We all know that Ted Thompson loves to build through the draft. The archetypal Thompson pick is young, with raw talent and the desire to succeed. The coaches then work on developing the player's skills until he can become a contributor and, evenutally, start.
That's why the signings of Ahman Green and Mark Tauscher are, for me, so shocking — a sign that this team is desperate, and that Thompson's plan is not working.
Let's suppose — as is rumored — that Clifton and Tauscher are the starting tackles Sunday against Tampa. Of the Packers' 22 starters, probably only nine or ten will be Thompson draft picks or rookie free agents snapped up under his watch. That's a poor return for a team that relies so heavily on the draft, 72 games into Thompson's tenure.
It is discouraging, not only for the current season (which I haven't given up on) but also for the future. Replacing Barbre with Tauscher, or Jackson with Green, undermines the organization's entire philosophy: that veterans can be replaced incrementally and cheaply through the draft. Several of Thompson's protégés who are starting — Colledge, Hawk, Barbre, Bigby — are struggling. Backups who are being primed to take over from ageing veterans — Tramon Williams, Jeremy Thompson, BJ Raji, Desmond Bishop — are not improving as quickly as they should, and missing out on valuable playing time. The 2007 draft at this point looks pretty bare. That's not unusual — it happens to every team — but so long as the only veteran acquisitions the Packers make are cast-offs from the Ron Wolf era, it's something the Packers cannot afford.
Clifton, Tauscher, Kampman and probably Harris are gone after this season; Woodson and Driver will fall off a cliff one day soon. It is hard to tell how their replacements will fare when we have only seen them in spot duty. But the Barbre example should stand as a warning: replacing veterans is not easy.
Full Version: Young players
PackerChatters > PackerChatters > Green Bay Packers News Talk > Mark Murphy, Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, and Aaron Rodgers
QUOTE (ammek @ Nov 4 2009, 04:21 AM) 
We all know that Ted Thompson loves to build through the draft. The archetypal Thompson pick is young, with raw talent and the desire to succeed. The coaches then work on developing the player's skills until he can become a contributor and, evenutally, start.
That's why the signings of Ahman Green and Mark Tauscher are, for me, so shocking — a sign that this team is desperate, and that Thompson's plan is not working.
Let's suppose — as is rumored — that Clifton and Tauscher are the starting tackles Sunday against Tampa. Of the Packers' 22 starters, probably only nine or ten will be Thompson draft picks or rookie free agents snapped up under his watch. That's a poor return for a team that relies so heavily on the draft, 72 games into Thompson's tenure.
It is discouraging, not only for the current season (which I haven't given up on) but also for the future. Replacing Barbre with Tauscher, or Jackson with Green, undermines the organization's entire philosophy: that veterans can be replaced incrementally and cheaply through the draft. Several of Thompson's protégés who are starting — Colledge, Hawk, Barbre, Bigby — are struggling. Backups who are being primed to take over from ageing veterans — Tramon Williams, Jeremy Thompson, BJ Raji, Desmond Bishop — are not improving as quickly as they should, and missing out on valuable playing time. The 2007 draft at this point looks pretty bare. That's not unusual — it happens to every team — but so long as the only veteran acquisitions the Packers make are cast-offs from the Ron Wolf era, it's something the Packers cannot afford.
Clifton, Tauscher, Kampman and probably Harris are gone after this season; Woodson and Driver will fall off a cliff one day soon. It is hard to tell how their replacements will fare when we have only seen them in spot duty. But the Barbre example should stand as a warning: replacing veterans is not easy.
That's why the signings of Ahman Green and Mark Tauscher are, for me, so shocking — a sign that this team is desperate, and that Thompson's plan is not working.
Let's suppose — as is rumored — that Clifton and Tauscher are the starting tackles Sunday against Tampa. Of the Packers' 22 starters, probably only nine or ten will be Thompson draft picks or rookie free agents snapped up under his watch. That's a poor return for a team that relies so heavily on the draft, 72 games into Thompson's tenure.
It is discouraging, not only for the current season (which I haven't given up on) but also for the future. Replacing Barbre with Tauscher, or Jackson with Green, undermines the organization's entire philosophy: that veterans can be replaced incrementally and cheaply through the draft. Several of Thompson's protégés who are starting — Colledge, Hawk, Barbre, Bigby — are struggling. Backups who are being primed to take over from ageing veterans — Tramon Williams, Jeremy Thompson, BJ Raji, Desmond Bishop — are not improving as quickly as they should, and missing out on valuable playing time. The 2007 draft at this point looks pretty bare. That's not unusual — it happens to every team — but so long as the only veteran acquisitions the Packers make are cast-offs from the Ron Wolf era, it's something the Packers cannot afford.
Clifton, Tauscher, Kampman and probably Harris are gone after this season; Woodson and Driver will fall off a cliff one day soon. It is hard to tell how their replacements will fare when we have only seen them in spot duty. But the Barbre example should stand as a warning: replacing veterans is not easy.
I'm about to choke on my own words here; as I can't believe I'm finally sticking up for TT
However; not every player picked will be a PB; not every pick will be a red star. Many are role players and average.
Anyways; TT takes some blame here with FA; but ultimately it's the coaches' job to design plays and schemes around their players and put them into positions to make plays and to coach young players up be ready. The team reflects the HC and staff. As I said on another thread; read 5 Questions to Butler. This team is lacking discipline, poor game-planning; poor decision making; and so on.
This is basically the same team (plus additions) that was 13-3 two years ago and doesn't even have a flicker of that team. The difference to me? Favre was a better coach on the field; then MM is. Having a general system is fine; but expecting players to be robots is totally different. (note- not saying letting Favre go was bad and not saying A-Rod isn't good. )
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