2006 Live DRAFT Thread

[Partial]

have these forums been down? I was gone.

What does everyone think of our picks!?!

[Scott Campbell]

Thanks to Rastak for the thread, Madtown for the forum, and to Harv, Bretsky, SC, Fritz, Merlin (the list is long and I can't remember everybody) and all your research and commentary. Your work made this draft very, very cool. The spot-on analysis, player bios, and all the other commentary was sooo much better than ESPN and the NFL network.

Thanks.

I think this was pretty entertaining for everyone involved. Glad you joined us.

Our first year Packer Rats draft thread went for about 113 pages in a little over 30 hours. Next year I think we need at least 200 pages. I'm sure we'll get a nice bump in post count just by not letting the Viking troll start the thread.

[Rastak]

Thanks to Rastak for the thread, Madtown for the forum, and to Harv, Bretsky, SC, Fritz, Merlin (the list is long and I can't remember everybody) and all your research and commentary. Your work made this draft very, very cool. The spot-on analysis, player bios, and all the other commentary was sooo much better than ESPN and the NFL network.

Thanks.

I think this was pretty entertaining for everyone involved. Glad you joined us.

Our first year Packer Rats draft thread went for about 113 pages in a little over 30 hours. Next year I think we need at least 200 pages. I'm sure we'll get a nice bump in post count just by not letting the Viking troll start the thread.

Two years running Scott......by the way, I'm not a troll despite the title Mad gave me.....

[Bretsky]

have these forums been down? I was gone.

What does everyone think of our picks!?!

I haven't did all the research on each one yet, but my gut gives TT a C.

He added a lot of depth but seems to prefer the projects over players that might contribute sooner.

[RashanGary]

Based on my little knowledge

Hawk - Right pick...Star player at weak position..Lucky pick.....
Colledge - Very athletic, very smart, hard working...Great pick
Jennings - I think he'll be the #3 WR by seasons end
Hodge - Nice player, Solid starter. The kind of player you want on the field.
Spitz - Hard worker, Doesn't fit, Great motor, Looks like a Center only to me.
Rodgers - Is going to have to battle for a spot on the team. Great return potential.....Solid football player. Just makes plays.
Blackmon - Great with the ball, great athlete, special teamer who is a project at CB
Martin - Great pick, Smart, Fast, Strong arm, good player to take a chance on. Has all the skills
Moll - Thompson labeled this guy as the unique late day player when asked. Very Raw TE convert to OT. Might fly, might fall

Last three who knows. I think the DE could be damn good.

I project Hawk, Colledge and Hodge as immediate starters. I think they could easily get 5 out of this group in a year or two. If I had to take a blind stab, which is what it is, I would say it will eventually grade out to be an A. Hawk is just that great and many others could be really good starters.

[MadtownPacker]

Excellent job on draft coverage and commentary by everyone. It was truly interactive.

[RashanGary]

Thanks for the cool site Mad.....

[Rastak]

Excellent job on draft coverage and commentary by everyone. It was truly interactive.

Ditto...thanks Mad, great job on the site....

[Scott Campbell]

What's your under/over on how many of these picks that make the 53 man roster?

You didn't ask me, but I'll say 8.

I'd say that's a pretty good guess Harv. I was thinking 8 or 9, just because Ted seemed inclined to go with the unproven guys last year if it was a close call.

[Scott Campbell]

SUNDAY, April 30, 2006, 5:08 p.m.

By Rick Klauer
Tollefson fishing, closes out Packers' draft

With their final pick and the third-to-last pick in the draft, the Green Bay Packers selected Dave Tollefson, a defensive end from Northwest Missouri State.
Dave Tollefson. Photo/Northwest Missouri State
Tollefson is 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds.

The Packers' media relations department tried to contact Tollefson for an interview with the media, but was told that he "is currently fishing."

When finally reached through a cell phone, Tollefson said that a friend entered him in a bass tournament today. He said he caught five fish - the limit - and admitted that he has never gone ice fishing.

Tollefson also said that he "wasn't expecting to be drafted," but added it was "a pleasant surprise." He set a Northwest Missouri State single season-record with 12 1/2 sacks.

[Scott Campbell]

Updated: April 29, 2006
Wroten falls down to the third round
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com


Character counts.

That message was delivered loud and clear by NFL teams on the first day of the 2006 draft. Transgress off the field and, it seems, you regress on teams' draft boards.

Just ask Claude Wroten of LSU, rated by many scouts as the most athletically gifted defensive tackle in this year's talent pool but left undrafted on Saturday until the fourth choice in the third round, when Arizona stopped his free-fall.

In a letter sent to all 32 franchises two weeks ago, a supposedly contrite Wroten allowed that he had tested positive for marijuana during his college career. He explained the details of an arrest in early February, when police cited him for possession to distribute marijuana, charges that subsequently were dismissed because of lack of evidence.

During a recent interview with ESPN.com, Wroten insisted he had sworn off marijuana and acknowledged he feared his indiscretions might cost him a professional football career.

And then, shortly after teams received Wroten's letter, they were notified by the league that the former LSU star was one of two players who had tested positive at the scouting combine sessions. And whatever chances Wroten had of salvaging his high-round draft status went up in smoke, literally and figuratively.

"From a pure talent standpoint," agreed one AFC general manager a few hours before the start of Saturday's proceedings, "(Wroten) is probably one of the best tackles I've seen in the last few years. But you make an investment in these guys, and you have to protect it. I'm not going to let a 'character' guy cost me money. Sooner or later, maybe some of these guys will understand how much (money) they're costing themselves. Basically, teams have decided we're going to make examples of these guys."

