JS-""PACKERS TRADE FOR BACK""

[HarveyWallbangers]

Kind of interesting. From the JSO:

Costly deal: General manager Ted Thompson maintained that the New York Giants weren't going to cut Grant but a Giants source said the team was going to release him.

A source with one of the two teams said the Packers traded a sixth-round draft choice for Grant last week.

"That's not the information we got," Thompson replied when asked if he had heard the Giants would have cut Grant. "But you never know. He was on all their special teams and looked very much like a guy they were going to have on their team.

"We did what we had to do to get the young man. We liked what we saw on tape."

Grant, 6 feet 1 inch and 224 pounds, said he was told by the Giants that they were going to keep five backs, including him.

"They kind of gave me the heads-up I was going to make the team," he said.

A personnel director for an NFC team said Grant had an impressive summer.

"I was shocked they got the sixth for him," the scout said. "But if you base it just off preseason, which you hate to do, he was worth it. In college, he was just kind of a guy. But I'm telling you, he was impressive in preseason. He could be something, he really could."

[Carolina_Packer]

Damn that Shanahan! He strikes again. He picks up Selvin Young as a rookie FA and he's now number 2 on the depth chart. So now he's loaded with RB's and we're searching for a healthy productive one.

I don't recall that we picked up any other RB's on the undrafted free agent market, and with the question marks surrounding our backs, why not get some more of them in camp. If we had gone after a Selvin Young instead of a Clark Harris, we'd have someone right now who could be helping us. Yeah, I know, Monday morning QB'ing (granted, it's Friday), but with PJ Pope and Arliss Beach getting the heave ho, he really painted himself into a corner as far as who we kept and didn't have as big a margin of error as he could have had if he had just brought in more RB's to compete.

[Harlan Huckleby]

every time this thread pops to top of list I think the Packers just added a new back.

focus, focus...

[Joemailman]

Damn that Shanahan! He strikes again. He picks up Selvin Young as a rookie FA and he's now number 2 on the depth chart. So now he's loaded with RB's and we're searching for a healthy productive one.

I don't recall that we picked up any other RB's on the undrafted free agent market, and with the question marks surrounding our backs, why not get some more of them in camp. If we had gone after a Selvin Young instead of a Clark Harris, we'd have someone right now who could be helping us. Yeah, I know, Monday morning QB'ing (granted, it's Friday), but with PJ Pope and Arliss Beach getting the heave ho, he really painted himself into a corner as far as who we kept and didn't have as big a margin of error as he could have had if he had just brought in more RB's to compete.

Actually, Pope was an injury too. So Pack has had Morency, Jackson, Herron, Pope and Grant get hurt. Also, that doesn't include Wynn who missed most of the preseason with an injury. It's been argued that TT should have brought in a back with more experience, but I don't know if you can really say he didn't bring in enough backs. It's just a tough situation that they'll have to work their way through.

[Carolina_Packer]

OK, all I'm saying is he has a zillion guys he brings into camp to compete for all the other positions, so why shortchange RB to the point where you are looking for enough bodies for camp? He was trimming RB's off the roster before camp began. It's not his fault for the injuries of course, but for his pre-camp planning. I don't know if there is much you can do once camp starts to get someone until the final roster cut downs either in trade or waiver. I just think he left us a little thin and hopefully will learn to stock up a little more. He's a throw it up and see if it sticks guy anyway, so if he had gone after a Selvin Young, he would find a potential diamond in the rough. Seems like a TT guy...under the radar, sat behind someone else and was respectable but not prolific; lots of upside.

[Bretsky]

Damn that Shanahan! He strikes again. He picks up Selvin Young as a rookie FA and he's now number 2 on the depth chart. So now he's loaded with RB's and we're searching for a healthy productive one.

I don't recall that we picked up any other RB's on the undrafted free agent market, and with the question marks surrounding our backs, why not get some more of them in camp. If we had gone after a Selvin Young instead of a Clark Harris, we'd have someone right now who could be helping us. Yeah, I know, Monday morning QB'ing (granted, it's Friday), but with PJ Pope and Arliss Beach getting the heave ho, he really painted himself into a corner as far as who we kept and didn't have as big a margin of error as he could have had if he had just brought in more RB's to compete.

