Official 2015 NFL Draft Thread

Not worried about Perryman or Borland for that matter in pass coverage.  Watch their college tape - both guys made a killing playing the run and sniffing out plays near the LOS.  Borland in particular forced a lot of turnovers and I think a lot of that has to do with his football instincts and IQ.   I think Perryman plays a little more physical but this defense needs a thumper that can take on ball carriers at the point of attack.  Our ILBs have sucked the last couple of years in that regard.

Hope this is the year TT can find a good ILB.  That is really the only thing holding this D back at this point in time.

Interesting about Jordan Phillips - New DL coach Montgomery would have some good inside scoop on him. 

Here is a late round sleeper. VERY athletic as evidence by his vertical & broad jumps today. I wonder if this kid could be converted to Inside LBer?

 

http://www.gomocs.com/ViewArti...bml?ATCLID=204979002 

Phillips is a hard one to gauge. He's so massive and athletic that he should have been much more productive and dominant than he was HOWEVER the Big 12 is not an ideal place for a massive NT to thrive. Baylor, OK St., and TCU run these wide open sideline-to-sideline offenses that there's no way an NT can truly have an impact. They throw very quickly and they run east/west more than they run north/south. Teams like Texas and Kansas St. are less wide open, but they're not pro-style offenses that do a lot of north/south running either. So I'm not sure we've truly seen what Jordan Phillips can do vs. an NFL style scheme. OU played Tennessee early in the season and TN is a spread offense, but they are a power running team. Phillips had a really nice game against TN clogging the middle. 

 

The thing I like about Phillips is that he rarely loses at the LOS. He's not always dominating or getting in the backfield like he probably should, but he never gets driven off the LOS. TN had a pretty poor OL, but even against double teams he's not getting driven off the ball. That's a huge plus to me. That means he knows how strong and heavy he is, but he doesn't know how to shed OL and disrupt the backfield.

Maylock said that when he gets fatigued is when he stops making plays. Perhaps having to play vs. those types of offenses only highlighted his conditioning weakness? 

Yeah I noticed he was running A LOT in the game against TCU and I can't imagine he ran less against similar offenses with Baylor and OK St. I imagine he wore out pretty quick.

I can't believe it's the following years draft thread and it's still centered around Borland!! Adams in the end will prove to be so much better of a pick than Borland when everything is said and done in the end

I was going to ask if Borland would be drafted in the top ten this year.

In the end he'd totally be drafted in the end, maybe earlier

The Packers could always bring Borland in as a coach when his career as a player is over

Agreed.  Ted has done a worse job evaluating defensive linemen than he has linebackers.  If only he could pick 'em all like he does on offense.

Like how he missed most of the 2013 season after having surgery for a chronic issue with his back?  330 pound guys that play in the trenches that have a history of back problems is pretty risky in round one.  But maybe I'm biased because the whole thing reminds me of Justin Harrell (although Harrell seemed to develop the back problems after he was a pro...that was about the last thing to go as everything else seemed to go wrong with him before he turned pro). 

The rest of the ILB workout numbers as posted on NFL.com.

 

3-cone drill:

Stephone Anthony = 7.09

Paul Dawson = no time posted

Eric Kendricks = no time posted

Benardrick McKinney = 7.21

Denzel Perryman = no time posted

Ramik Wilson = no time posted

 

20 yard shuttle:

Stephone Anthony = 4.03

Paul Dawson = 4.49

Eric Kendricks = no time posted

Benardrick McKinney = 4.27

Denzel Perryman = no time posted

Ramik Wilson = 4.51

 

60 yard shuttle

Stephone Anthony = no time posted

Paul Dawson = no time posted

Eric Kendricks = no time posted

Benardrick McKinney = no time posted

Denzel Perryman = no time posted

Ramik Wilson = no time posted

 

I don't know if there is a story behind this, but it looks like most the top rated ILBs decided to skip the agility drills.  Pretty disappointing.  Ted can't be very happy as I think the 3-cone might be a personal favorite of his.

 

 

I wouldn't take Jordan Phillips in round 1. The body of work just isn't there and the consistent dominance you should see from a guy with his size and talent isn't there. Round 2 I might take a flyer if he's clearly the BPA, but his medical will have to check out.

Speaking of Paul Dawson, I love his confidence: "I'm an awesome football player not a track star!" He's either going to be a star or an epic bust. He reminds me of Jets ILB Demario Davis who is, IMO, a really solid ILB.

That's classic. The so called "unnamed evaluator" is obviously praying for some team ahead of his to take the guy so another player drops to them.

 

Tis the season for massive smokescreens

And then this one:

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcspor...ng-jamarcus-russell/

 

Further evidence that Matt Millen was the worst GM in NFL history. WTF!

Dawson is probably just about out of the mix for the Packers entirely.  He was probably on the fence to begin with for his reputation of being late for practices, lack of film study and free lancing on the field.  Ted might overlook those things if he's getting a premier type athlete but Dawson tanked it in the workouts.  I do agree that Dawson could go on to be a good NFL player, but he just doesn't seem like the type that Ted would pick.

 

Big winner here was Stephone Anthony.  Ted likes athletes in the defensive front seven and I wouldn't be surprised if Anthony's workouts have elevated him to a second round grade on the Packer's board. 

