[CBFF] Stinks to be a Packer fan

[Dwayne]

I rec'd about 15 im's, and emails moaning the Packers picks, and not
landing Moss. Great moaning and wailing in Packerland. Most Packer fans
would trade the Dt they picked for Olsen heads up today.

 
For the life of me I can't figure out what Ted Thompson thinks he's
doing.
Every year I watch the Packers draft and every year I shake my head.

Tom S.
-----

Packers' questions unanswered 
 
By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports
April 29, 2007
 
 
 
 
GREEN BAY, Wisc. – On Friday afternoon, the world had Ted Thompson
figured
out. 

"You know, everyone thinks they have you pegged" a visitor said to the
Green
Bay Packers general manager, who was sitting in a meeting room at
Lambeau
Field. 

Thompson grinned and gave a half shake of the head. Roughly 24 hours
before
the NFL draft was set to begin, he'd heard the names that had already
been
punched into his roster like rivets. Cal running back Marshawn Lynch and
Oakland Raiders veteran Randy Moss – these were two guys who held so
much
potential for the Packers this weekend. This despite Thompson
maintaining
there were too many variables to count on anything, and that he wasn't
going
to deviate from his draft plan and go on a forced offensive binge 
 even
for
returning quarterback Brett Favre. 

"We're happy Brett's our quarterback," Thompson said Friday, delivering
the
shot of diplomacy to numb the pain of his draft philosophy. "But the
whole
draft, it's whatever we think is best for the team. If it's best for the
team, it's best for Brett." 

So while analysts like ESPN's Steve Young chattered about the Packers
dedicating vital parts of their board to offense – if only to placate
Favre
– Thompson embraced his own design, which needless to say, wasn't as
celebrated as the hype. By the time the NFL draft was over, Moss was
property of the New England Patriots; the Packers had spent their
first-round pick on an injury-prone defensive tackle; and the rest of
the
NFC North had added dynamic offensive pieces: Calvin Johnson with the
Detroit Lions, Adrian Peterson with the Minnesota Vikings and Greg Olsen
of
the Chicago Bears. 

If anyone wanted to know what the Green Bay fan base thought about this,
one
needed only to loop the images of the group that had collected in the
Lambeau Field atrium. The balance of the Green and Gold faithful almost
keeled over when Thompson selected Tennessee defensive tackle Justin
Harrell, drawing a collective "Who!?" 

Faces twisted in disgust. Some smacked their foreheads. Others thrust
their
two-thumbs-down evaluations into the air. At the same time, within the
bowels of Lambeau, Packers beat writers, radio personalities and
television
reporters all quizzically went in search of scouting reports. 

"I didn't even have him in my top five," said one reporter, remarking on
his
list of potential first-round picks for Green Bay. 

Clearly, Green Bay fans expected more, too. Some wanted plummeting Notre
Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. Others liked the playmaking ability Olsen
would have brought to the tight end spot. And then there was the
contingent
that craved whomever the analysts told them was a good choice, maybe a
big
receiver like Tennessee's Robert Meachem or LSU's Dwayne Bowe. 

By the time Thompson made his way to the atrium after tabbing Harrell,
his
only saving grace was that ESPN wasn't doing a live shot of his address
to
the crowd. It was arguably worse than the nasty reception Miami
Dolphins'
coach Cam Cameron received when he tried to sell his pick of Ted Ginn
Jr.
over Quinn. 

"[Harrell] is a good citizen and a good man, which is what I told the
people
out on the atrium – who booed me, by the way," said Thompson, whose
philosophy is to take the best player available. "I told the people out
there – when I was trying to get them to quit booing me – I think he has
the
potential to have been a single-digit pick." 

It was a predictable reaction. Even in today's NFL environment, selling
"good citizen," "good man" and "potential" to a draft mob is like
suggesting
that a starving man eat the parsley off a plate of filet mignon. 

So what was troubling about the Packers' weekend? Well, if you believe
in
pre-draft evaluations (which are a weak substitute for the next few
years of
actual production), then Green Bay really didn't provide any definitive
answers to the question marks orbiting Favre and the Packers' offense. 

Instead, the Packers rolled the dice on Nebraska running back Brandon
Jackson, a player who ran in a zone-blocking scheme (used by the
Packers)
and who has some nice shiftiness. However, he has also suffered torn
labrums
in each shoulder, both requiring surgeries. Then there's James Jones, a
6-foot wideout from San Jose State who has all the makings of a
possession
receiver. And David Clowney, another 6-foot wideout with good deep speed
who
was never able to consistently tie down a starting job at Virginia Tech.


Boiled down? The Packers went in with question marks on offense, and
left
largely in the same position. Maybe Jones and Clowney can break into the
receiving rotation. Maybe Jackson can be a starting running back. 

"Football is a relative game," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said.
"When
you see a guy that has a lot of success in college, you've got to
believe if
he had an opportunity, if he has enough physical talent, that he can do
it
in the NFL. Having said that, hopefully if [Jackson] can pick up our
system
quick enough, I think he's got a chance to help us. 
 How much? Does
that
mean 22 carries a game or seven carries a game? That's to be
determined." 

To be fair to Thompson, his board was cannibalized by other teams. He
missed
out on Lynch, who almost surely would have been the opening day starter,
after Buffalo grabbed him at the 12th overall pick. Then he watched two
coveted wideouts, South Carolina's Sidney Rice and USC's Dwayne Jarrett,
get
plucked with the 12th and 13th picks of the second round while the
Packers
sat at No. 15. At that point, the offensive talent flattened out so much
that Green Bay chose to trade back rather than reach with its second
pick. 

Maybe the most discouraging thing for Packers fans about this draft will
be
the question marks. Harrell had multiple injuries at Tennessee,
including a
broken ankle as a redshirt freshman and a torn biceps as a senior. In
between, he posted solid sophomore and junior years, ultimately the part
of
his résumé the Packers based their selection. But as many teams have
found
out the hard way, drafting a player on junior tape and speculating what
they
would have done during phantom senior campaigns can be an immense
gamble.
Particularly when you don't know what would have surfaced with one more
year
of college. But this was one risk the Packers were willing to take.
Almost
emphatically. 

"He was a guy that we really coveted at 16," coach Mike McCarthy said.
"You
know, I think a lot's been said about where he would be if he didn't
have
the injury in his senior year. And I've said it over and over again,
we're
going to build this football team strong with the offensive and
defensive
line, and we've added another excellent football player, an excellent
prospect to that defensive line group." 

If anything, maybe this draft reveals a few things about the Packers
that
nobody outside of Green Bay truly took into account heading into this
weekend. They passed on Quinn and every other quarterback in this draft,
which sends a signal that Thompson still backs Aaron Rodgers as Favre's
successor. Green Bay also invested two of their four first-day picks
(including their first rounder) on defensive players, which shows
Thompson
is sticking to his "what's good for the team is good for Brett Favre"
philosophy. And Thompson passed on Moss when he could have conceivably
had
him for a third-round pick, which lends credence to his assertion that
he
puts a lot of weight into character and chemistry. 

As Thompson put it Friday, "It doesn't matter who the quarterback is,
who
the coach is, or who the general manager is, for that matter. You can't
change your philosophy on doing what's right for the team." 

But after watching the rest of the NFC North add offensive pieces, and
seeing Moss trade coasts and potential Super Bowl fortunes, Thompson has
his
work cut out for him. Doing what's right for the Packers is one thing.
Convincing everyone else that it's the right thing is quite another. 


Charles Robinson is a national NFL writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send
Charles a
question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. 





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