The Linebackers (watch them in rewind at your own risk)

[wist43]

3irty, you're generally an intelligent poster, and I enjoy your analysis, but this mixed metaphor made me laugh. If they have to piss with the cock they have, wouldn't Burks be, perhaps, a tiny little wiener (if you're seeing him as Wist would) or as a massive dong?

Good gravy dude, lol... slap a cheesy 1970's moustache on him and you'd have yourself a grainy, vintage porno.

[wist43]

Alright, that tears it. I am going to have to watch the San Fran game.

When it was just wist moaning about linebackers, I assumed the sun had just risen in the east. But now Rand and 3irty1 and bad mouthing them. Highly leveraged tape eating situation.

BTW, bailing on a rookie is often unwise. Took Brian Wiliams 3 years (and one injury) to learn the Will position. Which is effectively what Burks is playing in that passing down base 3-4 (Daniels-Clark-LowryArmy, CMIII-Ponch-Burks-Perry).

Lol... you guys are crackin me up tonight

[Carolina_Packer]

There is a long, long list of LBers the Packers could have had in the late 1st and later, that many of us in here identified, that went on to be very good players.

The Packers, as an organization, don't get it. I think it goes deeper than TT, which is why I want them to do some serious self-scouting in the scouting dept and find out why we're missing these guys. Look at the scouts writeups on guys, and if they're consistently wrong - get rid of that scout. It's long since overdue to shake up the scouting dept.

For sure. 2012, take Lavante David instead of Jerel Worthy. I'm sure other people could come up with wasted picks, but that one is glaring. Who could we have gotten for Kyrie Thornton a few years ago when nobody saw him as a third rounder?

Everyone wants to lay it all on TT, but I'm sure there are still people working for the organization, possibly even Gutey himself at the time, who brought their recommendations to TT, and are still responsible for bringing them to Gutey. Sure, TT made the ultimate pick, but these were the guys making the recommendations. Nobody gets it right all the time, but you have to get it right enough of the time to look competent. Do not pick a guy to play corner who should be playing safety (Randall). Do not pick a guy who only showed out for one year at a mid-major, but has multi-sport athletic ability (Rollins). Too many swings and misses on D. Go George Costanza and do the opposite next time.

[pbmax]

FA is terrible. Drafting for need is a cry for help that will never arrive.

Let Emeritus Ted be Ted.

[mraynrand]

FA is terrible.

Obviously not always.

Drafting for need is a cry for help that will never arrive.

Most teams draft for need, but not strictly. Wherever a team picks, they probably have several players that they think are worthy of that draft spot. Then they pick from among those according to need. Obviously, if they really need an OLB mid first round, they probably won't reach for a second round grade OLB if CB, Tackle, WR are at their spot. But if those three positions are loaded, them might be tempted to trade down. Also, they will look at projected value and players in the following rounds. It's a total team strategy, and no team can really take exclusively BPA.

Let Emeritus Ted be Ted.

Take him to Talos Four where he can hang to with some hottie - in his mind...

[run pMc]

For sure. 2012, take Lavante David instead of Jerel Worthy. I'm sure other people could come up with wasted picks, but that one is glaring. Who could we have gotten for Kyrie Thornton a few years ago when nobody saw him as a third rounder?

Just in that 2014 draft, you could have picked a few better replacement players
position for position:
Kyrie Thornton -> DaQuan Jones
Richard Rodgers -> Trade down, take Trey Burton in R6-7.
Carl Bradford -> Telvin Smith

Other players available in R3-4:
John Brown, Donte Moncrief, Martavius Bryant
Tre Boston, Bashaud Breeland (lol),
Devonta Freeman, James White

Not a lot of great players in those mid-later rounds, but Ted was gambling.

Edit: I find it interesting to see who else was available moreso than to play "what-if"...that's not helpful and hindsight being 20/20 unfair.

[mraynrand]

Edit: I find it interesting to see who else was available moreso than to play "what-if"...that's not helpful and hindsight being 20/20 unfair.

True. Hindsight can build a helluva roster from later round picks!

[wist43]

True. Hindsight can build a helluva roster from later round picks!

It's more than that though... most if us in here have recognized the need for top flight front seven players - and b/c of that we have gone out of our way to identify players we thought fit the bill.

From run pMc's list - I wanted Telvin Smith, and he went in the 5th round. Turned out to be a hell of a player. TT chose Bradford, and he's now selling insurance.

Couple years ago, I wanted McKinney - he's in Houston and is a damn good player. TT chose Randall and he's now a bust in Cleveland.

There's something very much amiss in how the Packers evaluate defensive players - and they need to root that out of their scouting dept.

[mraynrand]

It's more than that though... most if us in here have recognized the need for top flight front seven players - and b/c of that we have gone out of our way to identify players we thought fit the bill.

From run pMc's list - I wanted Telvin Smith, and he went in the 5th round. Turned out to be a hell of a player. TT chose Bradford, and he's now selling insurance.

Couple years ago, I wanted McKinney - he's in Houston and is a damn good player. TT chose Randall and he's now a bust in Cleveland.

There's something very much amiss in how the Packers evaluate defensive players - and they need to root that out of their scouting dept.

SIGN HIM UP! SIGN HIM UP!

[run pMc]

There's something very much amiss in how the Packers evaluate defensive players - and they need to root that out of their scouting dept.

Agree. I admit to being encouraged by Gute's first draft -- I think the rookie CB's are keepers, the punter looks good, and I think at least 1-2 of the WRs will pan out. It's entirely possible that those who misevaluated defensive players have left (Highsmith, Wolf,...). Hard to say. Some years just have less talent when you look back and read thru the list of players picked. And then there's the fact that if teams would have known how Brady or Rodgers were gonna turn out they woulda picked them #1. The Bears picked Ego Ferguson over Davante Adams (and ironically, Allen Robinson)...see how that turned out.

System/organization fit matters too. I suspect Rodgers would've flailed as badly (if not more) than Alex Smith if he'd been picked first and thrown into the starting lineup on day 1. SF was a mess back then.

One last comment: the physical measurements and combine performances are nice, but I'm becoming convinced a lot of what sets players apart -- at least at certain positions -- is the mental side.

There are so many pieces to the scouting puzzle that I don't have a problem leaving it to the experts. Doesn't mean I don't have an opinion. I'm cautiously optimistic that they will find the right players for Pettine; trouble is it might take another season or two.

[wist43]

FA is terrible. Drafting for need is a cry for help that will never arrive.

Let Emeritus Ted be Ted.

I say we dispense some vigilante justice. Find a rope, a tree, and tie max into the saddle

If Burks doesn't show improvement this offseason?? Cut him.