Looking forward to the 2010 draft it looks like there aren't many shoes to fill. Seems to me that the offense is set for a few years and we can concentrate on some defensive players, specifically DE and in the secondary. Harrell can't be trusted to be at all healthy so a stud DE is a real possibility in the 1st round.

The area of most concern however is in the secondary. Let's face it, Woodson and Harris aren't getting any younger. Williams looks to be a future starter but after him... . Blackmon is serviceable but he's a nickel corner at best. Lee, like Harrell can't seem to get healthy, jury's still out there. At safety, depth is lacking. If Collins goes down we're in trouble. A first round pick at either of the secondary positions would go a long way towards solidifying this defense.

Thompson showed in this past draft that he's satisfied with the depth of talent on the roster after spending his first few drafts building it and can now concentrate on quality over quantity. I believe we may see him trade up again in the first to nab a player he is enamored with.

Who's going ot be available at pick 32?

If were a GM drafting for need (which I would probably foolishly do) I would look for:

1. Left tackle

2. D-line

3. CB

4. D-line

5. Safety

6. QB

7. D-line

I would pretty much agree with that. A LT is an absolute priority. Most important position on the team aside from QB. The rest of your list seems right on target.
I will say that Underwood looks very promising as a CB. Like what I've seen of him thus far.

How is LT a need with Colledge and Meredith.. IMO Meredith is the future of LT

DL IMO needs another (NT) big man to free Raji up to play some DE

CB is my number 1 need for this team as Williams is next in line to start and after him thier is nothing but dime and nickel backs... Underwood has shown alot this preseason and could be the next Williams IMO

Safety is #2 as Collins is a FA who TT has not locked up and Bigby needs to stay healthy... IF GB has a very good year the Ss will be off the board by the time GB picks..

TE looks very solid but if TT goes the way he has been then i see him taking one and that one could be J Gresham who would fit in nicely with Finley in the double TE formation..

If i had to guess how TT would draft here is how it would look IMO

1 J Gresham TE Oklahoma
2 M Rolle SS Florida St
3 Adam Ulatoski OT Texas
4 Kade Weston NT Georgia
5 Chris Hawkins CB LSU
6 Mike Neal DE Purdue
7 Jerome Murphy CB South Florida

I really like this line of thought!

Well, I agree with your emphasis on defense. But unless a really outstanding stud left tackle is available, no thanks. There are at least two LT backups waiting to replace Clifton.

By the bye, I really think that if Clifton does reach FA, he will be signed for crazy dollars by Dallas or Washington. And if that offer is made, Clifton will take it. After all, Rivera took the big bucks to move to Dallas, even though he 'bled green and gold'. The NFL is a business. Either produce or move on.

I actually think Tebow may have some value here. If nothing else he could be converted to a TE.
I like who ever posted Gresham...
Maybe ILB Brandon Spikes.

I like Allen Bailey from Miami. About 300 lbs, like 8-10% body fat, guy is ripped. He'll probly run between a 4.7 and 4.9 40 as well, I think he could fit in well as an end in the 3-4.

LT is most certainly a need. Colledge is entrenched as the LG despite that others in here think he'd be a decent LT. Meredith is no sure thing as a replacement for Clifton. If they have a chance to get a stud LT they should do it! Period!

Not all players are sure things at LT when it comes to the draft how many times in the last 20 years has GB taken a LT??? BTW Colledge looks alot smoother at LT then he has at LG and for your info we have alot of OGs Lang, Meredith, Hartline and Randolph who can step in and take over.... If by some chance a very talented LT falls to GB they may look hard at him but in the end it will be BPA no matter what position...

Something i would really like to draft is some major speed. A kick returner with that extra gear that others just dont have. I dont care if its a cb,wr,rb, I just want some game changing speed. We just seem to lack that speed of a adrian peterson or harvin. There is much more to players then just speed i realize but thats a dimension that we dont have at the moment.

