Rating The Packers' Draft Choices 2011

[Tarlam!]

Overall, I wouldn't dare to pass negative judgement, because TT is da man! So, I'll be interested if any Rats come forward and call this draft class poor.

Things that make me go Hmmm:

Two TEs Well, if it's good enough for Hoody to grab two RBs..... I love TT's comment "(...) and Mike loves to have a lot of TEs"
No QB or Center It's pretty clear that Flynn is going nowhere and, I have to suspect Spitz is getting an offer.
No Shaky Smithson to be a return specialist Looks like cobb is the guy. They had Shaky in for a visit - he must not have impressed.
Trading so often and only gaining one additonal pick This I just don't get. The only reasoning I have is that he loves his roster and won't have to pay these guys as much to "compete" as camp bodies.

The last four picks might be JAGs, the first 5 might all become players. But, anytime you get two starters (Sherrod& Cobb) and three major contributers (Green, House and Williams), I call that a great draft. That's what I'm predicting.

I currently rate this class with an A, but we'll know in three years.

[channtheman]

Just so we can see a list of the players we drafted.

1 Sherrod, Derek 	OL
2 Cobb, Randall 	WR
3 Green, Alex    	RB
4 House, Davon 	        DB
5 Williams, D.J. 	TE
6 Schlauderaff, Caleb 	OL
6 Smith, D.J. 	        LB
6 Elmore, Ricky 	DL
7 Taylor, Ryan 	        TE
7 Guy, Lawrence 	DT

Feel free to edit this in to the first post Tar.

[channtheman]

I love the first pick as I think we now are looking pretty good on the line with Bulaga, Sherrod, Sitton, Lang/Colledge, and Wells. The Cobb pick replaces Jones who is gone and the Green pick replaces Jackson who will be gone. I also really like House and he will have a great opportunity to learn from some of the games best in Woodson and Tramon. D.J. Williams gets me more excited than Quarless did last year and may just push Quarless off the roster. You can never have too many O linemen so I don't have a problem with Schlauderaff. 2 of the last 3 picks address key defensive positions, though admittedly these guys may not even make the team. I am a little confused about the Taylor pick as we have tons of TE's already. I have to wonder if there was another player rated in the same tier at another position of more usefulness that we could have picked there, but I'm not going to complain about a 7th round pick on a TE.

Overall, I really like this draft. It will be fun to revisit it in 3 years and see how it pans out, but for now I'll give it a B+. If we get a 10 year left tackle out of Sherrod you can bump it up to an A.

[Smeefers]

Any time Ted stuffs an already full position (te's), I just can't bring myself to give him an A. We have 6, count em 6 te's. Imagine having 6 qbs. At some point, it just gets stupid.

[Lurker64]

Double Post.

[Lurker64]

I think the thing about drafting two TEs is that in the offseason Ted and Mike decided to re-invision the role of the fullback in McCarthy's otherwise multiple offense. Considering how many different things we want to be able to do when we're on offense we had a curious number of limited players on offense. Crabtree can block in-line but not out of the backfield and he's little threat to catch a pass. Quinn Johnson can block in the backfield, but can't catch or run with the ball. John Kuhn is the closest to complete of this set, but you can't exactly switch them wide. In otherwords, MM decided he would like to add an H-Back position to the offense. Specifically a player who can line up in the backfield to block or catch outlet passes, can be lined-up in line to block or run routes, and can be split out wide. The ability to motion between those roles adds to the multiplicity of the offense.

I would not be at all surprised if next year the roster has something like this:

TE/WR: Finley, Quarless
TE/H-Back: Williams, Taylor
Blocking Guy: Your favorite two of Crabtree, Kuhn, and Quinn Johnson (but not all three).

This allows us to keep one more player at a different roster spot, and makes us generally more versatile. We could honestly keep only one dedicated blocker in the H-Back/TE/Fullback mold and keep two more players at other positions. Taylor could be an easy cut, after all late round picks aren't guaranteed to make it on the superbowl champions, but I think Williams sticks as an H-Back and takes the partial place of one of the fullbacks. No way we go 4 TE and 3 FB again.

But last year having Crabtree, Kuhn, Hall, and Johnson on the roster was probably too many limited players for MM's taste.

[Tarlam!]

Sure, Smeefers and Lurker, but, can you guys rate the draft? And what do you make of all that trading??

[bobblehead]

Any time Ted stuffs an already full position (te's), I just can't bring myself to give him an A. We have 6, count em 6 te's. Imagine having 6 qbs. At some point, it just gets stupid.

But what if they were both much higher rated than any other player at the point you drafted them? I mean, what is the point of drafting an OLB who you don't believe should be drafted when you have a 5th round TE staring at you?

As far as grading it....well, lets not get too eager. I'll just trust TT's track record and say we will find a few players out of that group.

The reason TT loaded up at the bottom was so he could grab the guys he would otherwise sign as undrafted FA's....since no team can sign those players until the league and players settle. This way he can bring them in and look at them and start the training process. TT is prepping to play with a lot of filler players in case we have a similar situation to 1982 when some players returned, and some did not.

