Mark Barron did not make the Combine because of minor surgery and his stock has dropped a bit, but still he's the top safety in the draft. He might very well drop down to us at #28, or could be available if we trade up even a little. Given Nick Collins' situation I think Barron could be a very good, very smart #1 pick for us. I believe that someone like Vinny Curry or Bruce Irvin could very well be there when we pick in the 2nd round. Barron and a Curry/Irvin for rounds 1 and 2 is a realistic scenario and could be a very good draft for Green Bay. PS Looking it up it seems that Barron had surgery for a double hernia. Expected recovery is 6-8 weeks. Not a serious injury but it does raise questions about whether or not he is injury prone. He did have a torn pectoral muscle before. Not sure how bad it was but apparently not that bad. Is he worth the risk?
I just don't see how Barron gets past Denver. Dawkins has had neck issues and his nearing the end of his career. They need Safety help there too. I am hoping for Barron as a Collins replacement, but would be happy with Harrison Smith.
I'm not a "draftnik" (not that there's anything wrong with that). I'll never post a mock draft because I just don't have the time or interest to study the NFL readiness of college players and how they may be perceived by NFL GMs. I'd rather spend my time pre-draft looking just at what I see as the Packers' positions of need and then after the draft learning all I can about the players selected and UDFA signed by the Packers. But I am interested in the process and strategy of the draft and toward that end I've posted about tiers of talent in the draft and how I think it likely explains Thompson's draft strategy of trading down as much as he has. BTW, I certainly didn’t come up with that concept. Anyway, Wes Bunting reinforced the idea of talent tiers on the National Football Post website. He broke down safeties available in the draft by tiers: Tier 1: Mark Barron, Alabama Tier 2: Markelle Martin, Oklahoma St. Tier 3: Harrison Smith, Notre Dame; George Iloka, Boise St.; Christian Thompson, S. Carolina St.; Brandon Taylor, Louisiana St.; Kelcie McCray, Arkansas. Tier 4: Trenton Robinson, Michigan St.; Aaron Henry, Wisconsin. Tier 5: Tony Dye, UCLA; Janzen Jackson, McNeese St. He didn't mention where in the draft he places these tiers and of course the Packers' list is no doubt different but I think the concept plays a part in how Thompson and other GMs see the talent in the draft. I have a couple of questions for the board: First, what do you think of how he's broken down the talent at safety. Second, something he wrote about Iloka ("Has experience playing corner and being a physical press coverage man") got me thinking about Nick Collins. Wasn't he listed as a DB when he came out of college? Is there a player listed as a CB in this draft anyone thinks is big enough to switch to safety? Capers likes safeties who have one-on-one coverage skills and if Collins doesn't return… http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFL-Draft-Ranking-the-safety-class-by-tiers.html
The Bengals released safety Chris Crocker today, so if they don't resign him I'm thinking they will select Barron with one of their two 1st round picks. I'm hoping we draft M. Martin or Harrison Smith, but either in the 2nd or 3rd round.
