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Ode to a Turtle
Season will test Thompson's convictions
Posted: May 2, 2007
Bud Lea
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It isn't hard to argue that Ted Thompson has a special eye for talent. Last year he drafted rookies and signed free agents who stepped right in and made an immediate impact.
It isn't hard at all to make the case that Thompson knew what he was doing when he took over Mike Sherman's aging team three years ago and started rebuilding. He didn't make wholesale changes just for the sake of making wholesales changes. He has steadily improved the talent level.
Looking at what he did, you search for some answers, and you inevitably come up with this: confidence. It is what defines the general manager of the Green Bay Packers.
So much has changed, but Thompson's insistence on doing it his way - despite all the outside shouting - remains the cornerstone at 1265 Lombardi Ave.
There was a buzz in Green Bay that with another strong draft, the Packers would ascend to the playoffs like last year's New Orleans Saints.
The Packers had obvious needs. They needed a running back to step in where Ahman Green stepped out. They needed a home run wide receiver. They needed a tight end. A fullback.
So, who did they pick first? A nose tackle.
All I know is, this Justin Harrell guy had better be the bomb, whoever he is. He'd better throw around blockers like a bar bouncer, sandblast gaps for A.J. Hawk to storm through and assume the disrupted appearances of a Gilbert Brown.
Because if he turns out to be the next Donnell Washington or Cletidus Hunt or the next Packer bust, which is never beyond the realm of possibility, fans will never forgive Thompson.
The selection of Harrell was met with some puzzlement, some cautious, muted approval, and for the first time in recent history, a chorus of howling outrage from fans.
The puzzlement: There were a number of impact players and potential game-breakers still on the board, not the least of which were wide receivers Dwayne Bowe and Robert Meachem and tight end Greg Olsen. All were taken in the first round.
The muted approval: Both sides of the ball are basic building blocks in football. Some scouts say Harrell is the real deal. Thompson said Harrell is the sort of quality defensive player who you can't afford to pass up.
The howling outrage: Nose tackle? They took a nose tackle? They used the 16th pick in the draft to pick a two-gap nose tackle? Not only that, they learned later that Justin Harrell's play last season at Tennessee was limited to three games because of a torn biceps tendon.
So which is it, a brilliant masterstroke or boneheaded idiocy? Have the Packers seen what eluded others? Or have they chosen unwisely, and will they pay an enormous price in the process?
Well, here's what we know for sure: We don't know.
I don't know, you don't know.
And the reason none of us knows is that we cannot see the future.
Who among us has seen Justin Harrell play one season?
One game?
One snap?
Harrell might turn out to be a great nose tackle. Or he might turn out to be fat and slow. Or he might turn out to be somewhere in between.
But to repeat, nobody knows for sure. And nobody will know for a few years.
That is what makes the draft intriguing and frustrating. It's a crapshoot. It is the projections of people based on possible potential. For those who do it for a living, it isn't completely guesswork, but it's close.
As general manager, Thompson is paid to know more than the rest of us. And it is his apparent viewpoint that Harrell, a 6-4 ½, 314-pound medicine ball of a defensive tackle, is a smart investment.
I'll assume Thompson isn't bothered by the fact that Harrell's résumé includes a heavy list of injuries in high school and college. I'll also assume he sees something special beneath it all because he's Ted Thompson and he loves building his defenses.
But he can't deny he is gambling here.
Perhaps the hit-miss for a nose tackle is much better than for a quarterback or a running back. But the excitement level is much lower.
Eleven new draft choices are coming to Green Bay, including Brandon Jackson, an undersized running back who had injury problems of his own at Nebraska. Harrell is the key.
He will blossom in Green Bay, or he won't.
So welcome to the madhouse, young man.
We were criticizing Nick Barnett when the Packers took him in the first round of the 2003 draft. Too small to play middle linebacker, we figured, and look how he turned out.
Don't take it personally that Green Bay fans greeted your selection with a certain hostility just because you were not a running back or wide receiver - a playmaker who could help a struggling offense and take some of the load off Brett Favre.
Thompson did not go out and get a big running back. He did not go out and get a game-breaking wide receiver. He did not put together an attractive offer to get Randy Moss.
Instead, he worked on building up his defense and stockpiling younger players. The fans essentially yawned. Thompson didn't care that the fans yawned. And so it goes.
There is never a hint that Thompson is not confident in his evaluation of the situation and the solution he has put together.
We'll see if his confidence is well-founded when the 2007 season begins.