Who is the fastest guy on the roster do you think? I would think it would be will blackmon. I realize that greg jennings and donald driver are real fast but they are not game changing speeds. Game changing players yes, but they dont have that speed that sets them apart.

Disagree.

I would like to see TT use a number one pick on the OL or at RB.

As of now, we do not know if we have a RT. Is Barbre the man? Do we have a LT? If this is Clifton's last year, do we know that Meredith is a good starter? Maybe, maybe not.

At RB, I think we have a collection of average to slightly above average players. I wish we had a real stud RB to couple with AR and the pass game. That could catapult us into a top five offense.

You don't seem to realize the Packers coaching staff likes Colledge a heckuva alot at LG and don't plan on moving him. They view him as a potential pro bowler there. Myself, I liked the idea of him playing LT, as he did it at Boise St. But the move isn't going to happen! So we need to move on from that. I like Lang alot, but Meredith scares me somewhat. I hope he pans out, but I'm not pushing all in on this guy. Like I said earlier, it's the most important position on a football team with a right handed QB aside from the QB position itself. They'd be foolish not to take a damn good LT prospect if the grades on their potential selection are close.


BTW, nothing is a for sure thing, so that is a moot point. With Clifton being there for roughly the past decade as one of the better LT's in the league where was the need to draft one? Now there is a bit of uncertainty there with Clifton nearing the end. Time to restock with another top prospect, if they can get one.

If the Pack has a decent year this year,
which I think they will,
we will not be getting a top draft choice
and thus probably not a STUD RB.

Go Pack!!

I'd like to see three picks in the first two rounds, and I'd like to see a DT, CB and S selected.

OT is also important, but I am putting some faith in a combo of Giacomini, Barbre, Lang and Meredith, giving us two starters between them (and if not, the Colledge at LT might do it).

You might wonder why I picked DT over DE. The answer is that the great majority of DE's are 250 - 265. We want 300lb guys, and they are to be found at DT. I'd rather have a super DE at 290+ but they are so rare, you just have to take a little more risk and get an athletic DT and convert him to a DE in the 3-4.

You may feel another other pertinent question is which position to get first ? Doesn't matter. Best available player in any of the three positions will do just fine. Even drafting other positions is fine, if the value is there, but these three are what I'd like to see addressed first.

Adai was a late round pick and quite a few RBs fall into the lower part of the 1st. Not to say that these guys compare to Petersen, but I actually like the idea of drafting late in the first and picking a RB. As to the OL, we always need it. At the end of the day, GB will pick the best 5 to play. I like Colledge at the LG, much like Wahle. I believe Colledge could play LG to a high level for about 10+ years.

beanie wells this year is an example of a quality guy falling in the first round. Not saying he will be awesome but he is highly rated.

I believe that it is Tramon Williams. He beat Blackmon in a race last year.

Let's pretend, just for sh*ts and giggles, that the packers do end up with a successful season, a trip deep into the playoffs, maybe even a Lombardi trophy.

The bottom of the first round has historically been a decent place to pick up really good running backs, interior O-lineman, safeties and 'tweener d-lineman who may be too light to fit in as 4-3 DTs, but fit well as 3-4 ends.

The bottom of the first round has NOT historically been a great slot to pick up franchise quarterbacks (except Rodgers of course), top-shelf left tackles, shutdown corners and pass-rushers.

I know there are exceptions to this. There are to everything. But looking at the percentages over a long time period, these types of trends do appear over and over again.

My take is that instead of finding a monster nose tackle to free up Raji to play more end, we may end up finding a true 3-4 end to play the left side and free up Raji to play the nose, where IMO he is a perfect fit.

Of course it is a long way away, and a lot of things can happen between now and then... but it is fun to ponder it.

The 2010 draft seems to have some depth at tackles. I haven't put much thought into it but tackle seems to look good.

Why Gresham when he is coming off injury and Finley is emerging Also Rolle goes in round 1 IMO

I could see Gresham being a pure BPA pick for some team, if he falls due to injury.

