2019 Draft Thoughts

[skibrett15]

23 hours ago, Outpost31 said:

We got Jaire Alexander and Darnell Savage instead of Derwin James and a third plus two fourths and if anybody complains about that, it's all the justification I ever needed for them having already been on my ignore list.

If savage is a complete bust, well, I'd rather have Derwin James.  Right now it's looking in the fine to very good range.

[JaireAlex]

1 hour ago, Joe said:

I'm a little more excited about the defense in Year 2 of Pettine, especially because of the FA signings and subsequent draft choices. The McShay's and Kiper's of the world wanted offense, offense, offense, weapons, weapons, weapons, which would've been idiotic IMHO. Reviewing more of Sternberger's tape, it really appears that we may have gotten a poor man's Hockenson in him. Same 40, same receiving skills, same athleticism, same awareness, etc. 

Very leery of MLF's scheme. Lots of similar language, but the words mean something completely different. When will a lapse in the adjustment occur, especially coming off the heels of confusion amongst the players on whether or not A-Rod is play-calling or audibling vs. MM. Then there's the level of success MLF had at Tennessee last year and how he ignored Derrick Henry for half the year. We don't have a Derrick Henry type player on our roster at the moment or at least not a big back like Henry. Monty was the closest thing we had to him last year and....well...yeah...

Henry needed and got a huge kick in the pants from another player (I forget who). Before that Henry was soft. Not ignored. It's just that he woke about right when he was needed.

 

MLF used whatever was available and has already said he never had the weapons he has in GB (esp. referring to AR but all together combined as well). We have enough. 3 backs, 3 TEs, 5 Wrs. I expect great things from the young receivers.

[Fl0nkerton]

1 hour ago, skibrett15 said:

If savage is a complete bust, well, I'd rather have Derwin James.  

Hot take here.

[Norm]

3 minutes ago, Fl0nkerton said:

Hot take here.

lol fwiw, I'm pretty sure he meant he'd rather have James than Alexander right? Since the option was James or both the other guys. Still an easy answer but not as bad lol

Edited May 1, 2019 by Norm

[PACKRULE]

2 minutes ago, Norm said:

lol fwiw, I'm pretty sure he meant he'd rather have James than Alexander right? Since the option was James or both the other guys. Still an easy answer but not as bad lol

Well last year we had HAha and Alexander provided the pieces at the positions we needed so we weren’t going to draft Derwin anyway. We could have and didn’t. Not directed at you norm. To the OP for your response. 

[vegas492]

1 hour ago, gopackgo247 said:

lets just hope that all of the Godgers years were not used up already. 

I think we all know that is up to him, right?  From my viewpoint, as a fan, GB invested heavily on defense.  He shouldn't have to score 35 points to win anymore.  All he really has to do is take what the defense gives him, right?  Actually, I think the defense will need to prove that to him, it's just how he is wired.  That's why I think we may see a few clunky offensive games early, but by week 6 or so, I think the light will go on for him in so much that he can trust the defense.  At least that is my hope.

Better defense.  Better o-line.  Ascending young players (ESB, MVS, JA).  There's much to be excited about.

[Norm]

8 minutes ago, PACKRULE said:

Well last year we had HAha and Alexander provided the pieces at the positions we needed so we weren’t going to draft Derwin anyway. We could have and didn’t. Not directed at you norm. To the OP for your response. 

I loved James. But I understand why we passed. I think he didn't test all that well iirc too

[skibrett15]

20 minutes ago, Fl0nkerton said:

Hot take here.

yeah i'm just saying there's enough of a gap between what James is/appears to be and JA (who is good, promising, but not nearly as so as James) to make a case that simply selecting James there was the right move.

[smetana34]

2 hours ago, vegas492 said:

Tell you what...last year about this time I thought that this was the worst Packer roster that I'd seen in quite some time.  I thought if Rodgers played like Godgers, GB would have a chance to be good.  And, well, we know how last year went down.

This year?  I feel much, much better about the roster.  I'm actually excited about the new coach and new scheme.  Change is good and it was needed.  I love the new EDGE players.  And I love the versatility that Jenkins and Turner now give us on the o-line.  

Feeling pretty darned good about the changes in 1265.  

