Reaching, Hoping And Praying » Brats & Beer

April 30, 2007
posted under: Justin Harrell, NFL Draft, Packers, Ted Thompson

With the NFL Draft finally over, the one thing I can say with some certainty is that I really have to have the NFL Network for next year’s draft coverage. I caught a little bit through NFL.com on Saturday and while it wasn’t Emmy-award winning material it was far superior to ESPN’s over-the-top hype and hyperbole. And there was absolutely no trace of Sean Salisury.

As for the final analysis of the Packers draft team, the proof is really going to be in the Green & Gold pudding this time around. We’ve been a little spoiled in the draft the past couple years, getting Aaron Rodgers with the 24th pick in 2005 and then last year’s haul of talent (in the first three picks anyway). We’ve been able to at least get excited about the players and their potential, but this year there wasn’t that big coup or that big name to really get anyone jazzed for when training camp starts.

The troubling thing about this year’s draft is it was marked by a lot of reaching. We may have witnessed Ted Thompson trying to be a little too clever and cute, and it might just cost him his job a few years down the line. Justin Harrell was a bit of a reach with the 16th pick and Brandon Jackson most likely would have been around in the the third round, while some serious potential talent at wide receiver and tight end was still on the board. It would be interesting to know if TT passed on some players because he thought a deal for Randy Moss was in the bag.

Neither wide receiver TT picked out of the crowd appears ready to take the place of Robert Ferguson this season. James Jones played for tiny San Jose State and David Clowney from Virginia Tech is going to need time and coaching. As for tight end, that need went unfulfilled until the seventh round when the Packers took Clark Harris from Rutgers, who is no deep threat down the seam and can’t block well. As for fullback, TT plans to convert Boise State linebacker Korey Hall to the backfield or transform Florida running back DeShawn Wynn. It sounds like Mike McCarthy and his staff have their work cut out for them.

The one prospect we came away with who does look good is Aaron Rouse, a safety from Virginia Tech. Everything I’ve read so far about this guy is that he hits hard and wants to punish people. He should provide some competition for Marquand Manuel if he can pick up the schemes quickly, though we’re putting far too much faith here in the coaching ability of a certain Schottenheimer who did not get fired over the off-season.

They say it takes three years to truly judge a draft class so I’m not calling for anyone’s head right now, but this draft may eventually drop TT from guru to being in the same class as the man he replaced, a coach who was hard pressed to find a job as a waterboy for Houston last year. And I certainly would not want to be in TT’s shoes when he has to explain to Brett Favre what kind of offense he’ll be leading in his 17th and most likely final NFL season. That is not going to be a fun conversation.