Draft Day April 23, 2005

He absolutely doesn't draft BPA, Patty told me so. I don't care what Bob Harlan says, how would Bob Harlan even know? Patty also told me he was an irresponsible GM, a below average talent evaluator and a sexist pig. She was in the war room with him.

What a bunch of lazy fluff. Come on Mike, I know it's the bye week but flesh that bad boy out a little and push the editors on it. Delve in to the '05 draft more or later ones or something. That's ADHD writing.

I suppose in the age of Twitter that's what we get.

I'd love to know what Favre's reaction was. I bet it was similar to the reaction from the Cheesehead TV guy to the Justin Harrell pick.

Irresponsible.

quote:

So he said, ‘If we’re deep at wide receiver and say I pass up a couple of great wide receivers, and the second game of the season, we lose a couple people at that position, I’m going to be kicking myself the rest of the year that I didn’t stick to my pattern and take those wide receivers.’ So he said, ‘I’m going to take the top player on the board, regardless of what position he plays, because my responsibility is to build the entire football team.’”

marklawrance, patty and I feel Ted has done an adequate job (they were lucky to get past the Falcons last year). Ted just needs to be less fancy with his picks and be more respectful of the fans in how upfront he is about his draft strategy. Mike Sherman would have done a better job over these last few years, even if the team didn't win a Superbowl over that time frame.

Ted also drafted Justin Harrell, so can we get over all this talk about how good of a GM he is.

Uncle Ted is a fancy picker.

Isn't there a draft day thread from that day?

I recall the first round going on thinking that Rodgers- a guy that in some circles was considered the #1 overall pick- could and would fall to Green Bay and good for us he did

ROTTT

I do remember an on-the-air ESPN mock draft that year where AR dropped to number 26. The reasoning at the time was that after a couple top 5 decisions, he could fall if still available. And that is what happened.

Rodgers may have dropped that far, but it's what he's done for himself as well as what the coaches have done for him that's the real story. THIS STORY from July 2010, shows that Rodgers was preparing himself for the success he's gotten, and he's stayed humble doing it. The article was also fabulously true in a prediction for the 2010 season.

Praise be for TT!

No draft day thread is available (via Waybackmachine.) Threads are hit and miss from that time frame.


But, there was a fun thread a month before the draft debating the merits of Craig Nall or J.T O'Sullivan as the #2!

http://web.archive.org/web/200...38109321/m/540109004

There was mad discussion about trading Najeh Davenport to Miami, and what we could do with the picks:

http://web.archive.org/web/200.../frm/f/938109321/p/3

The majority of posters wanted to draft safety Thomas Davis from Georgia in 1st round:
http://web.archive.org/web/200...9321/m/579104084/p/3


There was a glowing review of Alex Smith (best workout since Troy Aikman!)....

http://web.archive.org/web/200...9321/m/424107683/p/3

The next threads up on wayback machine are from October '05, berating Sherman and calling for his firing.

http://web.archive.org/web/200...9321/m/680105618/p/2

OMG these threads are priceless. If we only knew the Pack was about to draft the future best player in the NFL.

And, here is the JSO article on the pick of ARod from April 24, 2005.:

http://web.archive.org/web/200...rev/apr05/321199.asp

My favorite part of the article was a quote from Ron Wolf:

"Wolf said based on his observations, Favre, 35, could play three or four more years if he chooses. However, he rejects the notion that the selection of Rodgers is going to result in outside forces creating pressure on the organization, even if the first-round pick sits for a while.

" If anything it alleviates all that other (expletive) they've been going through the last three years about what to do when Brett Favre retires ," Wolf said. "It goes away."

If he only knew the circus that was about to come to town two years later.....

quote:

Originally posted by Ghost of Lambeau:
I do remember an on-the-air ESPN mock draft that year where AR dropped to number 26. The reasoning at the time was that after a couple top 5 decisions, he could fall if still available. And that is what happened.

And, one last one, Bob McGinn on Rodgers before the draft:

"Reasonable doubt.

Former pupils of Rogers' tutor have struggled"



http://web.archive.org/web/200...der/apr05/319439.asp

(Couple other factoids---with Nick Collins on IR, Aaron is the only player from that draft class still on the team. And, both picks from round 2--Collins and Terrence Murphy---had neck injuries which have ended one career and may end another)

In another of the threads there was this:

No mention of Charlie Frye? I haven't been trolling lately but I thought he was considered either a late 1st or a mid-2nd rounder at the latest. Is it the consensus among Packer fans that Frye is a future bust? I think if we pass on him we will regret it. That's jmho.

tlc

Yep, tlc ruins the career of another NFL player.

I thought that was ikkkon's job.

Another MIA toolbox.

