I think that the Packers have three players that fit these criteria:

1) High probability of being there at #9
2) Fit our team's schemes
3) Are high quality people
4) Have high floors

Going from our past drafts, TT has only seemed to gamble with the Harrell pick. The rest of them have been relatively conservative. Even Harrell would have fit in to the first three criteria that I have listed, with injury being the only reason his floor is so low.

I believe that those four criteria are the guiding principles of Ted's approach to higher picks.

Therefore I can identify three candidates for our #9 pick. I would think that these guys are all equal and if all are available at our pick, we could see a trade down of only one or two slots, to ensure that we get one of them.

The players are:

Brian Orakpo
Tyson Jackson
B.J. Raji

All three of these people could be there at #9. All three fit our team's schemes. All three are high quality people. And all are relatively conservative, with the biggest question mark being a disputed positive drug test on Raji.

And honestly, I would be pretty excited if we drafted any of these guys.

Thoughts?

Taking them one by one:

1. Orakpo is a huge gamble. Either he excels or he busts. Personally, from what I've read, he the latter. A "workout wonder" who won't translate well to the language of the NFL.

2. Jackson. Long arms, good height, decent weight. What's not to like?

3. Raji. The best NT in a draft that is notoriously thin at this position. The question being, do you take him early, invest a lot of money and prestige into him, and hope he is as good as the hype? What do your scouts say? A big unknown. We have to rely on draft boards and other non-professionals. TT gets to hear from people who could be demoted or have their jobs eliminated if they're wrong too often.

Bottom line? I dunno! I like Jackson the best out of this group, I guess. And that is exactly what I am doing- guessing.

I agree with you on Orakpo, but not sure about the other two. I look at it this way....is Raji overhyped? Probably a bit. Is Jackson underappreciated? Very likely so. BUT.....sometimes we go too far in the counter direction based on our distaste for hype. Bottom line to me is that Raji is simply a superior player to Jackson. Our need at DE is probably moreso than for a NT, but NT is also more important, and Raji can likely play some DE until it is time for Pickett to move on (much like Haloti Ngata in Baltimore). I just can't see passing on Raji for Jackson because I think Raji is clearly a better player than Jackson IMO.

OK, I think we are making progress on who to choose with the 1st round pick.....

I'm gonna keep reading and eventually decipher who THE PACKERS are gonna pick...

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ............

Very diabolical of you

Agreed on Jackson and Raji. Orakpo looks like a bust.


I'd add Oher to that list. They say he didn't consistently dominate, but he did have one of the highest blocking consistency percentages of all LT's in college football (better than Monroe, similar to Smith and Smith). While he didn't consistently dominate, he did consistently get the job done, and that is the ultimate measure of success for an offensive lineman.

He's been called dumb, but showed up and scored a 22 on the wonderlic (very average, nothing wrong with that).


To me, the knocks on Oher are unfair and the positives on him are through the roof. He's on my short list of players I think we have the best chance of taking. He's a good guy, a hard worker and a very talented player at tough position to fill. What's not to like?