Actually, Pope was an injury too. So Pack has had Morency, Jackson, Herron, Pope and Grant get hurt. Also, that doesn't include Wynn who missed most of the preseason with an injury. It's been argued that TT should have brought in a back with more experience, but I don't know if you can really say he didn't bring in enough backs. It's just a tough situation that they'll have to work their way through.

Good ole TT; he's all about quantity

[Lurker64]

He was trimming RB's off the roster before camp began.

He was? Anybody other than Arliss Beach, who was coming off a injury laden 2006? He got cut by the Cowboys on Sept 1, and I think he's still out there if we want another RB.

So not a huge misjudgment from Thompson there, is it?

[HarveyWallbangers]

He didn't exactly shortchange the position. How can you expect this?

#1 Morency - gets injured and misses pretty much all of camp
#2 Jackson - suffers concussion and misses time late in camp
#3 Herron - out for season
#4 Wynn - misses most of camp
#5 Pope - misses most of camp

Not to mention other guys who were brought into camp like Corey White.

How many more RBs did you want them to bring into camp?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Joe beat me to it.

[Carolina_Packer]

I'm fine with TT not getting in a bidding war for Ahman. It would have been a bad re-signing.

I don't blame him for injuries, of course...they happen, and you deal.

I think it just points out the issues with leaving so much to chance with youth and relative inexperience. Admittedly there were not a ton of great options out there, but I think a more experienced guy could have pushed some of the other guys more, and made us less reliant on the young guys so soon. Even a stop-gap guy would have worked, ala Chris Brown or (insert name of any other available RB). It's not perfect, but at least it gives you some more leadership.

Again, I understand that we're snake-bitten, but even if we were more healthy, I still see the wisdom in having a stop gap veteran for depth and leadership, just in case Jackson or Morency doesn't come through and it provides veteran depth. Could that guy have gotten hurt too? Yeah, I guess so, but perhaps a veteran guy may have better preparation or practice to stay away from injury.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Before preseason, I'm sure Jackson was considered the future. He was a 2nd round pick, and RBs in the 2nd round often contribute immediately. Morency was the stopgap/platoon guy until Jackson was ready. Herron was the short-term 3rd down back. Wynn was the flier/project. I also think they thought they had something with Pope. I imagine they didn't think Jackson would struggle so much in pass pro because that he was considered a good all around back. I must admit that I haven't seen more than 1 or 2 glaring mistakes in pass pro by him in the preseason, but you can bet that Philly is going to come after the kid.

[Carolina_Packer]

All I'm saying is why roll a big pair of dice on a rookie if you have the resources? Why not try and create a safety net by having a veteran for depth? If Jackson came in and beat out the veteran and made him expendable, that's the ultimate scenario. If he struggled with his game or got hurt, the veteran would come in handy. That's really all I'm saying, I guess. We physically had enough bodies at RB, but we certainly could have used a bargain, stop-gap, veteran to provide depth and some veteran leadership at a position that was questionable coming into the season. I'm not second guessing TT because I was first guessing him before training camp and during the free agency period.

[Harlan Huckleby]

RBs in the 2nd round often contribute immediately .

I wonder if this is true. OK, "contribute", that's pretty safe. But I'm gonna go look at recent st 2nd round RB's see how many started in recent years. A good use of my time.

[BallHawk]

RBs in the 2nd round often contribute immediately .

I wonder if this is true. OK, "contribute", that's pretty safe. But I'm gonna go look at recent st 2nd round RB's see how many started in recent years. A good use of my time.

If we're talking strictly 2nd round draft pick, Julius Jones and Clinton Portis come to mind.

[Harlan Huckleby]

OK here are rookie years of recent 2nd rounders
games started, rushing attempts, yards, average

2006
(0) 61 244 4.0 LenDale White, Tenessee
(1) 166 941 5.7 Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville

2005
(5) 112 370 3.3 J.J. Arrington, Arizona
(0) injured Eric Shelton, Carolina (leave him out)

2004
(0) 75 396 5.3 Tatum Bell, Denver
(7) 197 819 4.2 Julius Jones, Dallas
(3) 62 162 2.6 Greg Jones, Jacksonville

None of them started half the games.
2 of 6 are bigtime contributors, Julius Jones and Maurice Jones-Drew
4 of 6 had good rushing averages.