Sure tackling and speed at ILB is what they need.
YATittle posted:Packerboi, I saw that TE Henry went at 61. How could Ted resist giving Arod such a weapon....
Considering this is all mythical how do you know mythical Uncle Teddy doesn't take him?
I imagine mythical TT like this, toying with our emotions.
Hungry5 posted:Sure tackling and speed at ILB is what they need.
We can pretty much put this in bold type and lock this thread down. Would love an athletic TE. But ILB absolutely has to get resolved.
With Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Montgomery, Abbradaris, and Janis! an athletic TE would be unfair.
They ought to have Janis! put on about 10-15 lbs and then spend the off-season with Brian Angelichio.
I think getting more speed on the field has been the goal for the last few years. That's why Brad Jones was moved to ILB and it's why Nate Palmer moved to ILB. Those guys are on the more athletic end of the ILB spectrum, what they lack are instincts and vision to put their athleticism to any good use. The great ILBs in this league are fast (most are 4.6/4.7 range), but above all they have to have the instincts and the vision. If you can shed OLinemen and locate the football in a split second then it doesn't matter if you run a 4.4 or a 4.8, you will get there on time. Luke Kuechly isn't great because of his 4.6 speed, he's a natural ILB who lives near the ball. Thinking you can bring in athletes and teach them to play ILB is why we don't have any legit ILBs right now although I have some hope for Ryan.
I agree that instincts to the ball are most important. However this is exactly why players should not be discounted as being "too small" to play ILBer if they are only in the 225 range. How much does 10 more pounds matter when you are being blocked by a 300+ olineman? If you are 230 or 240, you are still at a great disadvantage. The key is to not get blocked. You are correct, we don't know if Lee & Cravens have those great instincts(or maybe you do?) , but I think we've dismissed too many guys in the past because the concern was that they weren't big enough. Guys like Shaq Thompson, Ryan Shazier, & Eric Kendricks were feared to be too light to be LBers but have all played pretty well.
I definitely agree with you, discounting guys because of their size is a big mistake in a lot of cases. Guys can bulk up to 230 or 240 and be effective, that's not an issue in my mind. It can be a problem when you're 220 and have to constantly battle 300 lb linemen and hit 220+ RBs. There's a reason many true ILBs or MLBs are in that 240/250 range, that 20 lbs of muscle can help you withstand the pounding.
In the case of Lee and Cravens, although they are very different players, I don't see them posses those great ILB instincts. A better position for Cravens would be an "in the box" Safety or as a SLB in a 43. Lee belongs in the 43 as an OLB, again in the same vein as Julian Peterson. I think he could play ILB in a 34, but I don't think we would see him fare much better than Brad Jones (i.e. Very miscast and not as effective as he could be). I don't think he's the same as Shazier or Thompson, those guys are very natural LBs.
Fair enough, thanks for clarifying that. Enjoy the actual football talk.
Shazier also missed a bunch of games due to injury. He may or may not be able to take the pounding.
Boris posted:Hotel is booked. Will book flight soon.
Al's Italian Beef & Lou Malnati's pizza
I'd go with Gino's East and Giordano's as well.
Gotta figure out some way to recover from giving up so much for Julio.
UPDATE: #Falcons Officially Hire Former GMs Phil Emery & Ruston Webster As National Scouts https://t.co/Xy9ZRlr2Og
— NFLTradeRumors.co (@nfltrade_rumors) January 26, 2016
Anyone have an armchair scouting report on Jake McGee, TE from Florida? At 6-6, 252 with a projected 4.69, he's likely to be among the biggest and fastest TEs in the class. Decent production in the SEC, too.
But I'm seeing him "graded" anywhere from a 3rd to a 6th/7th. What gives?
He's a little bit older at 24 and he suffered a pretty brutal leg injury in 2015. He seemed to rebound well, but those are his big knocks. We will see how his Senior Bowl goes, I don't think he goes lower than round 5, but round 3 is more realistic based on his skillset.
Innerweb say's McGee snapped his tibia and fibula. So that's concerning.
I think the leg healed. McGee at Sr Bowl
01-26-16 Dan Shonka joins The Bill Michaels Show => http://media.1057fmthefan.com/...shonka-112825392.mp3
Nab him in the second round. Stump everyone.
IL_Pack_Fan posted:Anyone have an armchair scouting report on Jake McGee, TE from Florida? At 6-6, 252 with a projected 4.69, he's likely to be among the biggest and fastest TEs in the class. Decent production in the SEC, too.
But I'm seeing him "graded" anywhere from a 3rd to a 6th/7th. What gives?
