2014 Draft

bigbubbatd

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This is one of the harder to rank drafts for me. TT looks to have some pretty substantial misses in Thornton and Bradford who both have been cut today. However Dix, Adams, Rodgers and Lindsey will start this year. Abby, Goodson and Janis are all on the bubble right now but were late round picks. 4 starters out of a draft is good. 3rd, 4th, and 5th round picks not having any impact or not even being on the roster is not good.

Elliot and Pennel as undrafted rookies may sway the draft too. If you replace Thornton and Bradford with those two then you have 4 starters and some quality depth. Just wondering how people rank this draft.
 

adambr2

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You hate to see a 3rd and 4th round pick bust before they even reach their 2nd season, but it happens. Louis Nix never played a down for the Texans either.

Linsley right now is certainly the gem of that draft, but there's promise in other ones as well.
 

Mondio

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I was excited for both those draft picks, more so Thorton than Bradford, but when first drafted I liked the picks. To say they disappointed would be an understatement
 

thisisnate

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4 immediate starters... don't care what else happened in that draft or with the other picks, that's a major win in my book
 

Sanguine camper

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Thornton and Bradford were busts from day 1. Lindsey was a gem so the 2014 still looks good. Too bad most or TT's busts are on the defensive side of the ball. How is it that an ex linebacker has a knack for picking Wr's but can't draft defense nearly as well?
 

DaveRoller

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I never liked the Thornton pick but was excited about the possibility of Bradford moving to the ILB position.

I remain dumbfounded that Bradford was not moved to ILB until late in camp last year when the talent at ILB in front of him consisted Brad Jones, A.J. Hawk and Jamari Lattimore. But Bradford was given every opportunity to shine this offseason/training camp and unfortunately failed.

However, even with the Thornton & Bradford busts (and they are busts) TT's 2014 draft was an outstanding one in my view. Clinton-Dix, Adams, Rogers, and Linsley all contributed right away.

Janis is still out there and if Pennel (a 2014 UDFA) develops no one will remember the 3rd rounder wasted on Thornton.
 
D

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I think it´s way too early to make a fair evaluation of the 2014 draft. Linsley seems to be an absolute steal in the fifth round though. Clinton-Dix, Adams and Rodgers showed a lot of promise during their rookie seasons but have to make significant improvements to be considered impact players. If that happens the 2014 draft has to be considered a huge success for the Packers. Nevertheless it´s unfortunate to not get a single snap out of a third- and fourth-round pick and having to release them after only their second training camp.
 

PackerDNA

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Thornton and Bradford were busts from day 1. Lindsey was a gem so the 2014 still looks good. Too bad most or TT's busts are on the defensive side of the ball. How is it that an ex linebacker has a knack for picking Wr's but can't draft defense nearly as well?


Heh, that is pretty ironic, ain't it?
 

JBlood

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Poppa San

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I never liked the Thornton pick but was excited about the possibility of Bradford moving to the ILB position.

I remain dumbfounded that Bradford was not moved to ILB until late in camp last year when the talent at ILB in front of him consisted Brad Jones, A.J. Hawk and Jamari Lattimore. But Bradford was given every opportunity to shine this offseason/training camp and unfortunately failed.

However, even with the Thornton & Bradford busts (and they are busts) TT's 2014 draft was an outstanding one in my view. Clinton-Dix, Adams, Rogers, and Linsley all contributed right away.

Janis is still out there and if Pennel (a 2014 UDFA) develops no one will remember the 3rd rounder wasted on Thornton.
Belichek may be able to reach Thornton in a way Capers and co. could not. Good luck on that.
Bradford is on PS to continue working on his position change. Hope for him yet esp as Peppers and Perry could be done here after SB50.
If Abby can prove he can stay healthy at least to bye week, I wouldn't be surprised he gets promoted to active roster, esp if injuries mount or someone tries to poach him.
 
D

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Bradford is on PS to continue working on his position change. Hope for him yet esp as Peppers and Perry could be done here after SB50.

Peppers and Perry are outside linebackers, if one or both of them leave the Packers after the 2015 season that has absolutely no impact on Bradford´s status.
 

TJV

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[IMO] The rule of thumb is to wait 3 years to evaluate a draft, but because so many of the 2014 Packers draftees contributed immediately we don't have to abide by that waiting period. HHCD and Adams could (yes could) turn out to be special. It would shock me if they both don’t have better-than-average careers at their positions. I’d rate Rodgers as solid with an upside but he doesn’t have the speed to be an elite TE. Still damn good for a compensation pick after the third round. If he continues to improve Corey Linsley will be playing at a pro bowl level sooner than later: Home run at #161. Anything out of Pennel, Elliot, Abbrederis, Janis, and Goodson is just gravy after those four and I expect more than just “anything” from a couple of them. Pennel has a chance to be in the DL rotation this season and to start at DE in the base as early as next season. He’s a talented big man and they’re hard to find. His biggest problem is playing too high (standing up, not PEDs ;)) and that can be coached. Elliot is one of the two or three best special teamers and has natural pass rush ability – a relatively rare quality.