Remember how much the Jackson/Chmura duo gave teams fits during the Holmgren years?

Also, I seem to be in the minority on this one, but I'm not very high on this years senior class at WR (at this point...they do have almost a full season left to play, so I'm eager to see what they do). If even one team views Gresham as a stud and the WR class as a steaming pile of crap, then Gresham could go higher than some people might be expecting.

Regardless, I don't think that TT will be the guy who pulls the trigger on Gresham.

I think the Packers are still going to have to worry about finding a successor to Clifton. With all of the Packer free agents coming due next year, I don't think he will be resigned.

Well, LT just became the biggest issue for the off-season. Cliffy seems done. Sure, maybe you can bring him back for another year, but who knows if he even wants to play anymore. Meredith just walked out the door as an option. I knew putting him on PS was a mistake and that has proven true.

We have no LT on the roster right now except Clifton. Colledge is not going to get it done out there long-term. (Hell, he may not get it done short-term) TT, assuming he's still here, will need to make LT the #1 priority and will have to use an early pick on one. I'd say he could just sign one in FA, but that just doesn't seem likely given his track record. I'm guessing he's got scouts watching pretty much every game that Trent Williams, Russell Okung, Ciron Black and maybe a couple of others are playing this year.

I would have to go with Nick Collins as the fastest guy on the roster. He has legit sub 4.4 speed. Why do you think he returns so many TDs to the house.

As I said long ago, we need a RB and a LT bad.

ANd we will be in good position to get them both because we will at best be picking in the middle of the draft.

Don't you think we should wait and see if he actually has any success in the NFL before we declare putting him on the practice squad a mistake? If he never amounts to anything in the NFL wouldn't what the Packers did be considered a smart move? At this point, I don't see how you can make any judgement - good or bad - about this move.


It's only two games into the season and you are already declairing this a middle of the pack year (or worse)? That's pretty pessimistic. I guess we'll find out soon enough if you're right - I hope you're not. I do however completely agree with you about what are the Packer priorities but it is two games in and they could certainly change.

Agreed.

Collins can flat out fly.

Yep, and most likely, yep.

If I am running the draft:

1. LT

2. FS

3. RB

4. DE

5. RT

6. CB

7. ILB or P

Why is DE the 4th priority? Do you re sign Jolly? Re sign Picket at leave Raji at DE?

Depending on where you rate them, there seem to be a bunch of OTs available in the first three rounds, with maybe 5 going in round one being the early indication. I don't follow college football, but here are some OTs the talking heads think will go early.

Russell Okung (Oklahoma St.)
Trent Williams (Oklahoma)
Bryan Bulaga (Iowa)
Ciron Black (LSU)
Charles Brown (USC)

Selvish Capers (W.Virginia)
Anthony Davis (Rutgers)
Bruce Campbell (Maryland)
Jason Fox (Miami)
Kyle Calloway (Iowa)
Sam Young (Notre Dame)

Others like Saffold (Indiana), Hardman (E.Kentucky), Ulatoski (Texas), Beadles (Utah) and Ziemla (Auburn) are well thought of by some.

That makes 16 OTs that might go in the first three rounds. Some will fall, some will rise, that's inevitable, but as liong as we pick an OT on day one of the draft we have a chance at a functional starter.

I have changed my mind from my opinion a month ago, that we can plug in Lang or Giacomini or Barbre or College at LT. Now I don't think any of them will play well enough to hold down that spot. Consequently we need a LT that can start early, and that means a day one pick (I'd also fire Campen, who appears to have taught his O line nothing in three years).

So, my new 2010 picks rely on keeping Jolly and Pickett. I would get LT, S, DE as the first three picks, and I'd like three picks in the first two rounds if we can swing it.

