ROUND 1 PICK 30 - DB DAMARIOUS RANDALL (ARIZONA STATE)

Just so long as he can tackle Kevin White.

Due to the relative lack of elite talent in this draft commentators have said "this is a scout's draft". We've got the best scout alive.

 

In Ted I trust?

 

Past poor performance of a different player is no indicator of new player's future results. 

Actually he will line up at WR like he did in JuCo.

Tackle, hell! Same old Jay. Ball skills baby.

Kudos Rusty.

Ok performance, can't ask any more than that. 

Not inspiring.  Seems like a pick made when all the guys on your board were already gone.  He is no Jumari Rolle.  :-)

I would not bet against TT on this one

He has a real skill at finding good defensive backs in the draft - Collins, Hyde, Burnett, Hayward, Dix, etc.

Finally we can cover effin Moss!

Hated the Jordy Nelson pick.

 

Clay Matthews? Thought he was a reach.

 

Loved the A.J. Hawk pick.

 

Was confused by Cobb, Collins, Hayward, House...

 

I trust TT.

 

Hope this guy gets a shot at kick returning.

I want to see the Packers coaching staff turn Goodson into a player this year and make Damarious Randall this years rookie Micah Hyde.

Hyde's great. but considering Randall went 30th overall I hope he turns out to be quite a bit better than Micah Hyde.

 

Majority of articles I've read say he's most effective over the slot, which, considering the prominence of slot receivers in the NFL (especially the NFC), is nice. But it makes me wonder if they won't try to get a more pure, perimeter corner later on. Eric Rowe? Justin Coleman?

 

I'll convince myself to like this pick.

I am happy we got a safety, but he does seem a bit small.  Maybe we can bulk him up a bit.  I could invite him to the farm for my 25 lb lasagna!  I am willing to give him a chance.  There is still training camp to get him on board.

Holy **** Hooli' trhat's a lot of lasagna.

if we could get Eric Rowe in round four I'd be beside myself.

Nice use of sarcasm.  +1

Absolutely no idea if he'll end up being closer to Nick Collins or Pat Lee. I'll defer to the expertise of TT and only time will tell if he made a good call.

 

If only there was some kind of program where a guy could put on some weight and muscle?

Well, our special teams got a hell of a lot better and he definitely has the Peanut Tillman eye for the turnover.

In a draft that has so many great players with character issues…he seems like the kind of player you want in your backfield.

Even if he is not the corner you're looking for, he'll be a great contributer for years to come.

At first i thought who the heck is this guy and why in the world did they pick a safety?  But if Ted thinks he can play corner in the NFL that is good enough for me.

Who cares what position he will play?  We kneed to no witch name is his first name?

He's an aflete who was successful in the Pac-12, never really had any significant injuries, and is fast. We could do a lot worse at #30.

Trading down probably wasn't an option at that point, because really, unless someone had a hard on for Randy Gregory or Malcolm Brown, the Packers were stuck making that pick.

 

I wasn't sold on any of the DL at that point, and it's a weak draft for ILB...at least in round 1.

 

I'm also not convinced Jerruh's pick influenced ours.

Ted is a jeanius but sometimes he takes things too literal.

 

Dom asked to replace Tramon...so what does Ted do? 

 

He gets a 22 year old Tramon clone...right down to the big smile, bum shoulder and shy tackler. 

 

Seriously, if that is how it shakes out we don't skip a beat on this guy. Not bad for end of round 1.

Not bad at all. Plug and play. 

That seems unnecessarily prudent.

This guy is a dude. He's a upgrade if he's replacing Tramon.

I wish he was a little taller, but he also wasn't recently arrested for DWI, a witness the night of Winston's rape case or any of the other potential character flags the rest of the probable tier of corners has.

All I can say is he better be good and not make mistakes because his first name could easily be changed to "dumb errory ***".

