Chad Reuter gave me a Jamal Reynolds signed mini-helmet
Man, that thing must be worth a couple of million grains of sand.
Soon to be featured in the YouTube sensation "Two girls, one helmet."
Originally Posted by Pakrz:
From Packer Update (Truer words have never been spoken):
You’ve probably noticed how few stories I’ve posted on the draft. That’s because I’m simply not qualified to give opinions on players I don’t know enough about. For example, I didn’t go to any Northern Illinois games last season and I don’t have access to that school’s All-22 videos. So how do I know what kind of safety Jimmie Ward will be in the pros? I don’t. Sure I could watch highlights on You Tube or look over his combine numbers or read the opinions of others. Or I could go one step further and re-watch some games on TV, but even that’s not going to help very much. While the tube is OK to check out linemen, running backs and to a lesser extent quarterbacks, tight ends and linebackers, you need to see the entire field when dealing with wide receivers and defensive backs. Otherwise, your opinion is about as valuable as a Mario Mendoza baseball card. And yet I can’t turn on the radio at this time of year without hearing some know-nothing blogger pretend that he knows everything about the draft. It’s an absolute joke. You know when I’ll give you my opinion on the players general manager Ted Thompson selects next week? After I go to training camp this summer and actually see them with my own eyes.
That's such a stupid post. 1) Not even NFL front office personnel can say how a guy will be in teh NFL, that's why teh draft is a crapshoot. No one knew that a scrappy DE from USC would immediately be on teh top pass rushers in the NFL and no one knew JaMarcus Russell would bomb out of teh NFL almost immediately. Some guys thought those things might happen, but no one could say for sure. 2) By his logic, most of us are not qualified to talk about NFL football in general. I went to no Packer games and haven't looked at any of teh All-22 tape for any of teh games. I guess I don't have the right to comment how bad AJ Hawk is or how good Aaron Rodgers is? I can watch Northern Illinois and see that Jimmie Ward is fast or he is a strong tackler, you don't have to be an NFL GM to see those things. Will he be a good pro? I think so, but I could be wrong. Does it really matter what I think or anyone on the internet thinks? Absolutely not, but it's still fun to talk about and share opinions. I could be dead wrong on every single college player I watch and I don't care because I think it's fun to try and figure this stuff out. Rodney is being a pussy because he doesn't like being wrong.
Are NFL GM's experts?
Cause they get it wrong all the time too.
It's draft season, what fun is it if we can read/talk about the draft and point out how smart/dum everyone's draft thoughts are.
New name emerges...
From Charley Casserly's first mock of the season...Packers take Stephon Tuitt, 6'5" 305lbs DE from Notre Dame.
Still on the board after that...Darqueze Dennard, Louis Nix, Ra'shede Hageman and Ryan Shazier. Also an interesting development...Johnny Football...not drafted in round 1.
I've seen Tuitt as high as 5 and as low as 63.
He would fill a need, and IMHO, I think a safer pick than Nix. Nix concerns me with his knee injury and being a fatty. Yes, we need a fatty in this D, but I'd almost rather roll the dice later in the draft on an NT.
Read on interwebs. He is tailor made for five-technique end in the 3-4, his natural position at Notre Dame.
Casserly is an interesting dude. Remember when he took Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush #1 overall.
He looks at the draft like a GM so it gives us some good insight as to what the other GM's might be thinking.
Taking Benjamin with Mosley still on the board. Not that it matters, but not sure how that'd go over.
Originally Posted by Boris:
Casserly is an interesting dude. Remember when he took Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush #1 overall.
He looks at the draft like a GM so it gives us some good insight as to what the other GM's might be thinking.
That's just their "fan draft." If Ebron fell that far, I'd hope TT would pull the trigger.
Tuitt excites me though...would be nice to have a DE who is drafted who can play in his natural position instead of taking BPA and trying to force them into a position fit.