I think one thing may be the problem and that is how horrible at times the Florida offense was last year. It could be a tough sell to get a UF offensive player ranked high but I think if he is talented the scouts will figure that out quickly.
Starting to think that GB will be taking OLB with one of their first 2 picks. Have more shallow positions that need help(ILB and TE specifically) but there's a reason why edge rushers get paid a ton. Peppers is old, Clay is entering his age 30 season, and Perry or Neal or perhaps even both won't be back(and both are average players as it is). They need to find another young high upside option for that group.
Ted seems to look beyond the current year with the draft. Look at the 2017 free agents: Julius Peppers, Josh Sitton, TJ Lang, Datone Jones, Eddie Lacy, Davis Bahktiari, JC Tretter, Micah Hyde, Jayrone Elliot (RFA), Mike Pennel (RFA), John Crockett, Josh Walker, etc.
They can't wait to replace two starting Guards and their primary backups next year. Same thing for OLB with Neal and Perry being FAs this year...4 of our top 5 OLBs will be FAs over over this offseason and next. Same thing with the DL, Raji and Guion are FAs, Jones is an FA next year and Pennel is an RFA, theoretically we could also lose 4 of our 5 top DL in the coming off seasons.
Tough road ahead for TT.
TE and ILB cannot be ignored. Period. So, if not through the draft, then Ted has to look at FA. Lack of speed is a big issue on both sides. These 2 positions have been ignored far too long.
Agreed on TE and ILB. We'll probably see a couple more WRs and maybe a late round OLB to switch positions though. Overall I think TT does a great job but it almost seems like he has a bias against these positions.
That said, I am not totally against a stud OLB so Clay can stay inside more. Clay has been very disruptive inside, especially on stunts where he blitzes. And I never saw him lose contain while playing ILB. ;-)
So if Ted doesn't pick an ILB or TE or sign any Free Agents, that meet your expectations, what will happen?
The Packers likely once again fall short of a Lombardi Trophy.
After Ragland I think Joe Schobert is the second best ILB in the draft. I know he was an OLB at Wisconsin, but I see the instincts, the aggressive/attacking mentality, and the athleticism to get the job done. I think he could easily make the conversion. I'd like to see a veteran LB signed, like one of the guys from Denver, but I would double down and bring this guy to GB. He has the versatility to slide down to OLB and pressure off the edge also.
GBFanForLife posted:So if Ted doesn't pick an ILB or TE or sign any Free Agents, that meet your expectations, what will happen?
Gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair. Kind of like any other day in Packers fan land.
Grave Digger posted:After Ragland I think Joe Schobert is the second best ILB in the draft. I know he was an OLB at Wisconsin, but I see the instincts, the aggressive/attacking mentality, and the athleticism to get the job done. I think he could easily make the conversion. I'd like to see a veteran LB signed, like one of the guys from Denver, but I would double down and bring this guy to GB. He has the versatility to slide down to OLB and pressure off the edge also.
They were talking about Schobert on NFL Radio yesterday & also liked his athleticism. They too thought he could play on the inside.
Packers not expected to select linebacker early in draft
Matt Miller says that TT doesn't feel that ILB is a very important position.
TT playing poker. Misleading the other 31 teams. Congrats.
Inside linebacker not imporant? Is that a joke? He needs to watch Carolina, where decent ILBs cover up other deficiencies....
pduck posted:Packers not expected to select linebacker early in draft
Matt Miller says that TT doesn't feel that ILB is a very important position.
I think that's a pretty safe assumption considering his track record. He has more history taking UDFA OLBs and undersized DEs for conversion projects.
My money is on a D-Tackle or edge rusher. TT has said he's fond of big bodies early and shown pass rushers and secondary defenders also.
There are a few interesting TEs at the Senior Bowl who could be awfully tempting in Round3, maybe even 2.
His premise that Ted doesn't value the ILB position as highly as some others is certainly hard to argue. He hasn’t spent an R1-3 pick on the spot in ten years. Hopefully a decade of mediocre play at what the rest of the league views as a premier position has changed his thinking some.
My favorite part of the Miller video was that “Thompson” doesn’t hang on to his players. Is there a GM in the league with a better track record at this? Doesn’t he do this to a fault according to the masses clamoring for more outside FAs?
It's both, really, with TT's system because every schlub he dumps is someone he picked and every Hawkstiff he keeps is also his pick. It's awfully hard to dump a guy you didn't sign in the first place.
YATittle posted:Inside linebacker not imporant? Is that a joke? He needs to watch Carolina, where decent ILBs cover up other deficiencies....
I agree, but they are much more than decent. Thomas Davis is a Pro Bowl level player and Luke Kuechly is on track to be a Hall of Famer (DROY and a defensive player of the year award in his first 4 years).