The official offseason draft thread

Hungry, you're damn sure set that Ted is not going to draft a guy that plays TE in college now. Not sure I agree with you. Other than ILB and maybe DE alternate Jones, I am not sure any other position has as big of need. Maybe Ted believes Bostic is going to be all that and a bag of chips. if he doesn't draft one, I hope he and you are right that there is one on the roster to carry the load. Not sure Quarles is the answer.

Everything I've read says they really like Bostick, Quarless, & Taylor. I'm not saying they won't draft a TE, but Thompson does not flinch and won't reach for a player.

 

I can see him going TE.  Just not in RD1.  Not RD2 either unless Ebron falls or they love somebody a little under the radar like Safarian Jenkins.

Perhaps Niklas in round 3? 

Bulaga's health is a big predictor on the need for a TE upgrade. If he's able to come back and dominate at RT then a TE like Q or Bostic will find plenty of holes in defenses concerned with Lacy and Starks. 

 

if Bulaga is sound this offense as is is frightening 

 

 

How long until the Packers know whether or not Bulaga is really healed, though?  I'd imagine they'd have to see something on the field, and I don't think they'll know that until minicamps after the draft.

If drafting purely "by need" (I know TT does not usually do this), the three areas of our roster where we could use upgrades appear to be: 1) Safety 2) TE 3) ILBER. After becoming addicted to the draft simulator on the Fanspeak site, it would seem unlikely that we could get immediate upgrades at all three positions through the draft, but it appears we could at 2 of the 3. Which 2 positions would everyone like to see upgraded? 

Ed Reynolds anyone? Second round?

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/254037391.html

Can Ed Reynolds be any worse than Jamal Reynolds?

Debbie Reynolds is a better option then Jamal

Can Reynolds wrap?

Maybe more like a late third round pick.

Other sites have him as late as a 5th rounder.

I like Bucannon from Wash. St. much better 

Willie Bucannon?

An interesting read.

 

http://www.nationalfootballpos...ners-and-losers.html

 

Watch for Fiedorowicz to end up in New England

 

Strong Iowa connection on this one.

 

http://nesn.com/2014/03/new-en...ect-c-j-fiedorowicz/

 

So you're saying Brian Ferentz is lucky to be alive?

Well he had a safety net.    AArons brother DJ Hernandez is the TE coach at Iowa.

 

How Iron E

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/...te-get-ready-for-nfl

 

 

Who teams have worked out.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/...-top-draft-prospects

Wait till you scroll down to Green Bay.

 

I think that just means the Packers haven't reported which pro-days TT or MM have attended. I saw a couple pic's recently of Thompson at a pro-day or two, don't recall which ones though.

 

Thompson hates to share info and admittedly doesn't like the focus on him, but he really isn't fooling anyone. This is kind of like when Lombardi had Starr wear jersey #51 in practices because he thought Halas had a spy at Packers practice.

 

 

lots of teams not reporting apparently.  I would guess the NFL will mandate that this information be provided, then the Patriots will start to send interns to every school's pro day possible. 

Manziel to not go to the Vikings.

but he is to not go

 

rookies

My scrappiest draft yet:

 

No Wisconsin players or Iowa players??

Or Sherrod, or both. Don't count out the big dude. Packers want to be bigger and Sherrod is huge. It wouldn't surprise me to see him make a push for a starting spot and perhaps have Bulaga and Sherrod as the bookends. 

 

Would make the Packers seriously bigger across the front and make the run game probably that much better, especially on short yardage.

TE but don't forget about WR.

It's harder IMO for a S to make a big impact as a rookie. A TE can do it faster I think. 

 

ILBs in a 3-4 are like Guards on offense. Usually not much value in drafting a guy early at either of those spots unless you're desperate and i don't think GB is desperate at that spot.

 

TEs who can stretch the field are a pretty rare commodity so you take one if the guy is available. Sort of like a pass rusher, QB or CB. Looking at how the talent falls in the draft it wouldn't surprise me at all if TE/ bigger WR is the first choice for TT. Those guys also play key STs roles too. 

 

Don't forget that Uncle Ted has drafted more players from Iowa than any other school so don't rule out GB taking your polack. 

