NFL Draft Day 3

[mraynrand]

The German dude the Vikes took will be a better player than Ted's latest WR bust.

oh boy

[mraynrand]

Really, it just shows that what the hell do we know one minute after the pick is made? We can use "expert analysis" from those who are employed by sports networks and not the teams themselves but these early grades are all meaningless.

QFT

[Carolina_Packer]

Trevor Davis might be an insurance policy for Ty Montgomery, in case he struggles coming back. They have some similar skill sets.

The other thought that I had was that they were going to possible expand Janis' role and perhaps try and move him out of KR duties and saw Davis is a guy who could take his place.

[pbmax]

Now your into a re-direct...I'm focusing on TT's 5th Rd. WR pick...OK.

TT made that WR pick with clearly > 3 dozen other WR's ranked higher than his guy.

Now unless you believe in one year miracles I doubt that TT's guy at WR suddenly exceeded the strengths of all of those other 3 dozen or so WR's.

TT blew that pick if he wanted help for the Packers. Other WR's were certainly more NFL ready and some as capable of a better ST effort than the skinflint he chose.

TT was likely enamoured with his speed....sold on that.

Straight line speed doesn't translate to football skill at the NFL level.

Suck it up pbmax...TT blew that pick to blazes.

Pro scouts do not spend a ton of time on juniors because they do not know which are coming out early (except the the very best). So grades a year out are useless, moreso from the media experts. It takes an NFL team all season and the beginning of the offseason to finish scouting the seniors and juniors who declare. So your claim that someone who climbs a draft board be a one year wonder is kind of silly.

To claim that there were 3 dozen better is ludicrous and based on poor information if you judge by the NFL.com grades. Not even the draft experts here would make that claim.

You say Ted blew this pick. Alright, we'll keep track of those 3 dozen others and see who has a better career.

[pbmax]

Michael Cohen @Michael_Cohen13 48m48 minutes ago
Thompson on Murphy: "We liked him a lot. We had several guys go out to the West Coast and Stanford. He's a big man who plays the game well."

Jersey Al - GBP @JerseyAlGBP 47m47 minutes ago
Murphy's main issue is sloppy footwork, but he has all the other tools to be an eventual starter.

Michael Cohen @Michael_Cohen13 46m46 minutes ago
Thompson on Trevor Davis: "His catching in the pro days and Indy and all that is very impressive."

Packer Report @PackerReport 47m47 minutes ago
Thompson on Lowry: leader, "100 percent guy." ... Blue-collar. More you watched, the more you liked.

Packer Report @PackerReport 46m46 minutes ago
Thompson thinks Martinez can be three-down guy. Started off saying Murphy will start off at OT. A Campen favorite.

Michael Cohen @Michael_Cohen13 46m46 minutes ago
Thompson: "You don't have to be big to play in the NFL, but it helps. And we were able to get some bigs on both sides of the ball."

Packer Report @PackerReport 46m46 minutes ago
Might this be a dominant team? "I'm not ready to proclaim anything ... it's a little silly." Other 31 teams trying too.

Packer Report @PackerReport 45m45 minutes ago
Thompson thinks he added "quality people" to the team.

Michael Cohen @Michael_Cohen13 44m44 minutes ago
Thompson: "It's a physical game, but it's also a smart guy's game. We think we've added some quality people to our organization."

Green Bay Packers @packers 44m44 minutes ago
Thompson: "When it was our turn to go, we felt like we picked the best player available." #PackersDraft

Michael Cohen @Michael_Cohen13 41m41 minutes ago
Thompson thinks this group of draft picks will be "extraordinary" when it comes to understanding the game and mental capacity.

Tom Silverstein @TomSilverstein 41m41 minutes ago
#Packers GM Ted Thompson said the football acumen of the group he just drafted is "extraordinary."

Ryan Wood @ByRyanWood 39m39 minutes ago
TT not closing door on Mike Neal: "Lot of different things that could happen over the course of the offseason that could change things."

Mike Chappell @mchappell51 41m41 minutes ago
Irsay told media Colts had Clay Matthews on 2009 1st-round card at 27. Packers jumped ahead w/NE trade. Matthews gone. Hello Donald Brown.

[Teamcheez1]

The German dude the Vikes took will be a better player than Ted's latest WR bust.

I can't believe we didn't take advantage of the German pipeline for wide receivers. The German engineering is hard to beat.

[Striker]

You say Ted blew this pick. Alright, we'll keep track of those 3 dozen others and see who has a better career.

Nope. Unacceptable. We must judge Thompson's picks right now. After all, he's the only GM in the history of the NFL that has ever made a bad draft pick.

[Joemailman]

Pro scouts do not spend a ton of time on juniors because they do not know which are coming out early (except the the very best). So grades a year out are useless, moreso from the media experts. It takes an NFL team all season and the beginning of the offseason to finish scouting the seniors and juniors who declare. So your claim that someone who climbs a draft board be a one year wonder is kind of silly.

To claim that there were 3 dozen better is ludicrous and based on poor information if you judge by the NFL.com grades. Not even the draft experts here would make that claim.

