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Will Packers draft quarterback at No. 30?
By Pete Dougherty
[email protected]
When the Green Bay Packers’ first-round draft pick at No. 30 comes up next Saturday, General Manager Ted Thompson could face an intriguing decision.
Quarterback Brian Brohm of Louisville still could be on the board, similar to how Aaron Rodgers was available when Thompson used the No. 24 pick overall on him in 2005.
Also available could be other quarterbacks that some teams, including the Packers, might have rated as late first-rounders, such as Michigan’s Chad Henne and maybe even Joe Flacco of Delaware.
With Rodgers succeeding the retired Brett Favre as starter this season, Thompson has no backup quarterback. So depending on how highly he’s rated Brohm and the quarterbacks compared to the other players remaining, what should he do?
Should he select Brohm or perhaps Henne as long-term insurance in case Rodgers can’t stay healthy or disappoints in the next couple of years, with the option of trading the younger quarterback down the road if all goes well with Rodgers?
Or, if Thompson has several other players rated similarly, does he trade back a few spots with a quarterback-needy team and pick up an extra pick later in the second round?
Thompson will never tip his hand on such decisions, but he at least says he has no qualms about selecting a quarterback at No. 30. Doing so could risk undermining the confidence of Rodgers, who takes over the team’s key position but has yet to start a game.
On the other hand, Rodgers has had two significant injuries – a broken foot in 2006 and a pulled hamstring last year – that raise questions about his long-term durability.
“No, it wouldn’t (be a deterrent), if we felt that was the best position to take,” Thompson said. “The quarterback position is so valuable and you certainly need as many players at that position as you can find. It’s rare teams are able to play with just one guy. We’ve been fortunate to have Aaron and Brett the last few years. I know Aaron hasn’t played, but as an organization we’ve felt very comfortable we had two guys that could play the game, so if we’re able to add another player that can play the game, that’s fine. That could apply to any position.”
Thompson enters this draft, his fourth as Packers GM, with eight picks, one more than the seven every team is allotted for each draft: A first rounder, two seconds (one obtained in a trade with Cleveland for defensive tackle Corey Williams), a third, two fourths (one a compensatory pick at the end of the round for the team’s net loss in free agency last year), and a seventh. Thompson traded his sixth-rounder last September for running back Ryan Grant, a move that turned out to be a coup.
This year, Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy have no major immediate needs, in the sense that they don’t have an open starting position or two where they don’t have viable options.
Even at guard, where the Packers have had their share of struggles the past two years, they appear confident that two of the five or six young candidates for the two starting jobs – Jason Spitz, Daryn Colledge, Allen Barbre, Junius Coston, Tony Palmer and perhaps Tony Moll – will provide an upgrade through offseason improvement and competition.
However, for immediate depth and the development of quality starters at aging positions a year or two down the road, the Packers have several crucial holes, beginning with backup quarterback and also including cornerback and tackle, among others.
Thompson did not sign a veteran backup quarterback in free agency, so he might look for his No. 2 in this draft, or at least a developmental prospect for No. 3. He always can trade or sign a veteran after the draft.
But higher on the list of priorities are two other crucial positions where the Packers are aging quickly and could need new starters in as short as a year or two: cornerback and tackle.
Cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson are 33 and 31, respectively, and tackles Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton will be 31 and 32 before the start of training camp. There’s no knowing how many good years any of them have left, and Clifton, who plays the critical left tackle position, has been in especially precarious health because of chronic knee problems that could be the aftereffects of the devastating separated pelvis he sustained in 2002.
Tight end also is a major need, where Donald Lee returns as a decent starter, with only intriguing but injury-prone Tory Humphrey behind him on the roster.
The Packers also could use a quality running back to share time with Grant, who’s physical running style could leave him susceptible to injury if he carries too heavy a load. The Packers drafted Brandon Jackson at halfback in the second round last year, and McCarthy has spoken highly of him this offseason as a possible ball carrier and likely key contributor on special teams, but Jackson’s play last season left reason to question whether he’s explosive enough to carry a regular load at running back.
Guessing who Thompson will take with his first pick is especially difficult because his three previous drafts have shown he sticks with “the best player available” philosophy more than probably most GMs in the NFL.
Thus he could fill a relatively pressing need at several positions with that first pick, though he’s just as liable to go for less of a need if he thinks an especially good player is available, like last year, when his high grade on defensive tackle Justin Harrell made him a surprise pick.
“At 30, if we know what we’re doing, we’re still going to be able to get a good player,” Thompson said. “The problem is, in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth rounds, your pick is at the end of the line, too. (Drafting at the end of the round) is more cumbersome later on.