[Deputy Nutz]

Again, rating the draft only makes fans feel good when they go to their favorite internet site to see what Pete Prisco gives as a grade a day after the draft. Even though none of these players have even put on pads.

Trading back and only getting one extra pick is a bit confusing.

Packers are going into next season with 3 tight ends that will actually see time at tight end. I think a lot of the later round selection are to boost special teams

[packrulz]

I give this draft a B, since none of them will be starters right away. This draft is mostly for depth, which was the reason the Packers won the Super Bowl last year in spite of all the injuries. Cobb can return punts and kicks, can hold for kicks, can play WR, RB, and even QB. D. J. Williams is a Havner-type player, "I've moved all over the place," Williams said. "I did it for three years in college. I've played fullback, tight end, slot and outside at X or Z." Likewise for Ryan Taylor, "I honestly think (special teams) is a third of the game," said Taylor. "I take a lot of pride in it. I put a lot of stock in it. I won our special-teams award all four years." A tight end by trade, he also dabbled at linebacker. "Obviously, I need to work on it (blocking)," Taylor said. "But I think I've become a pretty good player. By no means was I any good at linebacker. It's not something I hang my hat on. But it helped my play on special teams."

[RashanGary]

Smeef, any draft with 2 TE's that makes it less likely for Quinn Johnson to stick around can't be an A

[RashanGary]

I think the thing about drafting two TEs is that in the offseason Ted and Mike decided to re-invision the role of the fullback in McCarthy's otherwise multiple offense. Considering how many different things we want to be able to do when we're on offense we had a curious number of limited players on offense. Crabtree can block in-line but not out of the backfield and he's little threat to catch a pass. Quinn Johnson can block in the backfield, but can't catch or run with the ball. John Kuhn is the closest to complete of this set, but you can't exactly switch them wide. In otherwords, MM decided he would like to add an H-Back position to the offense. Specifically a player who can line up in the backfield to block or catch outlet passes, can be lined-up in line to block or run routes, and can be split out wide. The ability to motion between those roles adds to the multiplicity of the offense.

I would not be at all surprised if next year the roster has something like this:

TE/WR: Finley, Quarless
TE/H-Back: Williams, Taylor
Blocking Guy: Your favorite two of Crabtree, Kuhn, and Quinn Johnson (but not all three).

But last year having Crabtree, Kuhn, Hall, and Johnson on the roster was probably too many limited players for MM's taste.

I like this.

I'd go Finley/Williams/Quarless/Kuhn/Crabtree (I love his blocking. He can play TE/H-back/FB and I think he's a better blocker than Johnson)

Johnson (most incomplete football player on our team, literally does one thing) and Taylor (major project) would be on the bubble.

[Bretsky]

I thought I read in JS in TT's inteview he noted there were times a DL went right before him they really wanted so that was a bit trying. I think he mentioned Hampton. I give this draft a wait and see. TT gets a free pass from direct criticism since he won a SB. But I don't get all the trades and only acquiring one extra pick. It blows the theory that he wanted extra bodies with no FA's out of the water since he only accumulated one extra pick. It told me TT had all of these players rated about the same. If all of the above is true, I certainly would have rather seen him using some of those lase round picks to move up once or twice and get somebody he really wanted.

Overall I really liked the first five picks; if they turn out to be players the class could be an A just because of them, and if one of the last five jags turns out it's even better.

Overall I'm glad I was not around to track the draft with the great posters of Packerrats when he made the second five picks

[vince]

Thompson said that they traded back in order to move up later in the draft because they felt their first guy would be available with the trade-back and they wanted to move up with a later pick because they were targeting specific players later in the draft that they felt would go off the board before their original pick.

I'm excited about his draft.

Guys I'm excited about: Sherrod, Cobb, Green, Williams, Elmore

Elmore is a very productive player with a great motor. I think he'll push Zombo, Walden and Jones eventually. Jones may move to ILB if Chillar's shoulder doesn't hold up. I too think Williams will push Quarless. Williams answers Quarless' weaknesses in spades with great hands, athlticism and what would appear to be greater motivation.

[RashanGary]

Sherrod - (Hard worker, smart, good guy, naturally huge, athletic, effective) (bad coaching, poor technique, going to have to relearn a lot of fundamentals. He was effective so these aren't horrible negatives) - I think he'll take a year, but I like the pick because LT's are rare.

Cobb - I really like the pick. To Lurkers point earlier, MM seems to love flexible players. If we had a 5 wide set with Cobb in it, how easy would it be to shift Williams and Cobb into the backfield and run into dime defense? He's more of a pure WR than I think people give him credit. He reminds me a lot of Greg Jennings with how smooth and natural he looks catching and running with the ball.

Alex Green - My favorite pick because Ted seems to love him, because he's a freak athlete for a 200 pounder but he's 230 pounds and because he looks so sweet on the highlight clips.

Davon House - Took out a flyer on a high potential guy. I consider him like the late round guys, but with more potential. Just have to see if he can pick it up.

DJ Williams - I think this guy is a safe bet to be really good. Fast, excellent hands, big body, he should be ideal going over the middle. MM said he loves guys who can work the seam. Drafted after House, but I think a more sure thing to be good.


After this, it's a bunch of flyers. Any could pan out, any could flop. A bunch of guys.