)
I'm no quarterback expert, and certainly in the mechanisms of the thing. I will say this about young Tebow. There's been a lot of discussion and commenting about him and his release or his ability to play in the National Football League. Based on his history, I think that would be a little bit premature to start criticizing him and doubting his ability to play. He's been playing at a pretty high level for quite some time. Has to go down as one of the great college football players of all-time, so let's don't sell him short just yet.

(In terms of offseason priorities, where do you rank the secondary?)
I never rank priorities. I love them all. I think we're always going to try to get better. We're always going to try to keep pushing the throttle down so that we can go faster and do better. At the same time, I've always felt like this and I know some our local guys probably get tired of me saying it. I think the best and most dramatic improvements you can have is from within, and that's what our offseason program has always been focused on. Now, we also place a high value on the draft, because we feel that's the future of your core players, and free agency, our own as well as maybe guys from other teams. We'll do whatever we can to try to help our team, and that's what we try to do.

(You franchised Pickett, and among the franchise players, there's a lot of 3-4 nose tackles. Does that say something about that position, and did you anticipate kind of a large market for that position this offseason?)
I can't speak for other teams. In our case, it was simply a matter of, we feel like Ryan's a good player. We feel like he's a good teammate, a good leader of that group. I personally like him quite a bit. This gives us an opportunity to keep having some conversations and try to get something done. We'd like to do a multi-year deal with him, but there are differences where we are in the negotiations, and this was an avenue that we had to at least retain some right to be able to do that in the future.

(How high a priority is Aaron Kampman?)
With all of our free agents, we've been having conversations. There's nothing to report on any of those things, so as opposed to speaking to Aaron directly, I'll just speak in general, and this may answer a few other questions you might have. We don't have anything to report. Historically speaking and it certainly applies this year, our policy has always been to try to retain as many of our own players as we could.

(Guys train so specifically for the Combine now. Does that make it harder to evaluate what you see here?)
Players oftentimes they go away, like say they're going to school in Columbus, Ohio, they go to Arizona to train and do all that and do specific training for the Combine. I think that's OK. It shows a certain amount of competitiveness and wanting to get ready for it and do the tests, because we like to put the guys through the tests because it's a comparative thing. There's certain minimums that you look for that you feel like you have to be able to do it at least that well or maybe you can't play. At the end of the day, we tell these guys when they get here, 90 percent of their work in terms of where they're going to get drafted and what they're going to be as an NFL player has already been done. This last part, the testing and making sure you're the right kind of person for the locker room, make sure that you can run as fast as maybe we think you need to be able to run to play that position, that's that last little bit that they have to finish. This is the finishing part. In terms of, is it better for them to stay at their school and train or go somewhere else? That's for them, their families and their agents to decide.

(Going back to Tebow and some of the other quarterbacks who ran the spread offense, is that a detriment to their NFL chances?)
I think probably a little bit too much to be made of it. I think if you're a good player you can play. There are instances where guys will not have taken a direct snap in their college career, so you have to make sure that you can do that. You've got to be able to do that before you can play at all. I think if you're a good quarterback and you have the ability to see the field and anticipate things and have almost that sixth sense of when pressure is there and when it's not there, I think if you can play, you can play. But it also leaves you as you are making those decisions, there is unknown of by the way, he's never taken a snap from center.

(Do you think Favre will be back next season?)
That's an interesting question.

(Since you have been in that position, how tough is that for a team to wait his decision out?)
Really, I mean I'm sure there are people that would give you an opinion on that. I'm not the one to ask on that.

(In general terms, what do you think of the offensive tackles?)
All of the positions will be good classes.

(You have extended Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings, but not Nick Collins. What does he need to do to get an extension?)
We're working on it, and have been (for) some time.

(Are you optimistic?)
I'm always optimistic, but the cake is not done until it's done.

(How would you assess Collins' play?)
He's a good player. A good guy, good teammate.

(How did he translate into the new defense?)
You guys can see. He is a marvelous athlete. He's got range, he's got hands, he's got anticipation, he's a good tackler. He's a good player. He's one of the core guys that we want to have.


(Last year we asked if you would draft for the new scheme. Do you feel like you did or did you draft based on them being good players who could play in any system?)
The latter. No, I think those guys both fit our system pretty good. If you're asking me if Clay Matthews or B.J. Raji can play in another defense, absolutely they could and I think they would be good at it.