 

I won't be surprised if GB takes a WR in round 2. Think back to the last time they took a WR in round 2...2011 they took Randall Cobb. Jennings contract would be up in another year, as would Drivers, potentially leaving us with only Jordy and James Jones. This year we only have Jordy and Cobb, both in contract years, and the only other viable option is Jarrett Boykin. I would keep an eye on Vanderbilt WR Jordan Matthews, he's the kind of reliable WR that GB seems to really like and he is getting leapfrogged by other players. He actually reminds me a lot of Jordy Nelson, he's big and he's been extremely productive. 

I watched Fiedorowicz at the Outback Bowl and thought he would be a good pick for the Packers. The guy reminds me of Jason Witten from the Cowboys. Hope he is there with one of the Packers third round pics.  Still holding out hope Ted can find a way to get Odel Beckham in a Packer uniform to go along with a couple of Defensive guys.

If the following happen then it passes the smell test:

 

Vikings pick inside the top 12. Bonus points if they pick a QB named Gunner McGavin and Kiper comments that it's a major reach in one of his cameos. If the Vikings have the 28th pick I'm walking out of the theater. 

 

Goodell has 4 or 5 hecklers in the audience quietly killed and dumped in the Hudson. This would be a great sub plot with a grizzled port authority detective played by Dennis Farina popping into Goodell's dressing room between picks saying things like "something smells like **** Roger. And I'm going to figure out if it's yours" if Dennis was still with us. I miss Dennis Farina. 

 

A 6'4" WR named Berrt F'arvea out of Coastal Mississippi expected to go top 5 sits in the green room while his dad (played by Lawrence Fishburne) airs out the agent they've been working with since Berrt was a Sophmore but not really working with because that would be an NCAA violation and he ends up falling all the way to Green Bay at 32 as the credits start to roll. 

 

 

 

 

Here is my first mock draft. Needless to say I anticipate a lot of trades with 1st round and GB in general. This draft is so deep that I find it hard to believe GB will sit at 21 and pick a player when they could acquire multiple picks in the top 100 and get very similar value. 

 