Some hand-wringing after we drafted Rodgers about Pac 10 QBs.

http://web.archive.org/web/200...38109321/m/267109494

Also, steal of the draft discussion and CALBuc maybe owing Boris a Javon Walker jersey? http://web.archive.org/web/200...9321/m/245101294/p/2

Oh, and before Raji was a bust, it was Collins being a reach, not projected until the 4th-5th round! (Even BJ Sander was a better pick! And... Remember when the Packers passed on Dan Cody (who was projected in the top 10!) and picked Nick Collins? (Dan Cody career stats in the NFL: Baltimore Ravens (2005–2007: 1 tackle (assisted))) Just when you thought purging could save you from silly statements in the past! http://web.archive.org/web/200...38109321/m/489102594

Here is the ikkon post you are looking for Coach:

If I was a betting man I would bet that Rodgers is going to be a bust.


http://web.archive.org/web/200...38109321/m/195108888

quote:

Originally posted by GBFanForLife:

quote:

"He said, ‘I can’t believe the guy has fallen this far, but he’s there. We may catch some heat, because with Brett (Favre) here we’re taking a quarterback.’ But he said, ‘He’s the best player on the board and I’m going to take him.’”

Dare we say that TT thought he fell into his lap?

People somehow equate the notion that "Rodgers fell to us" with "Thompson sucks." That's not the case. We are very fortunate that Rodgers fell down the draft board. He was predicted by many to go #1 overall. I remember the Packer Plus pre-draft edition had Rodgers on the cover, not because they had him going to the Packers, but rather because they had him going #1 overall. So it surprised just about everyone when he fell the way he did.

It took courage for Thompson to take Rodgers, because we still had Favre. As this story shows, while TT believed that Rodgers was the best on the board, he also realized that he would take heat for the pick. By taking him, TT showed that he had balls and that Favre wasn't going to run the show. I give him credit for that. But to suggest that TT somehow manipulated the draft and demonstrated his supreme drafting ability by taking Rodgers...well, that's revisionist history. Rodgers did fall to us. In terms of truly manipulating the draft to build this amazing roster, I'm more impressed with the manner in which TT has traded and accumulated picks over the years; snatched CMIII from the Patriots; stole Burnett away from the Bears; relied on his own draft board, even if it wasn't in line with those of "experts" (See, e.g., Collins, Jennings, etc.); focused on taking the BPA; etc.

The rest of the GM's suck and Thompson was ahead of the curve. Guess thats why the Packers roster is a lot better than the rest of the league and why they are the defending champions. Demoralizing

quote:

Originally posted by barrister:
People somehow equate the notion that "Rodgers fell to us" with "Thompson sucks." That's not the case. We are very fortunate that Rodgers fell down the draft board. He was predicted by many to go #1 overall. *etc*

There is too much good stuff in those old threads. I don't know where to begin.

quote:

Originally posted by BadgerzFan:
I thought the team, such as it was, played very hard and tried their best. Favre played extremely well but the injury to Ahman Green seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back. After that, the offense was inneffective, especially at converting 3rd downs.

Blame it on Sherman all you want, but Vince Lombardi would have a hard time winning with what is left of this injury-ravaged team. Sometimes injuries ARE a valid excuse. Firing Sherman is not the answer here, and anyone who is a knowledgable football fan knows it.

That's gold. I forgot the old 'GB tried hard' bit after another boneheaded loss.

I don't even have to look at an old thread to know that I didn't want Rodgers. I'd seen enough of the David Carr's, the Joey Harrington's, the Trent Dilfer's (who did turn out to be a pretty good QB after washing out with Tampa), to think that another Jeff Tedford QB was going to end up like those guys.

I was not happy the Pack picked Rodgers. It had nothing to do with wanting weapons for Favre either, I just figured Rodgers was just another college QB that didn't have a ton of skill that was propped up by a great college system. For his first 2 years in Green Bay, it didn't look like a completely off base assessment, but from 2007 onward... yeah that assessment was WAAAAAAYYYY off.

There are exceptions to every rule... and Rodgers was the exception to the "Don't draft a Tedford QB" rule. In hindsight, if anything that regimented college system may have hindered him as a pro prospect and made him look more robotic than he really was. The way I heard one columnist describe Tedford's system, "Tedford does all the work for you, you just need to do as you're told and it makes it easy for a QB to succeed". There isn't a ton of creativity in that system, and Rodgers needed a system like Green Bay's to truly reach his full potential as a QB.

Sherman knew he was done when Thompson was hired. Mangini knew he was done when Holmgren was hired. Shottenheimer knew he was done when Mike Smith was hired. Sparano knew he was done, well, he was done regardless.

Whenever a new GM is hired (unless you're a Holmgren who actually still wields the power like in Seattle) you understand as a coach that you are usually retained to be the fall guy while the GM does his thing the first year. He wants his own guy. And if he's going to be accountable then he should have his own guy, like it or not.

Thompson chose his guy and the results have been from at worst good at times to great, that works for me.

quote:

Originally posted by barrister:
People somehow equate the notion that "Rodgers fell to us" with "Thompson sucks."

There's a difference between AR falling to GB and falling into TT's lap. The former is just a simple statement of fact; the implications of the latter seem pretty clear to me as an attempt to diminish TT.

quote:

Originally posted by Herschel:
Sherman knew he was done when Thompson was hired. Mangini knew he was done when Holmgren was hired. Shottenheimer knew he was done when Mike Smith was hired. Sparano knew he was done, well, he was done regardless.