(What do you look for in a 3-4 outside linebacker?)
I know I sound repetitive, but I look for good players. There are probably ideal heights and lengths and stuff like that in terms of a body makeup that you look for, but it doesn't necessarily translate into the best 3-4 outside linebacker. James Harrison of Pittsburgh does not fit those height/length requirements, but he's a marvelous player. He was the Defensive Player of the Year two years ago. So you probably trend toward that. In a 3-4 in the scouting business, there is more projecting of pass rushers to those 3-4 outside linebacker positions. It's a very difficult thing to do because if a guy has never stood up and played before, just because he can run fast or do drills, it doesn't necessarily mean he can stand on his feet and play the game, but it does work out sometimes. As much as we can, we try to stick with guys that have proven that they can play the game. Clay Matthews last year is a perfect example. There were times where he put his hand down on the ground and rushed the passer, but a large majority of the time he was standing up and playing linebacker.

(What did you think of Aaron Kampman's transition to the 3-4?)
Oh, I think Aaron was doing very good. It's a shame he got hurt, but he was doing fine. He's physical, he's got the ability to get thick on people. Somebody told me that term the other day and I wanted to use it, so there it is. He can play the game. He sacks the quarterback, and that's unbelievably valuable in our league.

(Going back to the offensive tackles, if you want a 10-year starter, do you have to get them early in the draft?)
Chad Clifton is a perfect example. He was a second-round pick I think, and not an early second-round pick I don't believe and has started for 10 years. You don't have to obviously, the tackle position is a critical position, but I have found most critical positions are critical because you need some. So I don't know. Probably most of the great left tackles in the league were taken early, but probably most of the great running backs in the league were taken early too, or quarterbacks, but not necessarily, especially that quarterback.

[red]

mayock thinks that 4 tackles could go in the top 9, then he sees a run on the second tier guys. just like last year when 8 or 9 were taken in the first

thats not good at all for us

FYI: bruce campbell is impressive

[Fritz]

It's good if some snappy player at another position drops into the Packers' laps.

[swede]

I'll translate a little Ted talk for ya'll:

(Are you surprised so many of the top quarterback prospects aren't working out?)
Quite frankly I've been running around watching heights, weights and measurements. I don't know the score, the tally of who is and who isn't working out. Some of the guys might have had some injuries coming into this thing. I don't know really what you've been referring to. I haven't been keeping score.

Tedtranslation: Like I'd tell you.

(Aaron Rodgers tweaked his release a little bit. In terms of Tebow, how difficult is it for a quarterback to do that? How much time does that take?)
I'm no quarterback expert, and certainly in the mechanisms of the thing. I will say this about young Tebow. There's been a lot of discussion and commenting about him and his release or his ability to play in the National Football League. Based on his history, I think that would be a little bit premature to start criticizing him and doubting his ability to play. He's been playing at a pretty high level for quite some time. Has to go down as one of the great college football players of all-time, so let's don't sell him short just yet.

Tedtranslation: Thank you for the opportunity to let other teams think we might be interested in a linebacker trying to get drafted as a quarterback.

(In terms of offseason priorities, where do you rank the secondary?)
I never rank priorities. I love them all. I think we're always going to try to get better. We're always going to try to keep pushing the throttle down so that we can go faster and do better. At the same time, I've always felt like this and I know some our local guys probably get tired of me saying it. I think the best and most dramatic improvements you can have is from within, and that's what our offseason program has always been focused on. Now, we also place a high value on the draft, because we feel that's the future of your core players, and free agency, our own as well as maybe guys from other teams. We'll do whatever we can to try to help our team, and that's what we try to do.

Tedtranslation: Like I'd tell you.

(You franchised Pickett, and among the franchise players, there's a lot of 3-4 nose tackles. Does that say something about that position, and did you anticipate kind of a large market for that position this offseason?)
I can't speak for other teams. In our case, it was simply a matter of, we feel like Ryan's a good player. We feel like he's a good teammate, a good leader of that group. I personally like him quite a bit. This gives us an opportunity to keep having some conversations and try to get something done. We'd like to do a multi-year deal with him, but there are differences where we are in the negotiations, and this was an avenue that we had to at least retain some right to be able to do that in the future.

Tedtranslation: This guy is a huge anchor on our line and I really don't want him getting away, AND I don't mind kissing up a bit in public to help keep negotiations smooth. (note: Ted actually showed a rare burst of enthusiasm for the guy.)

(How high a priority is Aaron Kampman?)
With all of our free agents, we've been having conversations. There's nothing to report on any of those things, so as opposed to speaking to Aaron directly, I'll just speak in general, and this may answer a few other questions you might have. We don't have anything to report. Historically speaking and it certainly applies this year, our policy has always been to try to retain as many of our own players as we could.

Tedtranslation: Like I'd tell you. (note: Ted was not nearly as effusive in his praise as he was for Pickett. The tells were subtle, but they were there.)

