Rate the 2008 draft

[get louder at lambeau]

What he missed 3 games with a knee bruise?

Yeah. More like 4 games really, since he was injured on the first passing play of the first possession against Cleveland, then missed the next three games after that. He was on crutches with a reported knee sprain. That was his left knee.

Then of course he missed 16 games this year with what was reported as a sprained right knee, later diagnosed as a torn lateral meniscus. And then he had a staph infection in that knee and a second surgery. Two years, two missed time knee injuries resulting in missing over 50% of the games played during that time.

We all hope his luck changes.

[mraynrand]

How are you so sure Jordy needs to be the #3 or lower to create a mismatch? He lit it up like few others have in college as the focal point of his offense, with 122 catches for 1606 yards and 11 TDs in 12 games. That's an average of 10 catches for 134 yards and a TD. He's a 6'3" 217 lb. receiver who has some moves, 4.5 speed and good hands. I think he'll do just fine as a starter.

I think we'll find out pretty quick this upcoming season how Jordy does as a starter.

[King Friday]

Not sure which is worse...thinking Finley has meager talent or thinking Nelson is a fraud.

I know both are flawed.

[Bretsky]

Again you ignore the fact that the guy starting in front of him had more drops than Jordy did last year and similar total production.

Driver in 2011 including postseason-
65 catches, 734 yards, 4 TDs

Nelson in 2011 including postseason-
66 catches, 868 yards, 4 TDs

How many games did Driver miss due to injury ?
Driver was hobbling around a few games before they shelved him

How many games did Nelson miss due to injury ?

I'm not arguing Jordy can't be a #2; I think he can..........but I'm not sure how valid similar production is when considering all of Driver's injuries

[Deputy Nutz]

Bottom line I know Finley has missed time and has yet to play a full season BUT his injury to me seemed more of being unlucky rather then being injury prone. I just feel like some think hes the next Robert Ferguson or something. He got injuired making a tackle, we dont have #4 at QB anymore so hopefully he wont be doing much more of that. You also have to factor in that he left school two years early. If he stays in school he'd be a sure fire 1st round draft pick, possibly even top 15. To me if you draft a sophmore in the 3rd round who would be a top 15 pick a year or two later then that has to be graded an A. Now I understand he hasnt put up the monster numbers yet BUT I still think the pontenial this guy has at the age of 24 highly out weighs his lack of production so far in his yonng career.

I understand your input about the talent of Finley. It was well noted during the 2008 draft that Finley was a very talented young man but was an immature football player both on and off the field which the Green Bay Packers have had issues with Finley. His rookie year was a complete wash where he upset his starting QB with quotes to the media about Rodgers' screw up with the placement of a pass. Finely missed several meeting or showed up late to several meeting in his second year and had a shitty off season where he was running around with Vince Young of all people.

Finley has yet to put together a full season of football for the Packers. Another reason why Finley only gets a "b" in my opinion is that he is a below average blocker. Sure he is a dynamic pass catcher, but playing tight end comes with two roles receiving and blocking.

Finley reminds me of a young Keith Jackson a great receiving tight end but blocks like shit and has no passion for it.

[Brandon494]

When you have pass catching skills like Finley in our offense not being a great blocker is a very small flaw.

[get louder at lambeau]

How many games did Driver miss due to injury ?
Driver was hobbling around a few games before they shelved him

How many games did Nelson miss due to injury ?

I'm not arguing Jordy can't be a #2; I think he can..........but I'm not sure how valid similar production is when considering all of Driver's injuries

Driver missed 3 games. He probably still played more snaps than Jordy did just because Driver was the #2 WR, so it probably starts to balance out a little.

[retailguy]

When you have pass catching skills like Finley in our offense not being a great blocker is a very small flaw.

How big of a "flaw" does it have to be to not give him an "A" grade? How many games can he miss before he can be legitimately downgraded from an "A" grade? Can you legitimately combine these situations in arriving at your final grade?

I just don't see an "A". Finley is a good TE with great potential, and could be the best TE Green Bay has ever seen. But, today, he isn't that guy, yet. How you can give an "A" at this point in his career baffles me. You don't give A's on potential. You give them on achievement. Well, at least I do.

[get louder at lambeau]

When you have pass catching skills like Finley in our offense not being a great blocker is a very small flaw.

That reminds me of being at the opening weekend of Training Camp in 2009. The two things that really stood out were Brohm skipping balls off the ground and Finley looking like a total retard trying to block and falling on his ass. He has been reported to have improved significantly since then, but wow was he bad.