Pick	Team	Player	Explanation
1	Houston	QB Blake Bortles (UCF)
2	Atlanta (from St. Louis)	DE Jadaveon Clowney (South Carolina)	ATL trades pick 6, 37 to STL for pick 2
3	Jacksonville	DE Kahlil Mack (Buffalo)
4	Detoilet (from Cleveland)	WR Sammy Watkins (Clemson)	CLE trades pick 4 to DET for picks 10, 76
5	Oakland	QB Derek Carr (Fresno St.)
6	St. Louis (from Atlanta)	OT Greg Robinson (Auburn)	ATL trades pick 6, 37 to STL for pick 2
7	Tampa Bay	OT Jake Matthews (Texas A&M)
8	Minnesota	OLB/DE Anthony Barr (UCLA)
9	Baltimore (from Buffalo)	TE Eric Ebron (North Carolina)	BUF trades pick 9 to BAL for picks 17, 48
10	Cleveland (from Detoilet)	QB Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M)
11	Chicago (from Tennessee)	DT Aaron Donald (Pittsburgh)	TEN trades pick 11 to CHI for picks 14, 82
12	New York Giants	OT Taylor Lewan (Michigan)
13	St. Louis (from Washington)	CB Darqueze Dennard (Michigan St.)	WAS traded pick 13 to STL in 2012 for pick 2 (Robert Griffin)
14	Tennessee (from Chicago)	CB Justin Gilbert (Oklahoma St.)	TEN trades pick 11 to CHI for picks 14, 82
15	Pittsburgh	SS Calvin Pryor (Louisville)
16	Dallas	DT Timmy Jernigan (Florida St.)
17	Buffalo (from Baltimore)	WR Mike Evans (Texas A&M)	BUF trades pick 9 to BAL for picks 17, 48
18	New York Jets	WR Brandin Cooks (Oregon St.)
19	Miami	OT Zack Martin (Notre Dame)
20	Arizona	DE Ra'Shede Hageman (Minnesota)
21	Denver (from Green Bay)	OLB Trent Murphy (Stanford)	GB trades pick 21 to DEN for picks 31, 63
22	Philadelphia	WR Kelvin Benjamin (Florida St.)
23	Kansas City	OT David Yankey (Stanford)
24	Cincinnati	CB Bradley Roby (Ohio St.)
25	San Diego	CB Jason Verrett (TCU)
26	Cleveland (from Indianapolis)	FS Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix (Alabama)	IND traded pick 26 to CLE for RB Trent Richardson
27	New Orleans	DE Dee Ford (Auburn)
28	Carolina	WR Marqise Lee (Southern Cal)
29	New England	NT Louis Nix (Notre Dame)
30	San Francisco	WR Odell Beckham (LSU)
31	New York Giants (from GB via DEN)	ILB C.J. Mosely (Alabama)	GB trades pick 31(via DEN) to NYG for picks 43, 113
32	Seattle	TE Jace Amaro (Texas Tech)
33	Houston	DE Scott Crichton (Oregon St.)
34	Washington	OG Xavier Su'a-Filo (UCLA)
35	Cleveland	WR Allen Robinson (Penn St.)
36	Oakland	DE Stephon Tuitt (Notre Dame)
37	St. Louis (from Atlanta)	WR Davante Adams (Fresno St.)	ATL trades pick 6, 37 to STL for pick 2
38	Tampa Bay	QB Jimmy Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois)
39	Jacksonville	QB Teddy Bridgewater (Louisville)
40	Minnesota	QB Zack Mettenberger (LSU)
41	Buffalo	OLB Ryan Shazier (Ohio St.)
42	Tennessee	RB Carlos Hyde (Ohio St.)
43	Green Bay (from New York Giants)	WR Jordan Matthews (Vanderbilt) *Big, very reliable, productive WR similar to Jordy Nelson	GB trades pick 31(via DEN) to NYG for picks 43, 113
53	Green Bay	LB Christian Jones (Florida St.) *Big, athletic, instinctive LB who can play inside and outside
63	Green Bay (from Denver)	TE Troy Nikklas (Notre Dame) *Huge, athletic target who can be a mismatch down the seam	GB trades pick 21 to DEN for picks 31, 63
85	Green Bay	FS Terrance Brooks (Florida St.) *Underrated prospect who is a complete Safety, very athletic
98	Green Bay	ILB Shayne Skov (Stanford) *Strong, instinctive ILB who could start Day 1	Compensatory Pick
113	Green Bay (from New York Giants)	OL Joel Bitonio (Nevada) *Tough, versatile OL who could be good depth inside	GB trades pick 33(via DEN) to NYG for picks 43, 113
121	Green Bay	CB Bene Benwikere (San Jose St.) *Micah Hyde clone who would be great depth
161	Green Bay	DE Josh Mauro (Stanford) *Big, strong, tough grinder with Clay Matthews motor
176	Green Bay	DE Calvin Barnett (Oklahoma St.) *High energy, high motor, quick DL...similar to Mike Neal	Compensatory Pick
197	Green Bay	FB Trey Millard (Oklahoma) *Very versatile, athletic H-Back/FB who is a strong blocker
236	Green Bay	QB Brett Smith (Wyoming) *Very raw QB with some good tools for McCarthy to work with

 

Sorry if it's a little confusing with all the trades. I see GB trying to pile up 2nd and 3rd round picks to get maximum value. 

Sorry Gravy Highway...Hersheys was better

Im sure Thompson would like to trade back from 21 for more picks, but gotta have a willing partner. GB had 21 FAs this off-season and i think they signed 9 or 10 of those and added some Pepper. Thompson will need lots of picks or UDFAs to fill out camp roster.

I think it was Guion Pepper.

To go from 21 to 43 makes no sense and it's something Ted would never do. He'll pick the best player on the board at 21.

Having picks 43, 53 & 63 would be pretty cool. Highly doubtful but cool nonetheless.

 

Who did the Niners take between picks 43 & 236?

Tahj Jones shot in stomach

I think it would be cool drafting Jordan Matthews....reminds me of Jordy Nelson

What does everyone think of Jimmie Ward at 21st pick? I think it might be kind of a reach at that spot, but who knows Thompson may have him highly rated and be excited to take him at that spot

I actually said he trades from 21 to 31 and then 31 to 43. It depends who is available and what kind of deal he gets. Thompson has done so many different things while drafting in GB that I find it difficult to say "he absolutely would not do that" about any move. The only thing he has consistently done is select players who he believes are on par with the value of the pick he's at. Why didn't he take Eddie Lacy instead of trading back and taking Eddie Lacy? Because I think he believed the value of the trade was better than Eddie Lacy and he figured Lacy would be available later. This draft is so deep that there really isn't a huge drop off in talent from 21 and 43...that sounds weird, but this draft is so full of young talented players that I think it's true. He's going to let the draft come to him and if the right player is available at 21 then he will take him, but if the values don't match up and he gets some enticing trade offers then I don't think it's at all unrealistic to think he will trade back.