My Lost Weekend Watching The Draft » Brats & Beer

Every year when the NFL Draft rolls around I question the wisdom of actually following the action in real time. I mean I could just get out of the house and do something — I dunno, productive — and then check out the news later to get the lowdown on what happened. But then there I am glued to the TV and the computer screen, listening to a list of names being read off while a bunch of “experts” tell me what I should think of it all. I probably need to get a life, or maybe a job with a professional football team. (Is anyone hiring?)

So here on Sunday night I find myself pretty much in agreement with most of the other Packer bloggers out there that this was overall a good draft for Ted Thompson. He stuck to his philosophy of taking the best players available while addressing some needs for the team at the same time, and he added depth at other positions to create competition come training camp.

The big headlines of the Packers draft centered on the two quarterbacks, Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn, and what that says about Aaron Rodgers. Personally I agree with Bill Michaels of WTMJ: The picks change nothing about how TT and Mike McCarthy feel about Rodgers, and I’m sure he knows that and won’t be “looking over his shoulder” as some have suggested. Brohm probably won’t be ready to be a starter this season (though hopefully he’ll be ready to play in relief action) and Flynn is a project, so there’s no controversy at QB in Green Bay.

The other pick making big news was TT’s first selection of the draft, Jordy Nelson. There was some booing at the draft party and some grousing amongst the comment trolls, but the pick adds a new dimension of excitement to the Packers already well-stocked wide receiver group and allows MM to ultimately form a stronger corps of players to surround Rodgers with. (A hearty “here, here” to Cheesehead TV in regards to the booing at the Packers draft party. Enough already.)

The picks I’m most intrigued about, however, came later. CB Patrick Lee looks like he could, with a little bit of coaching, become a new stud addition in the secondary. Jermichael Finley gives a boost to the TE group and could create some new personnel packages for MM to throw at opposing defenses. Jeremy Thompson gives ends coach Carl Hairston something to work with and could break into the lineup at some point this season. Josh Sitton and Breno Giacomini add depth to the OL, a position where the Packers really need some additional talent and competition.

Am I sounding too much like a TT loving, rah rah cheerleader yet?

It wasn’t a perfect draft by any means. I would have liked for TT to get a better OL prospect and maybe a CB with more obvious potential as an immediate starter, but there was a run on offensive linemen in the first round and some of the top CB talent went early. I’d rather take what we got than see TT bankrupt the draft to get a single guy.

I guess if I were the sort to give a draft a letter grade I would give this one a B, knocking TT a notch or two only for trading a pick to the Vikings. (Not that John David “Big” Booty is going to amount to a whole lot in the league.) However I’m not one of those sort of people to give out letter grades, and certainly this draft for the Packers can’t be evaluated properly for a couple seasons until we see how these players progress. Instead, I’ll just hoist a Leinie’s in honor of TT and his staff for a job well done this weekend.

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