Packers Notes : May 1, 2006

Zero2Cool

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I found this pretty interesting.

Old article.

JASON WILDE
608-252-6176
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GREEN BAY - Daryn Colledge. Will Blackmon. Ingle Martin. Johnny Jolly. Tyrone Culver.

They could turn out to be the five- part answer to a nebulous Green Bay Packers' trivia question. Or maybe one or two of them will turn out to be impact players who'll make the whole thing worthwhile.

For now, though, all they are is what the Packers have to show for trading disgruntled Pro Bowl wide receiver Javon Walker to Denver and the 139th overall pick to Atlanta during the two- day NFL draft.

"I think it would be unfair to compare these kids to Javon Walker. I'm not saying they are," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said Sunday after the draft ended. "I'm just saying that from a value standpoint, we felt it was a fair trade."

It all started when Thompson ended the Walker saga by dealing him to the Broncos for a second-round pick (37th overall). After consummating that trade, Thompson packaged the 37th pick with the 139th pick (the Packers' own fifth- round pick) and got the 47th, 93rd and 148th picks from Atlanta.

Thompson then sent the 93rd pick to St. Louis Saturday night for the 109th and 183rd picks. Thompson then started Sunday's proceedings by sending the 109th pick to Philadelphia for the 115th and 185th picks.

"I felt like we got fair value in the grand scheme of things, to get an early pick for Javon Walker given the set of circumstances we were under," Thompson said. "Quite frankly, I don't know what happened to that (37th) pick. I know that we traded it and then we drafted some guys and then we traded some other picks."

Indeed, Thompson ended up with the 47th (Colledge, an offensive lineman from Boise State); 115th (Blackmon, a cornerback/receiver from Boston College), 148th (Martin, a quarterback from Furman), 183rd (Jolly, a defensive tackle from Texas A&M); and 185th (Culver, a safety from Fresno State) picks for Walker.

The greater question, though, is how to replace Walker on offense. Thompson didn't rule out adding another receiver, but with free agency effectively over, it probably would have to be by trade or off the waiver wire. And by trading Walker and choosing Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk over Maryland tight end Vernon Davis, arguably the second- most dynamic offensive player in the draft behind Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, the offense appears short on special players.

As it stands, the Packers' core offensive skill position players are quarterback Brett Favre, receivers Donald Driver and Robert Ferguson, tight end Bubba Franks and running backs Ahman Green, Najeh Davenport and Samkon Gado. Of those, only Driver is coming off a season that wasn't unproductive or derailed by injury.

"I think Donald Driver's a premier talent, myself. He's been a (heck) of a player in this league for a number of years," wide receivers coach Jimmy Robinson said. "He's had a bunch of solid years with pretty good numbers, and to my knowledge, Javon's had one. I'm not disparaging Javon, (but) my point is, Donald Driver's a big-time player.

"Yeah, Javon's a talented guy that is now playing somewhere else. So (we have to) focus on the guys that are here and try to make the guys that have been here better. And then go from there." •

Return game gets legs Not that it should be particularly difficult to replace Antonio Chatman's 8.2-yard career punt return average, but the Green Bay Packers brought in three possible options during the two-day NFL draft with second-round pick Greg Jennings and fourth-round picks Cory Rodgers and Will Blackmon.

Special teams coordinator Mike Stock said Rodgers, who averaged 15.3•yards per punt return and 30.3•yards per kickoff return last year as a junior at Texas Christian, will get first crack at the job.

"We have three outstanding athletes. Probably Cory Rodgers is the one who will step to the forefront," Stock said. "(But) they will bring their own styles to the table."

If Rodgers can handle both jobs, the competition will be over. But Jennings, who figures to compete for a top-three receiver spot, and Blackmon, who was a cornerback/ receiver/returner at Boston College, are also kickoff options. Veterans Robert Ferguson, Najeh Davenport and Ahmad Carroll have also returned kicks in their careers.

Meanwhile, despite the Packers' kicking and punting problems, they did not use a draft pick on a specialist - unless you count fifth-round quarterback Ingle Martin, who averaged 42.5•yards on 34 punts at Furman last year but won't join the competition.

The only specialists drafted Sunday were Memphis kicker Stephen Gostkowski (No. 118 to New England), Virginia kicker Kurt Smith (No. 188 to San Diego), Nebraska punter Sam Koch (No. 203 to Baltimore) and Wake Forest punter Ryan Plackemeier (No. 239 to Seattle). Undrafted Ohio State kicker Josh Huston signed with Chicago.

Stock said the Packers brought Gostkowski in for a visit last week and also scouted Huston but that he didn't think "either fits in with what we have competitively here." Billy Cundiff, Rhys Lloyd and Dave Rayner are the three kickers on the roster, while B.J. Sander, Ryan Flinn and Jon Ryan are the punters. •

Just like Ron Retired Packers general manager Ron Wolf always tried to draft at least one quarterback, even if it meant developing him and later trading him (see Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, etc.). As Wolf's protege, Ted Thompson took Martin, whose college career began at Florida as a highly touted recruit and ended at Division I- AA Furman.

"I learned this through Ron: If you have the luxury and the flexibility in terms of picks, if you find a (quarterback) on the second day that you kind of like, you take him and you put him in there," Thompson said.

However, Thompson didn't rule out signing a veteran quarterback behind Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, last year's first- round pick. •

Unknown commodity The other fifth-round pick, Nevada tight end-turned- offensive lineman Tony Moll, not only wasn't invited to any postseason all-star games or the scouting combine, his bio wasn't even part of the NFL's pre-draft packet, leaving the Packers public relations staff to hunt for information on him.

"Maybe if we hadn't taken him (at No. 165), maybe he would have been there later on," Thompson said. "But it came to the point where I felt like it was time to act." •

Fishing expedition Seventh-round pick Dave Tollefson didn't expect to be drafted, so he went to California to compete in a bass- fishing competition with a buddy. His cell phone rang with the good news shortly after he'd caught his maximum of five fish.

"We've been at it all day (but) I don't think we've been doing too good," Tollefson said. "It's been a tough day. We caught the limit (but the fish are) not too big. I'm not even going to tell you the weight." •

Extra points Although cornerback Charles Woodson's signing still hasn't officially been announced, Thompson said there haven't been any problems. "We have a policy here that we won't actually make an announcement until we have the signed documentation," Thompson said. "From all indications, we're OK there." . . . Thompson said he doesn't expect a struggle to sign No.•5 overall selection A.J. Hawk, despite high picks' reluctance to be "the first ones to dive off into the deep water" and sign. . . . Of the 12 picks Thompson made, only five were the Packers' own selections, and two of them were untradeable compensatory choices. . . . There'll be no arm-wrestling between secondary coach Kurt Schot tenheimer and wide receivers coach Jimmy Robinson over Blackmon. "I think Kurt's got dibs on that young man," Robinson said. . . . Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage said the team called the Packers several times in an attempt to move up to No.•5. . . . Miami coach Nick Saban said he tried to make a trade for receiver Javon Walker on Saturday but the Dolphins "didn't have the firepower to do that."
 
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Zero2Cool

Zero2Cool

I own a website
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Green Bay, WI
I liked how it outlines five picks for Javon Walker. I think Culver and Jolly will be the better of the five. That's unless they move and keep Colledge at LT. If they keep trying him at G. I think he may not succeed.
 

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