 

 

Yeah, my hopes of getting Kendricks early and Anthony later are likely a pipe dream. A Barrington/ Kendricks/ Anthony ILB rotation with Matthews sliding inside at times just looks very versatile.

The WR taken relatively early could be Nelson Aghalor from USC. Great hands, but in that middling 6'-6'1" range and good but not great speed. It seems like Green bay always has solid, productive receivers in that size range. He's also a return guy and depending on Abbrederis' knee (which I think was the plan for him last year) he could be the guy slated to replace Nelson in a couple of years. 

I'd be shocked if TT takes a WR/TE early that is NOT a top notch red zone target.  That means big/tall/athletic.  

"Freeman also reports that Winston had been compared to Peyton Manning from a football intelligence standpoint “several times” in the reporter’s discussions with club officials."

 

Too bad his real life intelligence compares to Mike Vick.

When has TT done that though? Jordy and Adams are only maybe 6'2", w/ Adams probably only 6'1", not short by any means, but not one of the huge 6'5" guys either. James Jones is a little over 6' and Greg jennings needs Stallone shoes to get to 6'.

Jordy is 6'3", Adams is 6'1"

 

If Thompson goes after a RZ target in the draft I'd bet on a TE... and, with Peppers, he doesn't need to.

I think that's the point, that TT hasn't really given Rodgers a top notch red zone target, hence the red zone issues against Seattle and New England.  I just don't think this offense needs another 6' WR.  Jordy has size but he's never really been a top notch red zone target.  Maybe TT doesn't care about that but it was a real deficiency in this offense last year.  

This draft kind of feels like the 2013 draft. We had a very glaring need, RB, and there seemed like the most logical choice was going to be Eddie Lacy in r1. Lacy was a borderline r1 player, but it was going to either be take him in r1 or miss out on him completely. Thompson instead chose the best player available, Datone Jones, who filled another need, but went out and got Eddie Lacy in r2. I could see that happening with an ILB this year because all of the ILBs are borderline r1 players IMO, not sure if the value is really there with any of them at 30. I could definitely see another "need" filled in r1 and then some maneuvering in r2 to get the ILB he wants (Perryman, McKinney, Kendricks, Anthony, etc.). Thompson will have a lot of ammo as I expect us to get 3 comp picks: a 6th for Big Ern, a 6th for James Jones, and a 7th for Marshall Newhouse. Thompson could package our 6th and 7th rounds that can be traded to sweeten a deal to move up somewhere. 

 

The other similarity with 2013 is that I think we will double up early on our biggest need. He took Lacy in r2 and Jonathan Franklin in r4 and I definitely could see something similar happen this year. r2 and r4/5 are going to be the best values on ILBs IMO. Food for thought.

Unless TT goes fishing in FA I don't see how he couldn't use at least two picks on ILB.  Either that or they will keep Clay inside with Barrington and have no depth with Lattimore and Bradford.  Barrington was a better option but I'm not sold on him as the full time starter.

Projections.  Numbers.  Standing jump.  Cone drill.  The only thing that matters is the one thing that isn't tested.  Can the guy play football?

 

Nobody knows what TT will do.  Nobody knows if the guy that ran a 4.3 forty can play in the NFL.  Nobody knows ****... that includes Kiper, Mayock, 32 NFL GM's, dumdums on the internet and Gravedigger.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Thompson doesn't know what Thompson will do? I knew there was a method to his madness!

I really hope TT dips into free agency for an ILB and DL.  I just don't see those problems being solved in 2015 by usual 'draft and develop" strategy.  

I hope you're right about the 3 comp picks, but I'm expecting Newhouse to disappoint one last time, and the Pack to only get the two 6th rounders.

I know ****.

Never met shinola, but I expect it wouldn't stand up to **** in a three cone drill.

Thankfully the formula doesn't seem to take into account a replacement player's skill at a position relative to the guy that was lost via FA. If so, they would probably force the Packers to forfeit a pick for getting Linsley in place of EDS. That's not a rip on Big Ern...I thought he was serviceable.

Scott Tolzein knows what Ted thinks

Pillow talk?

He controls Ted's hypothalamus. He's the reason drinks Budlight on ice.

Rong thread

His strategy worked last year to solve the RB problems. I do agree with you though that I think a reliable vet ILB would have a bigger impact than a rookie. I'm really hoping there's interest for Jets ILB David Harris. He's quietly been a really solid and reliable ILB for them since he was a rookie. I think he could come into GB and have a similar effect to what Daryl Smith had in Baltimore when Ray Lewis retired. Other than him and maybe the oft injured Ray Maualuga there really isn't anything enticing for FA ILB's. As far as the DL goes, shockingly BJ Raji and Letroy Guion are two of the safer bets from this FA class (outside of the top guys like Suh, Fairley and Knighton). Maybe Dan Williams? Ahtyba Rubin might not be a bad signing if you're not relying on him to be your stud NT, more of a rotational guy. Beyond that it's gamble that one of those backups from Detroit is legit. 

 

 

x4 favorite Greg Bedard zeroes in on Melvin Gordon at the MMQB. Nothing revelatory, pretty much the conventional wisdom.

 

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/02/24/...raft-film-breakdown/

"X4 favorite"

I think I'll pass on an analysis from a guy who thought Aaron Rodgers was the next Jay Fiedler. 

 

Everyone's an expert this time of year.  

 

Since everyone includes me, I still think that if Gordon is somehow there at 30, Ted should grab him.