Tuitt missed the combine and his pro day due to injuries. If he's the pick I hope there's a Flight for Life chopper on the roof of Radio City that can drop him off at the GB IR ward.
Injured himself putting on the Green & Gold #1 jersey at Radio City
Sounds like Tuitt was good early in his career, but got fat before his Senior year and wasn't nearly as effective. I wouldn't be thrilled if he was the pick, but I haven't been to any Notre Dame games or seen the All-22.
I would take Tuitt before Hageman if that was an option
Originally Posted by Boris:
Injured himself putting on the Green & Gold #1 jersey at Radio City
Well, the ****er forgot to stretch.
I heard Jamal Reynolds hit the limbo circuit with all that body lean.
i was doing shots with my CJ Mosley fathead when we saw the "Mosley is a Lion" post. I told him it was X4 humor but he's still pretty shaken up.
What does your Jamari Lattimore fathead think of the Mosely one
They're good. Most of the time they make "AJ, the rest of your career is on line 1. It says you need to talk" jokes. Jamari is actually pretty reserved.
Weren't Worthy and Jones drafted to play DE?
I refuse to offer an opinion on Tuitt until I watch youtube video highlights and read regurgitated information on the internet about him from other dumdums.
Originally Posted by Pak
rz:
rz:No, you can't trade up or down. In R1, who is TT taking?
I got CJ Mosley.
Originally Posted by Pakrz:
Weren't Worthy and Jones drafted to play DE?
I refuse to offer an opinion on Tuitt until I watch youtube video highlights and read regurgitated information on the internet about him from other dumdums.
Check out 40 seconds in...this 80 yard fumble return for a TD is pretty impressive.
Originally Posted by Boris:
Originally Posted by PackerHawk:
Every team in the NFL can stand to upgrade the bottom 1/4 of their roster.
Absolutely! The question is will they? I'll bet they have at least 40-43 players they don't/won't want to cut. They going to hit on every draft pick? Doubtful. They could easily turn those 1st 6 picks into 3-4 solid players on higher rated tiers. To me, that makes more sense with their current roster. IMO JMO
There is no way they have 40-43 guys that are safe from losing their jobs. I think you are still confusing them with the 76 Steelers. At best they probably have about 30 of those guys. Maybe another 10 that they like but don't love. Drop them without blinking if someone comes along they like better. The rest is chum.
MM has said in the past that about 25% of the roster turns over every year, which is about 13 players. That puts it at about 40 players as a 'core', well within the range that Boris supposed.
I could see the 49ers putting together a draft pick trade, but I don't think it would be to trade up. There's not one single player in the draft that could put them over the top, IMHO.
Conversely, would any player be available at pick 30 that another team would want to trade for? I'd guess it's possible for someone to unexpectedly drop, as it would be for Manziel to be available; otherwise it would be a hidden gem.
And one must consider the Vikings and their draft history...
They may average 25% turnover but that doesn't mean 75% are safe from losing their jobs. To me their jobs being safe means there is zero chance they will be cut or have their starting job be up for grabs. I would say that description really only applies to 25% of the roster at any given time because I really can't think of more than 10/12 guys who won't be cut or will lose their starting job. Everyone else is at risk of losing their job at all times...Not For Long league.
So Aaron Rodgers, Randall Cobb, Clay Matthews, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Josh Sitton, TJ Lang, Eddie Lacy, The Soulless Ginger, Brett Goode and AJ Hawk?
IMO there are 20-22 guys that are pretty bulletproof. Core players. Then there's 15- 20 more that are true draft and develop projects that Ted won't shed easily. The rest are year to year.
I think the 25% turnover is by design. Ted and MM never want to see too many fresh faces every July. On top of all this is bringing together the best possible 53 given cap constraints. If you have 45 guys that are truly un-cuttable roughly half of that group will be leaving town at some point in the near future whether you like it or not.
Originally Posted by Shoeless Joe:
You forgot Randall Cobb.
