2019 Draft Thoughts

[Golfman]

When is rookie mini camp?

[green machine]

23 minutes ago, Golfman said:

When is rookie mini camp?

May 3-4 https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2019/4/28/18521792/packers-will-hold-rookie-minicamp-practices-on-may-3-4

[CWood21]

3 hours ago, Greg C. said:

Yeah, I was thinking that if every GM followed the conventional wisdom, nobody would be any better than anybody else. You have to make bold moves to have any chance to get ahead of the crowd. So it's good to see our guy showing some aggressiveness. 

I mean, I'd rather them whiff because they were aggressive and targeted their guy than sit back and take whatever is leftover.

[CWood21]

3 hours ago, Golfman said:

I'm a Notre Dame fan who usually doesn't like how those kids translate to the NFL, sans O-line. I think Dexter Williams is going to be a fine addition to our running back crew. He's going to be a valuable addition to this team before 2019 is over. 

I'm not a huge believer in him.  This draft class has a lot of #2/#3 RBs.  There was no special backs, and I'm not sure there's anything more than maybe a solid starter.  Maybe Rodney Anderson if he stays healthy.  But overall, this class has a lot of solid backs.  But the 1 year of production is kind of an issue for me especially considering it's usually a pretty easy position to translate.

[Arthur Penske]

@palmy50 you got anything for a recap on GBs draft?

[OneTwoSixFive]

6 hours ago, CWood21 said:

I mean, I'd rather them whiff because they were aggressive and targeted their guy than sit back and take whatever is leftover.

I think patience has it's place as well. It's a calculation, like being a good poker player, can you get a handle on what the other guys will do ? 

Know how to read them (= evaluate both the prospects and other GMs), know when to hold em (= stay put), know when to fold em (= move back), know when to move all-in (=move up). When you mostly get that right, you can be a very good drafter.

[JaireAlex]

Big difference with Gute was sticking with BPA.

 

He mentioned it in the presser. It was noticeable to me this and last year. 

Why this is a HR draft (regardless how it turns out -- because drafts are just all on paper) is that their picks were also guys they targeted. BPA and players you target just don't usually match up like this. Really really nice haul.

[OneTwoSixFive]

On 27/04/2019 at 4:25 PM, Golfman said:

Hope I'm not premature with this thread, but we don't draft in round 4 so...............................

- I think we won the draft.   Agreed

- Not a big Gary fan, but his measureables are better than anyone in the draft not named Q. Williams. This kid might turn into a dominant defender. If/when he does, how do you block us up front?  Feel a lot better about him now than I was pre-draft. G&G glasses ? Maybe, but I'm enthusiastic about him now.

- I do not remember the last time I was this excited about the first 4 picks in a Packer draft. Need and talent both covered.  Same here 

- I think this off season puts us back as the favorite in the NFCN  Undecided, mainly due to a lot of the increased expectation being based on new players.

- Two of these four are going to start week 1, and I'm not sure which two it will be. If I were guessing, I'd say it's Jenkins and Sternberger. Just think safety is such a tough position Savage might not start until week 7 or 8. Gary is going to play a lot, but in a rotation. The Smith's will start at EDGE. No opinion on this.

- Pettine has no excuses. He doesn't put up a top 10 defense he should be gone next year. Wouldn't say that this year. Would agree with it, next year (barring an unlucky injury glut on defense, especially one that falls heavily on one position group.).

- I can't wait for the season to begin. Oh yeah !

 

Go Pack Goooooooooooooooo!!! 

For me it's mostly about the first four picks. Gary, Savage, Jenkins, Sternberger. I think they all have a good chance of a pretty exciting future in Green Bay. I think Darnell Savage might just be exceptional. He isn't as tall as you'd like, nor are his arms that long, but the elite speed, along with top instincts and willingness both to tackle and to take smart risks on when to jump a receivers route, bode well. Few indeed are the safeties that can do a good job playing single high, he has what you need to do that at a high level.

Beyond the first four picks, I was neither excited or hated by the Keke and Hollman picks. I felt good about RB Dexter Williams. He seems like a really good fit with what LaFleur wants to do. Ty Summers has an injury history, but could carve out a ST spot.

I'm guessing that out of the first four picks, plus D.Williams as a fifth, AT LEAST three picks will be successes, maybe four. That equals a good draft. Four is a very good draft. As long as the veteran pickups do a decent job, the Packers should be well set. The defense rebuild is almost finished now. The offense probably needs a high pick at OT next year, maybe a top TE, maybe a good WR, but the holes that were gaping in January, now seem either to have disappeared entirely, or as a minimum they have been papered over.