Goodson and Janis have the physical talents and lack of experience that made them late round picks. The good news on each is if they can learn their positions and get to the point where it looks like instincts rather than “thinking” is taking over, they each have the physical ability to excel. What Abbrederis has is what Janis lacks: He runs great routes, has football intelligence and good hands. So much so he earned Rodger’s praise through the off season minicamps and just four days of TC of his rookie season. That’s why he nearly made the team after missing almost the entire TC and preseason. And why, according to reports, they were anxious to get him to the PS. If he can overcome the huge IF of durability, I think he can be very good as a number 3 or 4 WR in the future. But again, that is a huge if. BTW, the standard caveat for all the players mentioned is the impact injuries may have.

Missing on Thornton hurt. I don’t know if he has enough natural talent to succeed in the NFL but I do know he showed up as a rookie out of shape. That speaks volumes to me about what one of his biggest problems was/is. Poppa San may be right and Belichick will turn him into something. Maybe he just needs to grow up. Or maybe the Pats just had him relatively high on their draft board and they’re bringing him in for a look-see. I think it was the guy who does Packers Notes that wrote Bradford doesn’t have enough “quick twitch” to be a good ILB. I don’t know if he does or not but I do know it’s a shame they didn’t start him at ILB on his first day (which is what I thought they drafted him for). If they had, I think we’d have a much better read on him by now.

Even with the 3rd and 4th round misses and even at this early date, the 2014 draft, including the UDFAs was a great one. How does it rate with all the other drafts? That question can wait...[/IMO]
 

TeamTundra

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Many teams miss on high draft picks without seeing any return. The Seahawks are
considered one of the best drafting teams yet this past week they cut Terry Poole,
an OT and their 4th round pick from this year, and traded RB Christine Michael, a
2013 2nd round pick for a conditional 7th rounder. Poole was later added to the
practice squad, but he couldn't make a roster where the offensive line is the biggest
weakness.

As someone else already mentioned, it makes me feel better if I think of Pennel and
Elliot as the draft picks and Thornton and Bradford as the UDFAs.
 
H

HardRightEdge

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I believe you know what you have in a draft after 2 years. A guy's so-called second year jump, be it large, small or non-existant, while getting meaningful playing time tells the tale. If a guy gets stuck behind a Pro Bowler or misses a season with an injury, more "wait and see" would be in order, but that's not the case with Dix, Adams, Rodgers and Linsley. And in this preseason, 2nd. year players Goodson and Janis had golden opportunities to show the jump to the starting lineup and didn't.

Linsley has already shown he's a better than average center. If he can eliminate around a 1/2 dozen mistakes/penalties over the course of the season, he should be in the Pro Bowl conversation.

Adams has upside after a promising rookie year "stuck behind" two Pro Bowlers in terms targets/opportunities in an offense that didn't throw the ball all that much. He has a golden opportunity to make his mark this season. Does anybody think "wait and see" for year 3 will be in order if he does not step up? I don't...I believe we'll know exactly what we have in Adams by the time this season comes to a close.

Dix...I think the enthusiasm for his play last season was primarily in contrast to his dreadful predecessor. He's not a good tackler, and his decision making was not always sharp. Year 2 will tell the tale as to whether he can ascend past serviceable-to-average NFL starting free safety status. In this defense, his job is coverage safety...the test is whether he can be less late more frequently to the right spots. He has the very difficult task of achieving the Capers mind meld while playing a lot of single-high safety while keeping an eye on the back of what may be sketchy cover corners on one side of the field and sketchy coverage ILBs in the middle of field if Capers can't see his way to get Ryan out there.

But that's what makes good-to-great players...compensating for the deficiencies of others. If he makes that jump, I will henceforth cease using the diminutive shorthand "Dix" and everyone should then cease to use the diminutive "Ha Ha".

Rodgers was given the starting job last season and lost snaps to Quarless as the season wore on. He's been handed the starting job again. As with Adams, the pressure is on. Responding to the pressure in a second year of a starting opportunity will tell the tale.

While Thornton was a bust, the UDFA D-Linemen from the 2014 class, Pennel and Gaston, have made the progress that Thornton failed to make. The fact they have complimentary skills, Pennel as a run stopper and Gaston as a pass rusher, should be quite useful. Assuming they get a sufficient number of snaps in money games and don't get stuck behind Jones/Guion upon their returns, we should have a pretty good idea as to whether they have NFL staying power.
 

Poppa San

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Peppers and Perry are outside linebackers, if one or both of them leave the Packers after the 2015 season that has absolutely no impact on Bradford´s status.
It does if you want CM3 back outside full time. Bradford, Ryan or someone else has to be able to be better than just there for that to occur.
 

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