Whenever a new GM is hired (unless you're a Holmgren who actually still wields the power like in Seattle) you understand as a coach that you are usually retained to be the fall guy while the GM does his thing the first year. He wants his own guy. And if he's going to be accountable then he should have his own guy, like it or not.

Thompson chose his guy and the results have been from at worst good at times to great, that works for me.

You seem to be pretty in tune with Shermy's internal thoughts, since you state that Shermy knew he was being set up for the catapult as soon as TT was hired. Did he still think so after he was given a 2 year/$6M extension, or did he realize that was that just a devious variable in TT's plan?

quote:

Originally posted by michiganjoe:...the implications of the latter seem pretty clear to me as an attempt to diminish TT.

Why does something fortunate happening "diminish" TT's abilities? He literally said according to the article ‘I can’t believe the guy has fallen this far, but he’s there.'

quote:

Originally posted by BadgerzFan:
..... Blame it on Sherman all you want, but Vince Lombardi would have a hard time winning with what is left of this injury-ravaged team.

I realize this was about MS's last team - the one where they were auditioning WRs at half time trying to find enough players to finish the game.

Anyway, Lombardi had some key injuries at times. He always found a way to shuffle players (Like when Kramer messed up his ankle and was out for a while and when Thurston was injured), find an unemployed replacement (Chuck Mercein comes to mind), or just pull someone who was a backup off the bench to play a key role (you name it Gale Gillingham, Tom Moore, Zeke Bratkowski, Travis Williams, ETC. That last list is long. Then he'd change the plays some and strategy to match his players. Lombardi was never easy to coach against - no matter what. Given Sherman's team then - I would not bet against Lombardi.

quote:

Originally posted by JJSD:
You seem to be pretty in tune with Shermy's internal thoughts, since you state that Shermy knew he was being set up for the catapult as soon as TT was hired. Did he still think so after he was given a 2 year/$6M extension, or did he realize that was that just a devious variable in TT's plan?

Rarely do coaches ever coach in the final year of their contract in the NFL. When a new regime is brought in it's probably to give them a "bonus"/severence for being the scapegoat. I think that's really weird but it is what it is.

It happens in the business world too. Some managers are kept on through early parts of a transition to make cuts and be the fall guy for the changes and then leave with a nice severence package.

Shottenheimer was offered an extension in San Diego before he got fired too.

Shottenheimer isn't coaching either and he consistently had winners on the field. Teams went with a wave of hiring first-time guys and a few have struck it pretty good (Saints, Steelers, Packers to name a few) while certain retreads who were never consistent winners got hired too (see San Diego).

quote:

Originally posted by chickenboy:
Why does something fortunate happening "diminish" TT's abilities?

The implication of having AR "fall into TT's lap" is that it was the obvious choice; a no-brainer.

quote:

Originally posted by Herschel:
Shottenheimer isn't coaching either and he consistently had winners on the field.

Champion

Wow, BadgerzFan, ikkkon. It's like a who's who of idiots from the past.

Nice take by CalBuc on Rodgers after he was drafted.

quote:

Originally posted by chickenboy:
Champion

Holy Crap! Former Packer Aaron Rouse MVP of the game?? Dominic Rhodes MVP of the league?!?!?!

I never heard anything about this. Marty is finally a champion. Congrats!

quote:

Originally posted by JJSD:

quote:

Originally posted by BadgerzFan:
I thought the team, such as it was, played very hard and tried their best. Favre played extremely well but the injury to Ahman Green seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back. After that, the offense was inneffective, especially at converting 3rd downs.

Blame it on Sherman all you want, but Vince Lombardi would have a hard time winning with what is left of this injury-ravaged team. Sometimes injuries ARE a valid excuse. Firing Sherman is not the answer here, and anyone who is a knowledgable football fan knows it.

That's gold. I forgot the old 'GB tried hard' bit after another boneheaded loss.

Gotta give you a bit of credit Judge....they do not build BADgerfanz and dummer than that dum dum.

If Rodgers was a no-brainer pick for TT, even though Favre was on the list, then how much more of a no-brainer was it for good old Al Davis at Oakland, picking 23? They decided to stick with Kerry Collins (and subsequently 9 more), and drafted Fabian Washington, now with his third club.

Or the Baltimore Ravens at 22, who decided to stick with Kyle Boller and Anthony Wright? You could go all the way back through the list, 23 picks. The only one who could possibly argue they were right to ignore him were Dallas, who had Bledsoe, with Romo waiting in the wings. Even New Orleans should have been looking for a replacement for Aaron Brooks - they didn't sign Brees until 2006.

Rodgers may have fallen into TT's laps, but the fact is that 20 or so GMs had the chance to make the correct choice and got it wrong; TT got it right forst time.

(Minnesota had 2 picks where they could have had Rodgers. Troy Williamson, WR, drafted 7th - 4 career touchdown receptions; Erasmus James, DE, drafted 18th - 37 career tackles, 5 sacks. What a shame

not sure what other team's stupidity have to do with this.