I feel like a lot of this is with the benefit of hindsight. Green Bay was like 2nd or 3rd favorites to win the super bowl going into the year. You don't get that with a bad roster

Edited May 1, 2019 by smetana34

[incognito_man]

11 minutes ago, skibrett15 said:

yeah i'm just saying there's enough of a gap between what James is/appears to be and JA (who is good, promising, but not nearly as so as James)

there is?

[SSG]

On 4/30/2019 at 2:57 PM, hitnhope said:

I've now watched multiple game tapes, and I definitely do not see the same things you are.   I honestly do think he was the best Senior safety in the country.

 

Rapp ran in the 4.7's while Adderley was in the 4.6 range and played at a lower level.   If we drafted either of them, I hesitate to imagine the scathing review of the pick that you would provide.       While he isn't a Derwin James level prospect IMO, he is an excellent addition to the GB Packers.  

The negative lens you see all things through really must make for a difficult life.   You accuse others of ill advised optimism yet exhibit the exact same behavior in the negative.   

To each his own!  What in the Michigan game did you see different?  I'm interest in the moments where you viewed Savage as a differance maker in the game, or elite.  

Some plays that stood out to me in regards to Savage.

• -Hurdled by Ben Mason after one of the more embarrassing attempts at a tackle in the flats early in the 1st.  Mason went on to go for 8-10 more yards getting the first down.   
• - Was beat in man coverage on multiple occasions from the slot.... Ronnie Bell once and I believe Grant Perry a second time.  JAGs
• - He was over aggressive on ton of play fakes.  You could make the argument that he could have been responsible for 4 TDs if not for a couple bad throws (Grant Perry under threw their TE in the 2nd and Patterson missed JPJ late in the 2nd a fake screen both, receivers were his responsibility) ... huge gainer on first down by Gentry in the 1st, another huge gainer by Nico Collins in the second where he bit on a fake.
• - He took out his own teammate on the Ronnie Bell TD. A score that wouldn't have happened without the collision.
• - He totally blew his responsibility on the 3rd quarter JPJ TD. His teammate was screaming and pointing at the open WR as Savage stood there watching the butterflies.  

I found very little positive about Savage in that game so I'm interest in hearing the plethora of positives that you seem to have taken from it.  That piss poor Michigan passing attack looked unstoppable that game and it was in part because of Savage's play.

Just because I don't view Savage as an elite prospect and "the best DB in college football" doesn't mean it's an overly negative opinion. He's a decent player but he's not a difference maker IMO.  I struggled to view him as an elite prospect after rewatching the Michigan and Ohio State games.  He made a couple nice plays in the Ohio State game but he still had some costly mistakes with the reckless abandon that he'll bite on a fake.   I've said on multiple occasions that he's a good player, but i don't see him being a great one. 

Had we used 3 picks on one of the safeties you mentioned, yeah, I'd probably had issues with it.  A mediocre group of safties with not one of them worth half of your top 6 picks.  I thought Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was the best safety in this draft.  He too played against Michigan this year and he played on an entirely differant level than Savage.  He was the best player on both sides of the ball that game.  

Being objective and having accountability hasn't made my life hard at all.  If anything it's done the opposite.  I'm not one that's close minded because someone doesn't share my same opinion.  I completely understand that some aren't capable of being objective when it comes to their sports teams.  Being in the Army for 18+ years I take accountability serious and can't afford to ignore the negatives.  I call it like I see it and that opinion isn't changing just because a player is a Packer.  Must be a good feeling for you to now believe that we've got the best DB in the country on our team after the fact.

[AlexGreen#20]

3 minutes ago, SSG said:

To each his own!  What in the Michigan game did you see different?  I'm interest in the moments where you viewed Savage as a differance maker in the game, or elite.  

Some plays that stood out to me in regards to Savage.

• -Hurdled by Ben Mason after one of the more embarrassing attempts at a tackle in the flats early in the 1st.  Mason went on to go for 8-10 more yards getting the first down.   
• - Was beat in man coverage on multiple occasions from the slot.... Ronnie Bell once and I believe Grant Perry a second time.  JAGs
• - He was over aggressive on ton of play fakes.  You could make the argument that he could have been responsible for 4 TDs if not for a couple bad throws (Grant Perry under threw their TE in the 2nd and Patterson missed JPJ late in the 2nd a fake screen both, receivers were his responsibility) ... huge gainer on first down by Gentry in the 1st, another huge gainer by Nico Collins in the second where he bit on a fake.
• - He took out his own teammate on the Ronnie Bell TD. A score that wouldn't have happened without the collision.
• - He totally blew his responsibility on the 3rd quarter JPJ TD. His teammate was screaming and pointing at the open WR as Savage stood there watching the butterflies.  