[Brandon494]

How big of a "flaw" does it have to be to not give him an "A" grade? How many games can he miss before he can be legitimately downgraded from an "A" grade? Can you legitimately combine these situations in arriving at your final grade?

I just don't see an "A". Finley is a good TE with great potential, and could be the best TE Green Bay has ever seen. But, today, he isn't that guy, yet. How you can give an "A" at this point in his career baffles me. You don't give A's on potential. You give them on achievement. Well, at least I do.

You just said he has potential to be the best TE Green Bay has ever seen and we drafted him in the 3rd round. Thats called a steal! The selection of Finley in the 3rd round is "A"! Now if someone made another thread asking to grade a player performance since arriving in Green Bay then you would get a different answer. The question asked to rate the draft, not the player.

[retailguy]

You just said he has potential to be the best TE Green Bay has ever seen and we drafted him in the 3rd round. Thats called a steal! The selection of Finley in the 3rd round is "A"! Now if someone made another thread asking to grade a player performance since arriving in Green Bay then you would get a different answer. The question asked to rate the draft, not the player.

Was Finley an excellent value for the 3rd round? It's looking that way. If he gets hurt again this year, would you change your grade? I would, and I suspect others in here would as well.

Does he get an "A" for his performance? Not from me, way too soon for that.

BTW - Flynn has the potential to be a great QB too. And he was a fantastic selection in the 7th round. You giving him an "A" too, when there is no way in hell (barring catastrophic injury) that he ever gets off the bench?

You gotta factor in more than draft position for a grade... And, imo, you gotta learn when to fight and when to stop. Might also be nice to acknowledge that others have legitimate points once in a while... but that's just my opinion.

[Deputy Nutz]

You just said he has potential to be the best TE Green Bay has ever seen and we drafted him in the 3rd round. Thats called a steal! The selection of Finley in the 3rd round is "A"! Now if someone made another thread asking to grade a player performance since arriving in Green Bay then you would get a different answer. The question asked to rate the draft, not the player.

Part of the reason you rate the draft after three years is so you can rate the player! If I wanted to rate drafts on talent potential I would be like every other jackass out their and give my draft grades 5 minutes after the end of the round.

At this point Finley is an incomplete player, sorry. Good value in the third round, good pick, but Finley hasn't proven his elite status to this point in his career. I, just like you expect a big year out of him in 2011 and when that happens and he can put all his talent into a complete season and leave all that other garbage and injuries behind him he will solidify himself as one of the best tight ends in the game and at that point who cares what draft grade some schmucks on an internet forum are haggling about.

[Tarlam!]

When you have pass catching skills like Finley in our offense not being a great blocker is a very small flaw.

It makes him a one dimensional TE. I very good one, but one dimensional non-the-less. It closes options. Defenses basicall he's the go-to-guy. He has the potential to be elite if he stays healthy, but if he could be an effective blocker, he'd be gold.

[Brandon494]

To answer your question yes I do give Fylnn an A because QB is the most important position in football and if we do trade him we would receive a lot more than a 7th. Same with Finley. Has he performed to his pontenial yet? Of course not but if we were to trade him we would most likely recieve a 1st. So drafting a player in the 3rd round who three years later now has first round value, I don't see how you can't label that an A. Also the factor that the word injury prone has yet to come up any where besides message boards. NFL GMs know the talent this guy has and if they were to redo that 2008 draft Finley wouldn't even around with our 1st round pick. BTW bringing up Finleys lack of blocking is like complaining that Clay Matthews is poor in pass coverage. Just like Clay is superior at pressuring the QB he's not going to be ask to drop back but a few times. Same with Finley being such a mismatch in the receiving game, you don't use a guy like that to block on the line very often.

[HarveyWallbangers]

It seems to me that all are saying Finley is potentially a stud when he's healthy. However, Finley has been in the league for three years. The first year he did nothing. The second year he had 56 receptions but got hurt. The third year he had 21 receptions but got hurt. He hasn't produced because he's been injured. 80-some receptions in 3 years does not equal elite YET. I think that's fair. I think most expect him to be a stud if he can play most of the games. I'd give Thompson an A grade for the pick though. He drafted an elite TE (when healthy) in the third round--after some real stiffs. Finley wasn't injury prone in college, so it's hard to fault Thompson for Finley getting injured.