Thompson’s last two drafts

[call_me_ishmael]

I sort of give Guter a pass on the 2018 draft because there were so many front office changes (their senior staff was completely gutted). Early returns in 2019 are promising. Gary and Sternberger give me the willies but I'm optimistic I guess.

[Joemailman]

I sort of give Guter a pass on the 2018 draft because there were so many front office changes (their senior staff was completely gutted). Early returns in 2019 are promising. Gary and Sternberger give me the willies but I'm optimistic I guess.

Gary is kind of a strange situation. Team signs 2 high priced free agents at the same position and then uses their 1st round pick at that position. I see Gary as kind of a safe pick. Worse case is he end up being like A.J. Hawk. A solid guy who doesn't make mistakes but also doesn't make a lot of impact plays. That would make him disappointing, but not a bust. I think Sternberger has a ton of potential. He just had a tough month of August physically.

[gbgary]

Russ Ball is beaming with pride right now and updating his resume.

right. i don't think thompson was really making those picks. seems i read it was a team (personnel dept) effort.

[texaspackerbacker]

Luck has a helluva lot to do with it - drafting busts or not.

I say again, the huge difference ain't the drafting; It's the willingness to shell out money for quality free agents. Ted wasn't, Gute is.

[pbmax]

right. i don't think thompson was really making those picks. seems i read it was a team (personnel dept) effort.

Reporting was that Thompson had shifted some duties to Ball. Rumors took that to mean that Ball was actually in charge. But that suggestive reports really doesn't go farther than known, named reporting that Ball had been given an expanded portfolio. And he had not been put on the scouting/player side of things.

But its fun to imagine Russ with Ted running messages in and out of a room so that no one know if Ted is aware of anything.

[call_me_ishmael]

Timely post from one of the blogosphere's Packer pundits.

https://twitter.com/AndyHermanNFL/status/1189581182943580160

With Jaire, MVS, & JK all producing, & with the work Gutekunst has done overall, it's tough to complain, but looking at the rest of 2018's draft last week:

Jackson - 0 snaps
Burks - 0 snaps
J'Mon - Cut
Madison - 0 snaps
EQ - IR
Looney - P/S
Bradley - Long Snapper
Donnerson - Cut

Jackson is a strange case because he was a ballhawk in college and how many of those Iowa ballhawks became good players even if they weren't fast enough to run at corner? Micah Hyde I'm looking at you. Jackson doesn't seem to be like Hyde.

I hope Cole Madison can get it together. Him not playing right now is not necessarily a reflection on him, and admittedly there was a strange off-the-field situation there that shouldn't be held against Goot Goot since it happened after he was drafted.

I don't really see a path back to the team for EQ unless they value him way more than I think they do. I expect them to pick another receiver or two next year which will crowd the room big time.

None of the above matters if MVS becomes a solid starter. I see him as a fringe starter now that you'd like to upgrade. Alexander is an absolute stud although he has been exposed lately. Scott is a punter so can you really count him against the positional starters? IDK. 5th round seems high for a punter.

[RashanGary]

I think both EQ and Madison have better than a coin flips chance at being solid players. One of those guys plus MVS, Alexander and Scott would be 4 good ones and a long snapper. Not bad. Or you could count the punter and long snapper together as 1. Either way, if one of EQ or Madison pan out it’s still 4 guys from a draft and one a star. That’s good.

[pbmax]

Its not good news, but premature for three of them.

EQ looked on his way late last year and I think had a good camp before the injury.

Cole Madison made the roster after being out for a year. He needs a complete offseason. Not too worried.

Looney might be behind, we'll see.

Burks and Jackson have been disappointing.

But with the big three missing from the list (Alex, MVS and JK47), it looks worse than it is.

[australianpackerbacker]

TT was certainly more judicious in his use of the FA tool, but he also didn’t bankrupt the cap. Peppers was a great signing that should have netted a Lombardi, but in the end Peppers told Burnett to ‘slide’ instead of plunging in the dagger. TT can’t alter cowardice and trepidation on the field. I suppose he could have signed someone with more killer instinct than Peppers but who would that have been and at what cost?

TT really isn’t at fault for the demise of Collins or Finley and only partly to blame for the physical and mental collapse of Raji, Matthews (his brilliant 3-4 defense cornerstones), Fat Lacy (his answer to unchecked blitzing of Rodger/ cover 2 shell), or Nelson’s ACL/Rodger’s fractured shoulders.

Shit happens, even to the best laid plans of Sherman and men. Odds are that shit will happen to the 2019 squad as well and we’ll be crying in our beer (or fifths of whiskey if you’re Red) come January.

You do have a point. When Ted was GM his philosophy was to use free agency sparingly, but he did stubbornly stick to that even after the Seahawks model won them a superbowl with a guy who was always dreaming to be Packers GM. I think the NFL landscape changed quite a bit once that happened and Ted didnt adjust quickly enough, and i feel the same thing happened to Mike with the coaching, and Rodgers isnt the type of guy who is inspired to play well if he feels the team isnt playoff caliber.

With Lacy, the book on him was his body was going to get thick pretty quick which would affect his already limited speed, teams knew that and thats why he dropped, he was a great player in his prime, but some mens prime only lasts 3-4 years, others can last up to 10. You play the hand your dealt. Also i feel Collins and Finley were unfortunate freak accidents, same as the WR2 they drafted same year as Rodgers who seemed like a Jennings clone.

As far as 2019 goes, i think were one or 2 players away from a superbowl berth. So im kinda looking to 2020.

[run pMc]

Alexander makes this draft at least a modest success. He has shutdown corner potential.

Hitting on Alexander was great, but they also need to hit on their R2 and or R3 picks, and so far it's not looking like this draft did that.

Agree Burks and Jackson have been disappointing. I think both getting hurt in camp really set them back. I also wonder if they are working Jackson in at both S and CB and the learning curve is taking him some time. Sullivan has outplayed him, and Redmond is faster. I'm not sure where he fits in.

Burks has looked better vs. last year but he might be a late bloomer and take off next year. I think Gute will have to draft potential replacements for both (or Burks at least) since they are coin flips at this point. You can usually tell in Year 2 if someone is going to pan out based on playing time and performance, but injuries can muddy that. I'd guess they each get one last chance next year before being delegated to depth or waived.

J'Mon Moore struggled with the route tree and the thrown ball. Great athlete, too bad his hands were untrustworthy. I also think some of it was in his head. That's a pick I bet they'd like to redo.

Madison is a depth/developmental guy -- I think he'll be better in camp next year. If Bulaga doesn't come back and they put Turner at RT they have him to compete at RG, which is better than nothing.

There were times last year when ESB outplayed MVS. I had high hopes for him coming into this season that he would make the Year 2 leap. I think ESB can play in the slot and possibly replace Allison next year.

JK Scott has had moments this year where his punts have been difference makers in terms of flipping field position. That's not nothing -- Shane Lechler and Mike Scifres were good at doing that -- and if he can work on his consistency and cold weather punting he could be a real ST gem. R5 is a little high but after SEA took their ProBowl punter he was the next best thing.

The long snapper pick is weird but he's coming along. It's good to have one you can trust. It's a R7 pick so not awful, but usually you just find those guys as UDFAs.

Looney got some live action last year, I think he's still on the PS? Donnerson is on OAK's PS so he's still around.

[pbmax]

The Seahawks weren't a big FA team initially. Key pieces all came through the draft with a couple of exceptions. Schneider has been more active lately.

Drafting in the top ten for a decade (San Francisco model) has its privileges.