official 2014 nfl draft thread

[RashanGary]

Shazier would play on the outside on 4-3 teams, but the inside in Green Bay. That said, he's athletically gifted, and I'm sure we'd try to move him around as a bandit type player to create opportunities for him.

Shazier is fast and fluid. He might be the most physicslly gifted player in this draft under 240 lbs. He has the skillset to play any position from 3-4 olb to SS. Similar athlete to Patrick Willis. The 49ers can play a lot of base defense because Willis is like another DB. I think this guy couldmbring that kind of flexibility.

[pbmax]

CBS NFL Draft Scout has five current mocks up (4 of 5 done in last week).

All have the Rams taking a safety. Kirwan has the Vikings grabbing Dix. One guy has the Bears grabbing the other top safety (Prior in that case). One has Ravens picking the second safety (Dix). One has Cardinals picking him (Pryor). Will Brinson has the most out of date one (4/10) and he has the Paclers taking Ward at 21 and Prior falling out of Round 1.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/mock-draft

[Guiness]

Going to be watching where Roosevelt Nix ends up and how he does. He will be switching from DT to ILB, having played DT at 5'11" 248lb.

from NFL.COM

Roosevelt Nix, DL (5-foot-11 1/4, 248) — Nix ran the 40 in 4.79 seconds on both attempts. He had a 28-inch vertical and 9-foot-2 broad jump. He did the short shuttle in 4.39 seconds and the three-cone drill in a remarkable time of 6.90 seconds. He performed 22 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. Nix is a really good football player — he is the first player in Kent State history and fifth player in MAC history to earn first-team all-conference honors in four seasons — and a team will have to find a position for him. Some people think Nix might be a fullback, others think he might be a linebacker. At 248 pounds, he won’t be a defensive lineman in the NFL, but he has tremendous ability and a team will have to find a position for him to play. He is likely a priority free-agent pickup following the draft.

[Guiness]

CBS NFL Draft Scout has five current mocks up (4 of 5 done in last week).

All have the Rams taking a safety. Kirwan has the Vikings grabbing Dix. One guy has the Bears grabbing the other top safety (Prior in that case). One has Ravens picking the second safety (Dix). One has Cardinals picking him (Pryor). Will Brinson has the most out of date one (4/10) and he has the Paclers taking Ward at 21 and Prior falling out of Round 1.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/mock-draft

4 out of 5 of those drafts have Mosley available when the Pack is on the board...

[Fritz]

I'd love to see some speed on this team, whether at ILB or safety or wide receiver or tight end.

[vince]

Ebron
Mosely
Shazier
Pryor
Cooks
Dennard
Beckham Jr.
trade back

[RashanGary]

I'd love to see some speed on this team, whether at ILB or safety or wide receiver or tight end.

Me too. Especially at safety and ilb. We have a good team. On defense we need a guy who can fly around and clean up.

[RashanGary]

We have a whole team of good players, guys who are kind of natural football guys. We need one more star and I think we're over the top.

[Patler]

Me too. Especially at safety and ilb. We have a good team. On defense we need a guy who can fly around and clean up.

We have a whole team of good players, guys who are kind of natural football guys. We need one more star and I think we're over the top.

I try to be practical in my feelings about where the team really is, or where it could be; but I am haunted by feelings of how 2011, 2012 and 2013 could have been if Collins had just gotten his head a little lower, or if Stewart had jumped an inch higher. Losing him in the back of the defense was worse than playing without Matthews has been, because losing him affected the defense from sideline to sideline and from the line of scrimmage to the goal line. They had a special player roaming in that territory, and the drop-off from him to those who replaced him has been huge.

..and he likely would still be at the top of his game in 2014-2015.

[RashanGary]

I agree, Patler, he was so good at what he did (cover the whole back end by himself and the surest tackler I've seen in Green Bay in the last 10 years.) And safety play has become paramount in the new NFL. Just like the QB affects the whole passing game on offense, the free safety affects the whole passing game on defense because a great one can sort of be everywhere. In the last 10-15 years, just like nearly every Sb winning team has had a QB playing at the top of the league, so has every Sb winning team had a safety (usually free safety) doing the same.

I'm worried about the safety position, and we all want to desperately find the answer, but I don't know if this draft has it for us. I'm not in in love with any of them. Haha is a poor athlete who knows how to play, prior not much better. Solid players, probably, but they don't look like the difference makers Sb winning teams field at the position. I'll hope for the best though. We have such a good team, you just never know.

[pittstang5]

......we all want to desperately find the answer, but I don't know if this draft has it for us......

I've been started to get that feeling. A couple months ago, I saw some tape and read about Pryor and thought - Wow, he's the answer. Then, you read a little more and then comes the combine. Now, I'm not sure he's what this defense needs.

[call_me_ishmael]

I agree, Patler, he was so good at what he did (cover the whole back end by himself and the surest tackler I've seen in Green Bay in the last 10 years.) And safety play has become paramount in the new NFL. Just like the QB affects the whole passing game on offense, the free safety affects the whole passing game on defense because a great one can sort of be everywhere. In the last 10-15 years, just like nearly every Sb winning team has had a QB playing at the top of the league, so has every Sb winning team had a safety (usually free safety) doing the same.

I'm worried about the safety position, and we all want to desperately find the answer, but I don't know if this draft has it for us. I'm not in in love with any of them. Haha is a poor athlete who knows how to play, prior not much better. Solid players, probably, but they don't look like the difference makers Sb winning teams field at the position. I'll hope for the best though. We have such a good team, you just never know.

HaHa is known as a FREAK athlete. His 40 time was a little slow. He was a 5 star recruit out of high school. He was in the top 5 total players I believe... this is the same class as freaks like Jadeveon Clowney.

40 time isn't everything. I was dissapointed in his time, personally, but to say he's not an elite athlete is crazy. Safeties don't go in round 1 unless they have special skills.

[Zool]

Collins combine results:
40 Yard Dash: 4.36 seconds
20 Yard Dash: 2.62 seconds
10 Yard Dash: 1.61 seconds
Bench Press: 11 reps (225 lb)
Wonderlic: (N/A) (0-50)
Vertical Leap: 40.0 inches
Broad Jump: 118 inches
20 Yd Shuttle: 4.16 seconds
Three Cone: 6.94 seconds
60 Yd Shuttle: (N/A) seconds

Clinton-Dix combine results
40 Yard Dash: *4.58 seconds
20 Yard Dash: (N/A) seconds
10 Yard Dash: (N/A) seconds
Bench Press: 11 reps (225 lb)
Wonderlic: (N/A) (0-50)
Vertical Leap: 33.0 inches
Broad Jump: 117 inches
20 Yd Shuttle: 4.16 seconds
Three Cone: 7.16 seconds
60 Yd Shuttle: (N/A) seconds

Clinton-Dix pro day numbers
Junior FS Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who could be the first defensive back drafted in May, stood on his times from the NFL Combine, but did perform positional drills for scouts. He ran a 4.58 in Indianapolis with a 33-inch vertical jump, 4.16 short shuttle and 7.16 3-cone drill.

I miss Nick. Hope we get a guy with a brain and that top gear.

[pbmax]

http://www.packersnews.com/article/20140422/PKR0101/140422016/Draft-analysis-Ranking-Ted-Thompson-s-safety-selections

Not for the faint of heart.

[smuggler]

Safety is probably the single hardest position to evaluate, excepting possibly quarterback.