Ted talks out of both sides of his mouth. He says they don't draft for need, but 'value'. While other teams had Harrell as a choice(Denver) no one had him ranked at 16. Meachem was ranked at 16, a value pick and also fills a need, possibly long-term.
If you are ranking players by value, how on earth could you not say Brady Quinn wouldn't have been the best value at 16? Regardless of the hype, the guy is a potential franchise QB. Wouldn't you think that ranks higher than a DT? Harrell might turn out to be a stud DT, but in reality, he better, given the draft position and the fact we had some fairly good DT's already on the roster. Aaron Rodgers? Since the winner would back up Brett Favre this year, let the winner have the job, trade the other. It was a win-win for the Packers.
Cleveland valued Quinn enough to give up its first pick next year, even though they have a couple of QB's around, including Charlie Frye.
I think the pick was also the beginning of the end for Corey Williams, at the very least the possibility of signing a Cullen Jenkins-type contract. The Packers won't pay two guys mucho dinero for essentially the same position, especially when you have a 6th round pick, Jolly, who is stupid enough to play his guts out for nothing. When he wants a market contract Ted will show him the door, too, I'm sure.
I could have fully understood if Ted traded down from 16, given his tendencies. But to take Harrell there was a bit of a reach and he left ignored the chance, potentially, to find the best player to succeed Brett Favre.
Regarding Jim Rome and all the other radio blabbers....take none of them seriously. You are merely a number on a piece of paper to them, which translates into dollars. They couldn't care less what you think.
It's all about ratings, so their rantings are nothing more than audio eargum designed to keep you around until the next ratings sweep.
The finest example I can think of is Colin Cowterd at ESPN. He mimics Rush Limbaugh, complete with the paper shuffling and limited-fact outrageous statements, so the sheep will go to his loud corral.
I listen but I really don't take what they say seriously. The print folks are still the best at letting you know what is going on, but they too, will be gone soon, victims of the Internet, TV and radio, and a general population growing less smart by the generation.