Send e-mail to buddylea.aol.com
Season will test Thompson's convictions
Posted: May 2, 2007
Bud Lea
It isn't hard to argue that Ted Thompson has a special eye for talent. Last year he drafted rookies and signed free agents who stepped right in and made an immediate impact.
It isn't hard at all to make the case that Thompson knew what he was doing when he took over Mike Sherman's aging team three years ago and started rebuilding. He didn't make wholesale changes just for the sake of making wholesales changes. He has steadily improved the talent level.
Looking at what he did, you search for some answers, and you inevitably come up with this: confidence. It is what defines the general manager of the Green Bay Packers.
So much has changed, but Thompson's insistence on doing it his way - despite all the outside shouting - remains the cornerstone at 1265 Lombardi Ave.
There was a buzz in Green Bay that with another strong draft, the Packers would ascend to the playoffs like last year's New Orleans Saints.
The Packers had obvious needs. They needed a running back to step in where Ahman Green stepped out. They needed a home run wide receiver. They needed a tight end. A fullback.
So, who did they pick first? A nose tackle.
All I know is, this Justin Harrell guy had better be the bomb, whoever he is. He'd better throw around blockers like a bar bouncer, sandblast gaps for A.J. Hawk to storm through and assume the disrupted appearances of a Gilbert Brown.
Because if he turns out to be the next Donnell Washington or Cletidus Hunt or the next Packer bust, which is never beyond the realm of possibility, fans will never forgive Thompson.
The selection of Harrell was met with some puzzlement, some cautious, muted approval, and for the first time in recent history, a chorus of howling outrage from fans.
The puzzlement: There were a number of impact players and potential game-breakers still on the board, not the least of which were wide receivers Dwayne Bowe and Robert Meachem and tight end Greg Olsen. All were taken in the first round.
The muted approval: Both sides of the ball are basic building blocks in football. Some scouts say Harrell is the real deal. Thompson said Harrell is the sort of quality defensive player who you can't afford to pass up.
The howling outrage: Nose tackle? They took a nose tackle? They used the 16th pick in the draft to pick a two-gap nose tackle? Not only that, they learned later that Justin Harrell's play last season at Tennessee was limited to three games because of a torn biceps tendon.
So which is it, a brilliant masterstroke or boneheaded idiocy? Have the Packers seen what eluded others? Or have they chosen unwisely, and will they pay an enormous price in the process?
Well, here's what we know for sure: We don't know.
I don't know, you don't know.
And the reason none of us knows is that we cannot see the future.
Who among us has seen Justin Harrell play one season?
One game?
One snap?
Harrell might turn out to be a great nose tackle. Or he might turn out to be fat and slow. Or he might turn out to be somewhere in between.
But to repeat, nobody knows for sure. And nobody will know for a few years.
That is what makes the draft intriguing and frustrating. It's a crapshoot. It is the projections of people based on possible potential. For those who do it for a living, it isn't completely guesswork, but it's close.
As general manager, Thompson is paid to know more than the rest of us. And it is his apparent viewpoint that Harrell, a 6-4 ½, 314-pound medicine ball of a defensive tackle, is a smart investment.
I'll assume Thompson isn't bothered by the fact that Harrell's résumé includes a heavy list of injuries in high school and college. I'll also assume he sees something special beneath it all because he's Ted Thompson and he loves building his defenses.
But he can't deny he is gambling here.
Perhaps the hit-miss for a nose tackle is much better than for a quarterback or a running back. But the excitement level is much lower.
Eleven new draft choices are coming to Green Bay, including Brandon Jackson, an undersized running back who had injury problems of his own at Nebraska. Harrell is the key.
He will blossom in Green Bay, or he won't.
So welcome to the madhouse, young man.
We were criticizing Nick Barnett when the Packers took him in the first round of the 2003 draft. Too small to play middle linebacker, we figured, and look how he turned out.
Don't take it personally that Green Bay fans greeted your selection with a certain hostility just because you were not a running back or wide receiver - a playmaker who could help a struggling offense and take some of the load off Brett Favre.
Thompson did not go out and get a big running back. He did not go out and get a game-breaking wide receiver. He did not put together an attractive offer to get Randy Moss.
Instead, he worked on building up his defense and stockpiling younger players. The fans essentially yawned. Thompson didn't care that the fans yawned. And so it goes.
There is never a hint that Thompson is not confident in his evaluation of the situation and the solution he has put together.
We'll see if his confidence is well-founded when the 2007 season begins.
Send e-mail to buddylea.aol.com
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