I couldn't agree more. I was very disappointed when MM 'cleaned house' and kept Campen here. The OL has been an issue for too long now. They never seem to be prepared to play when the season starts. It looks like it takes several games for them to finally hit their stride. Rodgers could get killed this year waiting for the line to 'hit its stride'! It makes NO sense to me to give Aaron such a huge extension (deservedly so) and put these guys in front of him to 'protect' him. As far as I'm concerned, this is one area Ted has failed BADLY.

I wouldn't mind seeing two OT's taken in this next draft...And both of them early. I like your drafting of positions. LT, S, and DE would be a great way to start this next draft. Good post, OneTwoSixFive!

Putting Meredith on the PS was a mistake if you were making the assumption that he could be developed into a future OT. He had too much talent to stick him there and assume nobody else would come calling. Saying you don't know it's a mistake because you don't know how it turns out long-term is sort of a questionable argument. Of course, it's hard to say how this will play out in the long run, but then you can say that about any rookie. The bottom line is, you spent a 5th round pick on a guy who was regarded as having enough raw talent to play OT. A guy some felt could eventually be moulded into a respectable LT because of his raw ability. Even short term, he's started 2 games for Buffalo. In essence we gave him up for nothing. I'd rather have given Buffalo, Giacomini. That would have made more sense.

I think the concern about DE is legit because right now you have Raji as a back-up. That's pretty much it. Wynn is an unknown. Harrell can't be counted on to ever provide anything. Jolly, assuming his legal troubles are behind him, is worthy of getting a contract, but you would have to worry whether the money would take away his hunger. Not sure he's the most self-motivated guy on the roster. I hate it when guys have their best seasons in contract years. If you lose Jolly, you got Raji at DE and nothing else, and that's assuming you keep Pickett. If you lose Pickett and Jolly, you have Raji at NT and "nothing" at DE. There is no doubt you need more help at DE for the long term.

At this point I don't agree RB is a more pressing need than FS or CB or DE.

Today, if listing needs, I would go this way

2010
1) LT
2) FS
3) DE
4) KR


2011
1) RB
2) CB
later. backup QB

If Pickett goes, then the need for another NT becomes pressing.

If we can upgrade at LT, FS and DE, we have helped ourselves in a big way.

My list of 2010 needs:

Left tackle: Has now become somewhat an acute need due to TT's inattention.
Running back: At least a complement to Grant. More speed-receiver type.
Safety: Need a good third safety.
Corner: Always a need. Williams is the only younger CB who's shown starter potential.
Defensive end: Need another 300+ guy in the depth.
Speed WR/KR: Team lacks offensive speed. Need a deep threat, especially since Rogers throws a very good deep ball.
Nose tackle: If Pickett isn't resigned.

Personally I think GB should go multiple picks in the first 3 rounds to address the severe need at tackle. This usually seems to work out well, and I do not see positions like D line, RB, and S as being that bad.

-D line has Raji who is coming on and Jenkins locked up, there are some prospects to replace Pickett and Jolly should they both leave, still this is a very deep DL draft, so maybe one gets taken high because he is the BPA.
- RB's will look better once the line improves, further just seems like you can get solid vet RB's for cheap these days. Grant is no Peterson, but he is not that bad either.
- Secondary will be a concern depending on what happens to the starters in FA, still have Pat Lee coming back and can get players by grabbing a few guys in the later rounds.

My ideal draft structure:

1st Tackle
2nd Tackle
3rd D lineman
4th S
5th CB
6th P or RB
7th RB or QB

Order of needs

1. OT (I think Lang is a keeper. so which ever T he isn't starting at.)
2. RB
3. S
4. CB
5. DE
6. NT
7. LT (depth)

Well with how bad this team is I hope they do bad enough they can either get Taylor Mays S from USC or Bruce Campebll OT from Maryland.

take a page from Wolf and blanket the picks around a position of need. You are bound to hit on 1 or more.

Take offensive linemen, about 10 of them.

It will be interesting to see what sort of draft philosophy the new GM has. (please!)