Day 2 In Review…

Last year’s draft was easy. Day 1 was awesome. Day 2 was weak sauce.

This year Ted didn’t seem to have his best stuff. And with all disclaimers of hindsight and it’s ability to crush these things, here’s the review.

If you want the day 1 lowdown.

4) Allen Barbre B- (My comments were a little too acerbic. He’s got a skill set that could develop very nicely. He’s just as good of a developmental reach as James Jones was.)

5) David Clowney A (The effusiveness is deserved. He’s a great vertical threat right now. He could develop into something more.

6A) Korey Hall F (A special teams guy, and one switching positions at that? There were still much better players to be had.)

6B) Desmond Bishop F (But the team that acquires him off of waivers will get a B. He’s a great run-stuffing linebacker. But there’s no room for him here.)

6C) Mason Crosby B (Good value. Rayner was about 2 for 3 from beyound 30 yards. But in a world of Ryan Longwell, Lawrence Tynes, and other top kickers being undrafted free agents, having players just as good that filled needs makes this pick just a scoch worse.)

7A) DeShawn Wynn C- (There is upside here. But it’s a muddy situation, and I don’t think he’s mature enough to realize he has top emerge quickly.)

7B) Clark Harris C (Not the tight end I was looking for, as you probably can figure. He does have a decent back-up tight end skill set, and the long-snapping ability is a plus. But better TE’s are now UFA.)

Day 1 Grade: B-

Day 2 Grade: C- (The linebackers kill what could have been a better day of drafting.)

Final Grade: C (Ted Thompson better thank his lucky stars for Virginia Tech. This draft feels a lot worse. Stupid Randy Moss.)

The Green Bay Packers Select: DeShawn Wynn (RB-Florida) and Clark Harris (TE-Rutgers)

So, you’re Green Bay, you’ve been having a draft that can best be described as schizoid. You have two picks left. You really can’t salvage a great draft, but there is still decent value at the ol’ need position watering hole.

So by that logic, DeShawn Wynn is clearly the answer. He is a personification of that old chestnut about the million dollar talent and the ten cent mind. Because, when he sees the field, he runs with great vision and he can cut back with the best runners in the game. However, Wynn runs upright. Wynn does have dancers feet.  And he is rather injury prone.

Also, while he is not a problem the likes of which threaten strip clubs and the greater Cincinnatti highways. Trouble is something Wynn’s looked for over the past couple of seasons in Florida.

I’m not going to resort to name calling, but there are those Packer fans old enough to remember a First Round SEC Running Back that was the same sort of talent. At least here, Noah Herron won’t have to be so worried about losing his job.

Clark Harris is not as good as Ben Patrick. He’s got good hands, and he could develop into a reliable target on those 3rd and 7 sort of situations. But he is slow and he will not be a great in-line blocker, and merely decent in space. He isn’t bad for 243. People seem to like him.

But I have this conjecture I’d like to share with you.

There are many, including me, who believe Korey Hall to be a reach. There are many, including me, who believe Korey Hall was likely to become an Undrafted Free Agent. Ben Patrick was highly regarded as a top-five tight end with great momentum going into the draft. And all of the sudden, he’s been passed up 5 times by every team in the draft.

If Ted Thompson told me, in a meeting witnessed by a notary public, with his right hand on a stack of bibles, that he sincerely had a guy he was planning to switch positions better rated than Ben Patrick, I just would not believe him.

And maybe that’s why I wouldn’t be a good general manager. Common sense would trip me up.

Round 7: Ted, I’m begging you, go here.

1. Patrick TE-Delaware

2. Scott CB-Georgia Tech

3. Moore QB-Oregon State

4. Bain CB-Hampton

5. Mike Jones G-Iowa

6. Lyle Sendelin C-Texas

7. Jared Zabransky QB-Boise Stae

8. Stuckey WR-Clemson

9. Johnny Harline TE-BYU

10. Antwaan Applewhite DE-San Diego State

11. Lester Ricard QB-Tulane

12. Elliott Vallejo T-UC Davis

The Green Bay Packers Select: Linebackers and a Kicker?

So, you’re a team that could use a tight end and a potential future starter at cornerback? You have Ben Patrick and Kenny Scott and Travarous Bain available. Matt Moore could be a developmental QB as well. And are you really serious that Brandon Miree’s going to be your blocking back?

Ted Thompson had a chance to save his draft with a stellar Round 6? Put it this way…strike one, strike two, strike three.

