THE JSO take on Ted Thompson picking DT Kenny Clark in Rd. 1 Pick NO. 27.

[pbmax]

In slow motion it was gruesome but if you saw it live speed you probably would have missed it. It was the first time I saw the injury and after seeing it, I didn't feel that bad for him as it was non-contact.

It seems that Smith is actually in better shape heading into this draft than Jack. Micro Fracture surgery has come a long way but it isn't 100% successful.

I think the nerve damage is the worry with Smith. That takes a lot of time to come back.

[Deputy Nutz]

^^^^^^^
At least he doesn't need more surgery. I get the nerve damage, but the doctors say it was just stretched not torn, but also that they have no real time table or understanding when nerves will start to regenerate or heal. Take Ryan Braun's thumb injury. They had to freeze the darn thing.

[pbmax]

Yeah, its impossible to predict. Manning never got his strength back. It took Tramon Williams two years to get his arm and shoulder completely functional.

[Upnorth]

Interesting, too, when you look at the vote totals in Woodbuck's post. It seems Clark was #1 at NT but received just one first place vote while Billings and Reed each received three first place votes. Everyone must have ranked Clark quite high, and some must have rated Billings and Reed much lower. Solid consensus for Clark and uncertainty for the others.

Why do I feel we got another A J Hawk? Solid, unspectacular, can play but never makes a big impact. Good but never great.

[Guiness]

I wonder how the Pack had Ragland (and Jack) ranked? Most expected them not to be on the board by the time their pick came around. How much did their medical conditions affect decisions about them?

[red]

Exactly. While I do wish Ted could have and would have made the trade with Denver that Seattle did, I will never know if he had the chance to do so, though the fact the Cowboys were in the game too, from what I understand, suggests that there was some competition for Lynch and the likelihood is then that Denver knew it would have to move ahead of the Cowboys and so went up to Seattle.

So it seems unlikely the Packers could've swapped #27 to Denver for #31 plus a third. I wish they could've made a swap, got an extra pick, and maybe still have gotten Clark.

But none of us know how good Clark will be. Not me, not you, not Patler nor Wist nor Ted (maybe especially Ted?).

I hope the guy is an anchor in the middle for the next ten years. I'm not jumping for joy, but I've learned not to get too disappointed, either. Last year I had no idea who Randall was and I was not too excited, but after a year it looks like the guy is a starting caliber NFL corner and maybe better than that.

We'll see.

from what i've read, it sounds like we were on the phone with the cowboys, denver figured it out and knew they had to get ahead of us, and went to seattle

it was either get into a bidding war with the cowboys for our sport, or just leapfrog us

we lost out in the end. it sure sounds to me like we were planning on trading down, then the whole thing blew up and we just took the guy we got

[MadScientist]

I wonder how the Pack had Ragland (and Jack) ranked? Most expected them not to be on the board by the time their pick came around. How much did their medical conditions affect decisions about them?

Jack sounds like he needs microfracture surgery. What's the recovery time for that? Would he even play this year? How likely is he to lose a step after two surgeries on that knee?

Ragland - An enlarged aorta sounds scary as shit, although some teams say it isn't enough to prevent him from being drafted early. Maybe Ted leaked it in hope that he will fall to the Packers in round 2.

[Patler]

Jack sounds like he needs microfracture surgery. What's the recovery time for that? Would he even play this year? How likely is he to lose a step after two surgeries on that knee?

From what I read, it seems he will likely need the surgery sometime in future, but doesn't need it right now. I thik he alluded to three years, or something like that.

Seems to be one of those things that ends up being no big deal for some, but career changing for others. I think they said Rod Woodson, or someone like that, played most of his HOF career after having the surgery. Then they gave examples of some who basically ended their careers with the surgery.

Seems like an acceptable risk at some point, but clearly not the first round this year. I don't know who is the bigger risk, Jack or Smith.

[pbmax]

from what i've read, it sounds like we were on the phone with the cowboys, denver figured it out and knew they had to get ahead of us, and went to seattle

it was either get into a bidding war with the cowboys for our sport, or just leapfrog us

we lost out in the end. it sure sounds to me like we were planning on trading down, then the whole thing blew up and we just took the guy we got

As long as Clark was the guy they wanted and Ted was sure of it, then that's just the way the cookie crumbles as far as the trade.

But it adds a bit of evidence that it didn't have to be Clark if they were going back to Round 2.

[Joemailman]

nm

[pbmax]

Michael Cohen @Michael_Cohen13 2m2 minutes ago
Gutekunst on Kenny Clark: "He has some dominant traits on tape sometimes. ... He is a playmaker on the inside, which is hard to find."

Michael Cohen @Michael_Cohen13 1m1 minute ago
Gutekunst on finding big guys: "We're all looking for them at every level."