(Guys train so specifically for the Combine now. Does that make it harder to evaluate what you see here?)
Players oftentimes they go away, like say they're going to school in Columbus, Ohio, they go to Arizona to train and do all that and do specific training for the Combine. I think that's OK. It shows a certain amount of competitiveness and wanting to get ready for it and do the tests, because we like to put the guys through the tests because it's a comparative thing. There's certain minimums that you look for that you feel like you have to be able to do it at least that well or maybe you can't play. At the end of the day, we tell these guys when they get here, 90 percent of their work in terms of where they're going to get drafted and what they're going to be as an NFL player has already been done. This last part, the testing and making sure you're the right kind of person for the locker room, make sure that you can run as fast as maybe we think you need to be able to run to play that position, that's that last little bit that they have to finish. This is the finishing part. In terms of, is it better for them to stay at their school and train or go somewhere else? That's for them, their families and their agents to decide.

Tedtranslation: Thanks for the question. I'd been meaning to get this off my chest and it doesn't hurt my team if you know how I feel.

(Do you think Favre will be back next season?)
That's an interesting question.

(Since you have been in that position, how tough is that for a team to wait his decision out?)
Really, I mean I'm sure there are people that would give you an opinion on that. I'm not the one to ask on that.

Tedtranslation: Now I'm pissed off. Move on. And you can expect some short answers from now on as punishment.

(In general terms, what do you think of the offensive tackles?)
All of the positions will be good classes.

(You have extended Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings, but not Nick Collins. What does he need to do to get an extension?)
We're working on it, and have been (for) some time.

(Are you optimistic?)
I'm always optimistic, but the cake is not done until it's done.

Tedtranslation: These are the short answers you get when you bring up Favre.

(How would you assess Collins' play?)
He's a good player. A good guy, good teammate.

(How did he translate into the new defense?)
You guys can see. He is a marvelous athlete. He's got range, he's got hands, he's got anticipation, he's a good tackler. He's a good player. He's one of the core guys that we want to have.

Tedtranslation: I like Nick Collins almost as much as I like Pickett. But I'm still giving short answers. What do I think about Favre? Sheesh!

(Last year we asked if you would draft for the new scheme. Do you feel like you did or did you draft based on them being good players who could play in any system?)
The latter. No, I think those guys both fit our system pretty good. If you're asking me if Clay Matthews or B.J. Raji can play in another defense, absolutely they could and I think they would be good at it.

(What do you look for in a 3-4 outside linebacker?)
I know I sound repetitive, but I look for good players. There are probably ideal heights and lengths and stuff like that in terms of a body makeup that you look for, but it doesn't necessarily translate into the best 3-4 outside linebacker. James Harrison of Pittsburgh does not fit those height/length requirements, but he's a marvelous player. He was the Defensive Player of the Year two years ago. So you probably trend toward that. In a 3-4 in the scouting business, there is more projecting of pass rushers to those 3-4 outside linebacker positions. It's a very difficult thing to do because if a guy has never stood up and played before, just because he can run fast or do drills, it doesn't necessarily mean he can stand on his feet and play the game, but it does work out sometimes. As much as we can, we try to stick with guys that have proven that they can play the game. Clay Matthews last year is a perfect example. There were times where he put his hand down on the ground and rushed the passer, but a large majority of the time he was standing up and playing linebacker.

Tedtranslation: Listen to me. I like these kids so much I'm getting giddy. I'd better reign it in now.

(What did you think of Aaron Kampman's transition to the 3-4?)
Oh, I think Aaron was doing very good. It's a shame he got hurt, but he was doing fine. He's physical, he's got the ability to get thick on people. Somebody told me that term the other day and I wanted to use it, so there it is. He can play the game. He sacks the quarterback, and that's unbelievably valuable in our league.

Tedtranslation: There. I think I sold everybody on my continued support for Aaron who is a really good guy but no longer essential to the success of our team. (note: no you didn't, Ted. You said he was valuable to the LEAGUE, not our TEAM.)

(Going back to the offensive tackles, if you want a 10-year starter, do you have to get them early in the draft?)
Chad Clifton is a perfect example. He was a second-round pick I think, and not an early second-round pick I don't believe and has started for 10 years. You don't have to obviously, the tackle position is a critical position, but I have found most critical positions are critical because you need some. So I don't know. Probably most of the great left tackles in the league were taken early, but probably most of the great running backs in the league were taken early too, or quarterbacks, but not necessarily, especially that quarterback.

Tedtranslation: Look for best defensive player available again with our first pick.

[Fritz]

When I look at the lengths of answers as you've given them, Swede, it seems clear that Thompson has a real passion for the evaluating talent part of the job.

And I'm glad for that.