Korey Hall’s just a warm body, pure and simple. He’s got negative upside. If you really wanted to draft a guy based on stats and heart. Mark Zalewski that stuff.*

Desmond Bishop. Solid two down middle linebacker. Middle Linebacker? Hey, don’t we have A.J. Hawk and Abdul Hodge that we like so much? I get the sense that the Bishop will go down Hillenmeyer street and be a good player. For someone else. No room at the inn here.  

And a kicker? I’m not going to be as nega-effusive here. But this begs the question. Right now, as I type at 2:42 P.M., wouldn’t Ben Patrick be a better player than Donald Lee? I say yes. Mason Crosby works, but kickers are 12 for 10 cents.

*JS Online says they plan on switching Hall to fullback. Maybe it’s a little warmer of a body now, but tackling doesn’t necessarily translate into blocking.

This round clinches me disliking the draft. If Patrick, Bain, or Scott fall to round 7, I expect Ted to pass on them.

Sean Regan won’t be ignored.

The Green Bay Packers Select: David Clowney (WR-Virginia Tech)

Ted Thompson is makng me crazy.

Why? It’s bad pick, great pick, reach pick, great pick, reach pick, great pick.

David Clowney is a tougher, faster version of Todd Pinkston. He is the vertical threat James Jones will never be. He may have injury problems, however, he’s played well despite awful quarterbacking at Va. Tech. It’s a great value pick.

Time for them to draft this guy…

The Green Bay Packers Select: Allen Barbre (T-Missouri Southern)

If Ted could reach for a sleeper heir apparent to Clifton, they found themselves a potential winner in Barbre. He has great feet and the rest of the physical tools are top-notch as well. However, the value? With Ben Patrick still on the board? With Josh Beekman still available?

Hell, wouldn’t even a Scott Chandler or a LeRon McClain have been a better fit? And wouldn’t you feel better about a Doug Free, who dealt with MAC Competition? I know I would.

Bad pick, Ted.

I kind of wanted Randy Moss…

I thought even Randy Moss in operation shutdown would have been a nice fit. 

And the stupid Patriots got him. The team so slavishly praised it makes them hated from everywhere outside the Northeast. I hate that they got better.

Stupid Ted Thompson. One step forward with the last pick, but they then go three steps back.

12 Guys I’d Love to See Ted Thompson Draft

1) Tanard Jackson CB-Syracuse (Never mind…Tampa got him.)

2) Ben Patrick TE-Delaware

3) Josh Beekman G-Boston College

4) Kenny Scott CB-Georgia Tech

5) Rufus Alexander OLB-Oklahoma

6) Baraka Atkins DE-Miami (Fla.)

7) Tarell Brown CB-Texas

8. Scott Chandler TE-Iowa

9) LaRon McClain FB-Alabama

10) Matt Moore QB-Oregon State

11) David Clowney WR-Virginia Tech (5-157)

12 The Original) Brandon Siler MLB-Florida

12 The Replacement) Aundrae Ellison WR-ECU

Replacing The Rest of Round 4

1) Travarous Bain CB-Hampton

2) Troy Smith QB-Ohio State

3) Oren O’Neal FB-Arkansas State

4) Chansi Stuckey WR-Clemson

Day 1 Review…

Mock Draft: 3 0f the first 4, 2 of the final 28! 2 dudes fell to the thrid round. I give myself a D+

The Packers Draft Day: It’s an interesting dichotomy. The picks that the Packers had were picks of a lesser quality. The picks that the Packers traded for? Awesome! So, we will do this pick by pick.

Justin Harrell: D (There were too many better players out there. And Harrell just doesn’t have much upside either.)

Brandon Jackson: A- (One of the best of the second tier, and a good value. And get this, he’s a great zone runner. And the Pack zone block.)

James Jones: B- (Reach. But the more I look at this pick the more I like it. Kid’s gritty and gutty.)

Aaron Rouse: A (Super toolsy awesome safety of great character for fights for justice and to keep the middle of the field safe from those that wish it harm.)

The draft rating: B- (Two instant starters. They whiffed on the #1 pick, and I believe in James Jones.)

And hey look! I’ve been linked! 

My day gets an A! Nice works!

The Green Bay Packers Select: Aaron Rouse (S-Virginia Tech)

6’4″ 218, 4.4 something. Let those numbers wash over you. That height. That speed. Aaron Rouse is the elite toolsy safety.

He’s got solid recognition skills. The speed also works in closing. He’s also got good ball skills. And in a division with Adrian Peterson, the Chicago Bears, and Verand Morency’s pace-changer in college, you need a man that can support the run. Rouse can do that.

His coverage is questionable, yes. But he’s a great pick. Great value. Great character. And he will start.

In short, he’s Ken Hamlin, only taller, and without the whole getting beat down in a bar thing. Ted hit here.