I found very little positive about Savage in that game so I'm interest in hearing the plethora of positives that you seem to have taken from it.  That piss poor Michigan passing attack looked unstoppable that game and it was in part because of Savage's play.

Just because I don't view Savage as an elite prospect and "the best DB in college football" doesn't mean it's an overly negative opinion. He's a decent player but he's not a difference maker IMO.  I struggled to view him as an elite prospect after rewatching the Michigan and Ohio State games.  He made a couple nice plays in the Ohio State game but he still had some costly mistakes with the reckless abandon that he'll bite on a fake.   I've said on multiple occasions that he's a good player, but i don't see him being a great one. 

Had we used 3 picks on one of the safeties you mentioned, yeah, I'd probably had issues with it.  A mediocre group of safties with not one of them worth half of your top 6 picks.  I thought Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was the best safety in this draft.  He too played against Michigan this year and he played on an entirely differant level than Savage.  He was the best player on both sides of the ball that game.  

Being objective and having accountability hasn't made my life hard at all.  If anything it's done the opposite.  I'm not one that's close minded because someone doesn't share my same opinion.  I completely understand that some aren't capable of being objective when it comes to their sports teams.  Being in the Army for 18+ years I take accountability serious and can't afford to ignore the negatives.  I call it like I see it and that opinion isn't changing just because a player is a Packer.  Must be a good feeling for you to now believe that we've got the best DB in the country on our team after the fact.

You've got to remember what having an overmatched Front-7 does to a Safety. It makes the play action game hell on him. 

All the negatives you're bringing up are legit, but you also need to give him the credit when he covered the drag route man to man all the way across the field and tipped it up for a pick. 

[PossibleCabbage]

Savage is really more of my kind of safety than James.  Absolutely the leadership and instincts thing are pluses for James but smallish back-end safeties with elite range are my favorite kind.  Like we've needed another Nick Collins since 2011.

[skibrett15]

20 minutes ago, incognito_man said:

there is?

yeah, I like Derwin James better than JA.

[Chili]

Just rewatched the moment Gary got selected. You have him on camera crying and his friends and family are behind him and they looked miserable. When the selection was confirmed on tv everyone fake cheered and his mother on his left looked absolutely gutted. Didn't even cheer. 

I can hear her thinking "Dang! now I have to visit my son in frozen Green Bay instead sunny Miami" 

I really hope his tears were of happiness rather than disappointment. 

Edit: I've done some sleuthing. Its even weirder than I've imagined.

This is what I watched where you can see Gary crying and the weird reactions from the people behind him and the disinterest from his mother: https://www.packers.com/video/packers-daily-april-30

Well I found a new angle where the reaction is completely different: 

I can't seem to reconcile the two scenes together. If you look on the 2nd video you can see Gary crying on TV in the background yet his family in this video is celebrating genuinely and without any tears from Gary. That seems to be live yet the TV on the wall you see him crying. Impossible!

I tell you what I think the crying scene was faked. 

Edit 2: On second thoughts I think it might not be faked. The crying from Gary and the reactions from the people around him may have been real the first time round. These people were actually disappointed imo.

My evidence is that the crying scene has him without the cap. After the crying and brief walkabout he went back to his chair and that's when you can briefly see him getting hold of the packers cap.

Cue 2nd video the cap is on his lap, he regained his composure and puts the hat on and now the reactions by the family is done again for the benefit of the tv cameras. This time his mother is cheering. It's basically a take 2. This time the happy reactions imo is fake.

I will leave you all to draw your own conclusions from this.

Edit 3: I've finally decided i'm reading too much into this. 1st video shows the moment he received the call hence the crying, you also see that when he picks the packers cap up the family behind him starts cheering except for his mother. In the 2nd video you see him regain composure and put the cap on, the family cheers the 2nd time because it was confirmed on tv and then his mother finally cheered.

Much ado about nothing I think. Feel free to put me on ignore.  

 

(pls don't)

Edited May 1, 2019 by Chili