You say Ted blew this pick. Alright, we'll keep track of those 3 dozen others and see who has a better career.

Draft Insider, which waits until just before the draft to put their rankings together, had Davis as the #27 WR, and a 6th round value.

Trevor Davis
School: California
Position: WR
Positive: Part-time starter the past 2 seasons also used to return kicks. Recorded a career-best 40 receptions, 672 yards and 2 TDs as a senior. Athletic receiver prospect with an inconsistent game. Uses the sidelines well, nicely adjusts to the errant throw and plays heads-up football. Consistently extends to make the reception away from his frame. Competitive, keeps the play in bounds and always working to pick up positive yardage.
Negative: Does not display consistent hands, does not always come away with the difficult reception and has throws bouncing off his hands. Must improve his route running.
Analysis: Davis is a talented prospect who's slowly turning his athletic ability into football skill. His return skills could help him catch hold of a roster spot where he'll also lineup as a 5th receiver.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Dear God....I'll not insult or initiate a duel with you ... rather I'll be patient with your counter argument:

OK..... I'll try it this way:

Think about TT's position relative to what he picked at WR relevant to the 36-39 WR's he might rather have selected.

So your whole argument is based solely on the NFL.com grades. No actual film study or other reasonable argument. Gotcha. Oh, and still waiting on the condemnation of the other GMs that blew their WR picks from my previous post.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Way back in March I summarized what I felt we needed to improve:

1 * Allow the Packers to become an elite pass rushing defense
2 * Improve OL and better protect AROD
3 * Improve our ability to stretch the field vertically, both from the TE and WR positions
4 * Add a fast, tough ILB who will enable Clay to move back to OLB
5 * Improve 3rd down and Red Zone offense by adding a pass catching, change of pace RB
6 * Improve our KR and PR games
7* Increase team speed

Analysis:
1* This draft didn't make us an elite pass rushing defense, but it improved us considerably. All four defensive draft picks are either good pass rushers and/or free up other pass rushers on the defense like Clay.

2* We definitely improved our OL by adding quality depth and competition.

3* WR Davis is a quality field stretcher. Add in FA TE Cook and we're improved. Get guys back from injuries and we might be great. Arod has to be pleased.

4* Martinez is not Ragland or Jones, but he's got the potential to be better than anyone we have. Clay can now move to the outside.

5* We didn't draft a pass catching, change of pace RB, but maybe TT feels Crockett is the man.

6* Davis appears to be an upgrade to our KR/PR game. Plus, Fackrell is supposed to be a good special teams player.

7* We're not going to be the fastest team in the league because of this draft, but we'll be faster with Davis pushing the WR's and Cook at TE.

All in all, drafting at #27, I think TT did a great job. I'm looking forward to the season and thinking Super Bowl.

[Rastak]

The German dude the Vikes took will be a better player than Ted's latest WR bust.

That guy is a HUGE question mark. If he is, great!

I'm not counting on it.

[Guiness]

Murphy is a good player. Has an injury, but I had him projected as a 4th round pick. Just didn't think they'd double dip at OT. Perhaps TT envisions one of these guys kicking inside to OG. The depth at OL could be stellar now.

Murphy was my 12th rated OT. Fits a zone scheme very well. Productive.

Could these guys play inside? Both are 6'6", seems kind of tall. Sitton/Lang at 6'3" and 6'4"

[mraynrand]

Dean Lowry is tied with Datone Jones for best athlete at DE that Thompson has taken.
Jason Spriggs is the most athletic OL that Thompson has taken.
Trevor Davis is the third most athletic WR that Thompson has taken behind Terrence Murphy and Jeff Janis.

Mind you, this is based on measurables at the combine, and I fully acknowledge that sometimes guys don't play as well as they time. I find it interesting nonetheless. The rest of the guys kind of fit Thompson's wheelhouse for athleticism. The two LBs are right in the middle of the players that Thompson has taken. Since Martinez is about the same in this draft class, there's nothing to read from that. Thompson usually goes for guys that are near the top athletically at OLB. Clark is right in the middle. Athletically, he's pretty similar to Raji (although Raji was much bigger) and Josh Boyd. Yet, Clark ranked near the top among this draft class for 3-4 NTs. Some of the other guys though projected more as 3-4 DEs but I have them listed as DTs. Murphy didn't test because of an injury. It's rare that Thompson takes somebody that wasn't able to test at all.

Nice analysis. Thanks Harv for everything you've posted. Big part of a good draft experience on Packerrats.

[mraynrand]

That guy is a HUGE question mark. If he is, great!

I'm not counting on it.

Every draft has some workout/measurables heroes. This guy is that, but he could be more. Won't know until you know!

[Guiness]

Ryan Wood @ByRyanWood 39m39 minutes ago
TT not closing door on Mike Neal: "Lot of different things that could happen over the course of the offseason that could change things."

I'd be all kinds of surprised if Neal were to come back, even moreso now with two new DL bodies in the draft. There doesn't seem to be any interest in him, I didn't hear anything about him having visits in FA at all, which surprises me a little.