Really? Let's see him in training camp before we call him the replacement of a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Didn't say he would replace his production, his leadership or be a HOFer. He's replacing that position that has never really been adequately replaced. That CB/NB/S hybrid position where he attacks the football, covers TEs, blitzes off the edge, etc.

Rook gets a number.

@RandallTime: Very blessed for the opportunity and thankful... I will be wearing #23 Time to get to work..

Size and height are great if you are a runway model but I am totally fine with a guy that's 5'11" 190.   Why?  He's a football player.  He can run.   Great hands and ball skills.   He makes a lot of plays.

On the surface you can probably look at this move and scratch your head but I seem him as a more athletic Hayward or Hyde.  That's not a bad thing IMO.

The only real concern is that he's "5' 11" not 5'11".

Wasn't too happy initially with this pick last night.  Of course, I defer to Thompson and his scouts.  I did feel better after realizing that both Mayock and McGinn had this guy going at #20 in the first round -- 10 picks ahead of where we got him and ahead of DT Malcom Brown, CB Marcus Peters, CB Byron Jones and ILB Stephon Anthony.  And Draft Insider supported this guy for where we took him as well.  No one disagrees Randall was by far the best cover safety in the draft.  And reading the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Green Bay Press Gazette articles this morning, I understand that if the Packers really believe Hayward can handle the outside, this guy then is a perfect replacement for him as the slot cover CB -- basically making him a co-starter.  Certainly CB was as big a need as ILB, so can't disagree that we filled one of our two biggest needs.  Just was more excited about adding a big, fast ILB -- although no mock anywhere had Anthony going in the 1st round.  So will trust in Thompson, see what he can do tonight. 

 

Mike Mayock mock: http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/...s/mike-mayock/270801

 

Bob McGinn mock:  http://www.jsonline.com/sports...465z1-301778881.html

 

Draft Insider:  April 28th 6:45PM "Back on April 6thI reported that Damarious Randallof Arizona State could sneak into the late part of round one, which surprised many. Randall has since been stamped as the top safety on a number of boards outside war rooms though in my final safety rankingsI still list him behind Landon Collins. In that report I mentioned the Arizona Cardinals as a team very high on Randall and in conversations earlier today I was told there’s a high percentage chance the Indianapolis Colts will select Randall if he’s still on the board at 29."  http://www.draftinsider.net/blog/?p=10523

I think it's funny that Randall keeps getting knocked for his tackling while Landon Collins is praised as an "in the box" run support/hitter type Safety. Check out the stats:

Randall:
2 years
135 Solo Tackles
42 Asst.
177 Total Tackles
15 TFL
1 Sack

Collins:
3 years (2 full time)
120 Solo Tackles
70 Asst.
190 Total Tackles
8.5 TFL

Granted Collins played with a lot of talent around him so he didn't need to be THE GUY, I'm not knocking Collins at all. How does a guy who either doesn't like to tackle or isn't good at tackling (as some talking heads have said of Randall) amass more solo tackles, TFL, and sacks than a Safety who is supposed to be a good tackler? You would think Randall spent all his time in centerfield covering receivers and can't tackle, but he's clearly willing and able to make tackles. If HOW he tackles is the issue then that can be easily fixed, the guys that aren't willing tacklers are the ones to be concerned about.

For what it's worth, my buddy from ASU loves this guy.  And he's not just homer; he was pissed the day the Broncos drafted Osweiler (still is) despite being a huge Broncos fan.  

 

As fans, all we can do is grade need.  From that standpoint, i give TT a 'C'.  For all the comparisons to Hyde, Woodson and Williams, this guy did not play CB in college; he's a safety and a transition to CB will be a question mark.  We already have a full stable of safeties with Dix, Burnett and Richardson, and Hyde is already a hybrid player.  IMO, this defense needed a boundary CB and Randall isn't really that; he's a jack of all trades DB.  

 

Of course, that's just my take on how he fits the Packers need.  I have read good things about his play so he may turn out to be a great player.  Just don't like his fit in this defense quite yet. 