And Randall Cobb also
Originally Posted by ChilliJon:
IMO there are 20-22 guys that are pretty bulletproof. Core players.
I agree with the rest of your post, but who are the 20-22 core, bulletproof players? To me the untouchables right now are: Rodgers, Lacy, Nelson, Cobb, Sitton, Lang, CM3, Peppers, Tramon, and Shields. Guys like Burnett, Masthay, and Crosby are mostly safe because the team has made a financial commitment to them. Several guys like Daniels, D. Jones, Hawk, Bahktiari, Kuhn, B. Jones, Hayward, Raji, Bulaga, etc. will be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to winning starting spots or at least a roster spot either because of their draft slot or past performance. I don't consider them locks to make the roster though, guys like Bahktiari are very safe bets, but not bulletproof.
Cobb, Randall
Bakhtiari was our starting LT last year. A 4th round pick, #109 overall.
The only way the Packers would get rid of him is if he was dead.
I'd call that about as "bulletproof" as Superman.
GD, the first 13 you mentioned. Daniels, Jones, Perry, Hyde, Bak, Tretter, Hayward, and Goode.
Are there players on this list that could be cut if a draft pick ends up a better option? Absolutely. But I don't think Ted looks at at the draft as an opportunity to upgrade any of those guys. If it happens it happens but it's apparent he'll go to great lengths to develop guy's he and his personnel people decided to bring to GB. And again, the cap forces smart GM's to put the puzzle together in a way you're not forced to flip a roster over more than you'd like every couple years.
Originally Posted by Pakrz:
Weren't Worthy and Jones drafted to play DE?
Yes they were...but they play a different role. There are 2 types of DE's in the 3-4 that Capers runs. The first type is the wide- body big guys who 2-gap and keep the LBs free. That's Jolly, Wilson, Boyd and even Pickett & Raji last year. They line up directly over the OT's in the 5-tech position and they are there to stuff the run and control the OT's.
The other type of 3-4 DE's are the Neal, Worthy, Daniels, Jones types and they have a smaller body with some wiggle - which means they offer a pass rush. And they are more likely to penetrate than to just tie up blockers. In the the nickel, (which GB plays 70% of the time), they line up over the guards as 2-techs and 3-techs and are the only two DL on the field.
This is what HOF player Cullen Jenkins excelled at and its what GB is hoping to get out of Neal, Daniels, Jones and maybe Worthy too. So just calling them DE's doesn't really give you enough info. Two different body types for two different roles.
GB is pretty well set on the pass rusher DE's imo, but they need one more wide- body to join Boyd in base at DE. And that could be a mix of Worthy, maybe Jolly, maybe Guion and maybe a draft pick in the later rounds. Daniels, Jones and Neal wouldn't hold up all season long wrestling the mammoth OTs; they are better utilized slipping past the guards who tend to be slower, less athletic dudes.
Thanks for the excellent summary Satori.
And this brings up the question...what if Jolly doesn't come back? I guess they could bring Pickett back, but I thought the intention was to line Raji up in his spot...so that makes no sense to bring him back on a vets salary as a backup.
So if Jolly doesn't come back, that means we have Boyd...which means one of two things...they must address it in the draft, or must address via FA after the draft.
Scary as it seems...that DE spot may be more pressing than either ILB or S. As much as we don't like it, Hawk and Jones can at least start at ILB, and Hayward can roll over to the S spot along side Burnett. Having Boyd as your only capable DE and defacto starter is a little scary.
Yeah, Jolly is a real crapshoot and even if his neck is OK, he's getting older and MM and TT have talked about how they wanted "young" legs late in the season.
I don't know if Worthy is worthy in that role and I don't know about Guion either - We'll find out on draft weekend because if neither of those guys is slated for base snaps, then they have to get another wide body. I think Pickett is all done being a Packer , but he may find work with a less talented team ( purple ?)