Edited April 29, 2019 by OneTwoSixFive

[Leader]

3 hours ago, OneTwoSixFive said:

Know how to read them (= evaluate both the prospects and other GMs), know when to hold em (= stay put), know when to fold em (= move back), know when to move all-in (=move up). When you mostly get that right, you can be a very good drafter.

Alright now.......

Think it safe to say we've reached the bottom of the draft pick analytical barrel when we're equating the process to a Kenny Rogers song.  

Personally, I prefer the aggressive attitude. Evaluate, differentiate and target the talent you need. Works for me.

But if you'd like another draft analogy.......as if you need one......consider those creatures that survive at the depths of the sea.
They dont come to the surface to find their food. No. They survive on what sinks to the bottom.

I'd prefer the GBPs be sharks and not crabs.

Edited April 29, 2019 by Leader

[OneTwoSixFive]

Errr....ok

You're more Ace Of Spades (Motorhead) than Kenny Rodgers, then.  

Edited April 29, 2019 by OneTwoSixFive

[Leader]

5 minutes ago, OneTwoSixFive said:

You're more Ace Of Spades (Motorhead) than Kenny Rodgers, then.  

Let me help ya.......
It's apparent some is necessary......
I'm definitely not Kenny Rodgers. Cross that off the list - and
Cant think of a Motorhead song. Name. Tune. Guitar riff. NAAAAA-DA.
Think Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, CSN&Y, J.Geils, Fleetwood........play in that ballpark.

Edited April 29, 2019 by Leader

[Fl0nkerton]

19 hours ago, HyponGrey said:

He cynic in me cannot, and will not expect anything from these rookies. They never do anything on this damn team, especially on defense. 

Did you watch Jaire Alexander last year?

[MacReady]

Our rookies never do anything in their rookie years?  Must be some other Packer team I've been watching. 

Jaire Alexander - 66 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, .5 sacks, 1 QB hit, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 11 passes defended.
Kenny Clark - 2 passes defended, 1 tackle for loss, 4 QB hits, 2 fumble recoveries (in only two starts)
Damarious Randall - 58 tackles (1 for loss), 14 passes defended, 3 interceptions, 1 TD.
HaHa Clinton-Dix - 92 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, 2 interceptions in the Championship game.
Datone Jones - Fumble recovery for 20 yards, 3.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 7 QB hits.
Nick Perry - (6 games) 2 sacks, 2 QB hits
Derek Sherrod - Injury.
Bryan Bulaga - 12 starts and a Super Bowl win
Clay Matthews - 7 passes defended, 3 fumbles recovered, 1 TD, 10 sacks, 17 TFL, 21 QB hits
BJ Raji - 1 sack, 5 TFL, 1 QB hit as a true NT. 

Every single first round pick we've had since 2009 has had a significant impact in their rookie seasons.  Even the busts, and even the semi-busts.  Datone Jones had people excited about his potential, and so did Nick Perry.

Consider what all of those players had opposite them. 

Alexander had almost zero safety help and zero pass rush and he still thrived.  It's why he's literally got the best career outlook we've ever had with a first round pick after their rookie year. 

Savage is going to have Smith and Smith and Daniels and Clark and Gary and Fackrell rushing the passer. 
Gary is going to have Smith and Smith and Daniels and Clark and Fackrell eliminating the possibility to double him.  Since he's the rookie, he's probably going up against single blockers and tight ends.  If he is half as good as I think he's going to be, he's going to be an all-rookie. 

I don't know why it's so hard for everyone to see that this guy has Julius Peppers at 21 athleticism and strength.  I'm so hyped about him that I see him as the face of this franchise once Rodgers retires.  I'm so confident in this and last year's draft class that I think Alexander, Savage and Gary are going to be the foundation of our own stupid nickname for dominant defenses (Legion of Boom, Steel Curtain, etc). 

I look at the makeup of this defensive roster along with a DC who does not want to be a head coach again and I see a future that will have a defense more notable and prolific than the offense, which happens to have an all-time great QB. 

 

[wgbeethree]

1 hour ago, Leader said:

Let me help ya.......
It's apparent some is necessary......
I'm definitely not Kenny Rodgers. Cross that off the list - and
Cant think of a Motorhead song. Name. Tune. Guitar riff. NAAAAA-DA.
Think Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, CSN&Y, J.Geils, Fleetwood........play in that ballpark.

I don't know why I find it so funny but I absolutely love that J. Geils is "randomly" thrown in that list of RnR luminaries.

[HyponGrey]

1 hour ago, Fl0nkerton said:

Did you watch Jaire Alexander last year?

As of this moment that's the exception, not the rule.