I was really surprised by this pick.  I knew that Waynes was going to be gone, so my first thought was Jalen Collins (really liked his speed and size).  It'll be interesting to see how Randall pans outs.  His size and ability to tackle worries me because we need good open-field tacklers in our defense.

 

Here's what scouts said about him:

 

NFC scout: "He's going to go back end of the first round. Extremely athletic. Very fast. Very position flexible."

AFC scout: "I saw him. I liked him. Good ball skills. He can play corner in a pinch. You can cover with him in the slot. He has those kind of movement skills."

AFC scout: "He's an undersized guy but he's active. He can cover. He's got good instincts but sometimes he gambles a little too much and takes himself out of position. People talk about it's a passing league and the box safety is growing out of style. He kind of fits in with the new wave of safeties who can cover receivers and strong enough to play around the line of scrimmage. He reminds me a little bit of the guy the 49ers drafted last year (Jimmie Ward) at the bottom of the first round."

AFC scout: "I don't see that (late first-round pick). He's off size for a safety. He's got cover skill and speed. He's an average tackler. He's got a chance to be a starting safety, but I don't see him as a first-rounder."

AFC scout: "He's a mid-round kind of guy. He's OK. Nothing special."

AFC scout: "There's an outside chance he goes late one."

AFC scout: "He's creeping up there (first round). He's being compared to T.J. Ward."

NFC scout: "Second rounder."

AFC scout: "I'm not crazy about him."

NFC scout: "I like that little dude. Maybe second round. Size is the holdback. He's just not physical. He reminds me of Devin McCourty. He played corner his first year or two in the league. This kid never played corner. He's a baseball player. Got drafted, went to the minor leagues and went to junior college because he hurt his shoulder. He was standing on the chain gang at a football game when he looked out and said, 'I'm better than these guys.' So the coach let him play. He's smart enough."

AFC scout: "He's a corner. He can't play safety because he doesn't tackle that well. Good athlete. He played safety for them just because they had a need there. He is not a big person. He's not a good tackler. He doesn't break down; he just dives at people. He worked out as a corner and he's quick. Fifth rounder. He covered the slot there. He backpedaled easy. Good change of direction. He does have good ball skills. Even though he weighed 194 he is a small-framed person. Small waist. Little bowlegged."

AFC scout: "Not bad. More of an athletic space safety than a box safety. He's a little shorter."

The more I read opinions from scouts the more I'm convinced some of them are really good and some of them are really bad.

How do this many people watch 3 years worth of tape of the same guy and come up with that kind of opinion range?

Completely agree.  My take is that it really comes down to what that specific scout values compared to the next one.  If you don't have that "it" factor for the scout, you're not on his list.

 

I think Randall's main issue is size and that turns off a lot of scouts for a Safety/CB ability, especially in this league.

This is interesting because Ryan Grigson (Colts GM) said last night. "You can see, We stay true to our board & select BPA." (Since they took Philip Dorsett) when they need defense.

 

This has Irsays fingerprints all over it. They didn't need a WR but they really could've used a S/CB. and you can't tell me Dorsett is a better football player than the guy we got. Way to cover for your owner Grigson

Maybe Dorsett is a much better football player than Randall. We won't have any idea for a while.

Yeah I just can't see how Dorsett is BPA there.  All I've read about him was that he was that his production just never matched his speed.  Without Luck and Manning, that team is picking top 5 every year.  They just make bad draft picks and it's not even because they reach for need; they just suck at scouting.  

I like Dorsett and they had to bring in some kind of downfield threat. I think they probably see a true #1 in Dorsett who will be mentored/groomed by fellow U alumni Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne. That may end up working, but they had a lot of holes to fill. He probably should have brought in Randall to bolster their D, but a deep threat like Dorsett paired with a good QB like Luck will put butts in the seats. Maybe that's more valuable for them.