On a first day in which teams demonstrated the increasing emphasis on selecting prospects as solid off the field as they are on it, Wroten was hardly the only highly-regarded player to pay a steep price.

Once projected as a possible top 10 selection, Southern California tailback LenDale White slid all the way to the 13th pick in the second round, the 45th selection overall, not because of drug tests but rather the perception he lacks a strong work ethic. Complicating the White situation was that he never completed a 40-yard dash for scouts because of a hamstring injury that will sideline him until mid-May. The drop to the second round cost White millions of dollars.

"Right now," said White on Saturday, "I'm looking at a 31-team chip on my shoulder."

A published report Friday claimed White had failed an NFL drug test, but the report was deemed erroneous. The only function at which an NFL drug test is administered is the scouting combine in Indianapolis. And the only player besides Wroten to be flagged for a positive combine test was Missouri State kicker Jon Scifres.

Four general managers or personnel directors contacted by ESPN.com on Friday and Saturday said there was no follow-up letter citing additional positive tests. All four said they were unfamiliar with any league tests that White might have failed.

Teams are not permitted to conduct drug screenings on players when they bring them to their complexes for individual pre-draft meetings. That said, a few franchises skirt the rules and do conduct such tests. Those teams, though, would have no reason, given the competitive nature of the draft, to share or leak the results.

"The reports (on White) were false," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher. "We just feel that, considering the ability he has, and the production he had (in college), and the running style he brings to this franchise, this was a player too good to pass up."

Still, had scouts not perceived some character issues with White, there is no way he would have been available to the Titans in the second round.

Another former USC star who dropped out of the first round for character reasons was offensive tackle Winston Justice, regarded by many as the second-best prospect in the draft at the position. Some projections had the Philadelphia Eagles grabbing Justice in the first round. But they passed on Justice in the opening stanza, and so did everyone else. Ironically, it was the Eagles who tossed Justice a safety net in the second round, taking him with the 39th overall selection.

Virginia Tech star Jimmy Williams, who entered his senior season with the Hokies rated as the nation's premier defensive back, fell out of the first round, in part because of the feeling of many teams that he had some personality flaws. Williams was chosen by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round.

[packrulz]

Dave Tollefson.


Looks like a tough dude. Reminds me of Kampman.

[Scott Campbell]

By John Clayton
ESPN.com
Archive

NEW YORK -- It was supposed to be a draft of linebackers and defensive backs, but the surprise position Saturday on Day 1 of the 2006 NFL draft was offensive line.

Ten offensive tackles went during the first three rounds. That's the most since 2000, when 10 tackles went in a year that produced Chris Samuels of the Redskins, Mark Tauscher of the Packers and Marvel Smith of the Steelers.

Even though D'Brickashaw Ferguson was the only tackle to go in the first round, nine went between picks 39 and 89.

One reason so many tackles went in the first 89 picks is that the position is thin. Teams felt more urgency to draft offensive linemen in the first day.

"There aren't a lot of offensive linemen, and the class is pretty thin," Steelers vice president Kevin Colbert said. "There aren't a lot as you go forward."

The second round was full of surprises. The Packers raised a few eyebrows by taking Daryn Colledge from Boise State in the second round with the 47th pick after Winston Justice of USC went to the Eagles with the 39th pick. Colledge is considered a pretty good developmental tackle, but it was surprising to see him go before Marcus McNeill of Auburn.

Tthe bigger surprises came when the Vikings used a second-round pick on tackle Ryan Cook of New Mexico, and the Panthers used a third-rounder on Rashad Butler of Miami. Another surprise was the Raiders taking Weber State's Paul McQuistan in the third. Those three all were considered second-day prospects.

"If you are going to go for an offensive lineman, you have to go for them a little earlier, because there aren't a lot of them," Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said.

The rush to draft tackles cost guards, a position that usually gets hot in the second and third rounds. Only four guards went in first three rounds. Two of big name guards -- Max Jean-Gilles of Georgia and Fred Matua of USC -- sat through the first day without being selected.

Teams had to be strategic in getting their linemen. Credit the Jets with being smart. But, of course, they had the most urgent needs. The Jets might have had the least-talented offensinve line in the NFL heading into Sautrday. But after drafting Ferguson and center Nick Mangold in the first round, that will change. Both are considered to be among the best at their positions in the past few years.

The Texans might have been the luckiest team in terms of offensive linemen. After years of waiting for the offensive line to come together, the Texans sat back and grabbed tackle Eric Winston of Miami and guard Charles Spencer of Pitt with the 65th and 66th picks, giving them second-round values in the third round.

"We were fortunate to get Winston and Spencer after the second round," Texans general manager Charley Casserley said. "We think they could really help us."

Overall, it was a strange day for offensive linemen. More tackles went than expected, and it could be a thin draft for blockers after the fourth round, when some of the top remaining guards will go.

Teams still needing offensive line help will have to tackle the already depleted free-agent market.

[Guiness]

SUNDAY, April 30, 2006, 5:08 p.m.

By Rick Klauer
Tollefson fishing, closes out Packers' draft

Heh. He'll fit it. Too bad Riviera isn't around any more to take him to Alaska for salmon.

So, who was that Jewish hammer guy, and did he get drafted?

[Bretsky]

Matt Bernstein, the UW Madison fullback, did not get drafted