"I don’t like picking early in the first round. It’s not so much (the guaranteed money), it’s just there’s so much focus on it and some of the decisions you normally have to make up there, you don’t have to gnash your teeth and make (picking later), because somebody else is going to make them in front of you.”
It also will be interesting to see how many, if any, trades Thompson makes this year. In his three previous drafts with the Packers, he’s traded down nine times and turned 23 draft picks into 34.
But in his eight years running drafts – five as a vice president with Seattle plus three as Packers GM – he’s never given up an extra pick to move up. So if he does any trading, he’s far more likely to move back than up again in this draft even though he’s improved the bottom half of the roster and could end up cutting more draft picks at the end of training camp this year than in past seasons.
Asked whether he could see coming out of this draft with 10 or 11 picks, Thompson said: “I could see coming out of this draft with 10 or 11 picks, depending on how the thing goes. We have added a lot of core players to our team, we are stronger and deeper than we were in past years.
"But it kind of depends on how the draft is working. As a general rule you’d always rather have 10 picks than six picks, because with 10 picks you’ve got more chances of finding a good player, obviously.
“At some point, maybe you get diminishing returns if you do that year after year after year. But at the same time, our job is to keep finding good players and create as much competition as we can, and if that’s a battle of draft picks from last year and draft picks from this year, if they’re good players, it’s still good for the Packers.”
Thompson and his scouts began their final series of draft meetings Monday and go from about 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day through Sunday. The coaches will join the meetings beginning Monday and running through Wednesday, when the Packers’ draft board will be finished.
Will Packers draft quarterback at No. 30?
By Pete Dougherty
[email protected]
When the Green Bay Packers’ first-round draft pick at No. 30 comes up next Saturday, General Manager Ted Thompson could face an intriguing decision.
Quarterback Brian Brohm of Louisville still could be on the board, similar to how Aaron Rodgers was available when Thompson used the No. 24 pick overall on him in 2005.
Also available could be other quarterbacks that some teams, including the Packers, might have rated as late first-rounders, such as Michigan’s Chad Henne and maybe even Joe Flacco of Delaware.
With Rodgers succeeding the retired Brett Favre as starter this season, Thompson has no backup quarterback. So depending on how highly he’s rated Brohm and the quarterbacks compared to the other players remaining, what should he do?
Should he select Brohm or perhaps Henne as long-term insurance in case Rodgers can’t stay healthy or disappoints in the next couple of years, with the option of trading the younger quarterback down the road if all goes well with Rodgers?
Or, if Thompson has several other players rated similarly, does he trade back a few spots with a quarterback-needy team and pick up an extra pick later in the second round?
Thompson will never tip his hand on such decisions, but he at least says he has no qualms about selecting a quarterback at No. 30. Doing so could risk undermining the confidence of Rodgers, who takes over the team’s key position but has yet to start a game.
On the other hand, Rodgers has had two significant injuries – a broken foot in 2006 and a pulled hamstring last year – that raise questions about his long-term durability.
“No, it wouldn’t (be a deterrent), if we felt that was the best position to take,” Thompson said. “The quarterback position is so valuable and you certainly need as many players at that position as you can find. It’s rare teams are able to play with just one guy. We’ve been fortunate to have Aaron and Brett the last few years. I know Aaron hasn’t played, but as an organization we’ve felt very comfortable we had two guys that could play the game, so if we’re able to add another player that can play the game, that’s fine. That could apply to any position.”
Thompson enters this draft, his fourth as Packers GM, with eight picks, one more than the seven every team is allotted for each draft: A first rounder, two seconds (one obtained in a trade with Cleveland for defensive tackle Corey Williams), a third, two fourths (one a compensatory pick at the end of the round for the team’s net loss in free agency last year), and a seventh. Thompson traded his sixth-rounder last September for running back Ryan Grant, a move that turned out to be a coup.
This year, Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy have no major immediate needs, in the sense that they don’t have an open starting position or two where they don’t have viable options.
Even at guard, where the Packers have had their share of struggles the past two years, they appear confident that two of the five or six young candidates for the two starting jobs – Jason Spitz, Daryn Colledge, Allen Barbre, Junius Coston, Tony Palmer and perhaps Tony Moll – will provide an upgrade through offseason improvement and competition.
However, for immediate depth and the development of quality starters at aging positions a year or two down the road, the Packers have several crucial holes, beginning with backup quarterback and also including cornerback and tackle, among others.
Thompson did not sign a veteran backup quarterback in free agency, so he might look for his No. 2 in this draft, or at least a developmental prospect for No. 3. He always can trade or sign a veteran after the draft.
But higher on the list of priorities are two other crucial positions where the Packers are aging quickly and could need new starters in as short as a year or two: cornerback and tackle.
Cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson are 33 and 31, respectively, and tackles Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton will be 31 and 32 before the start of training camp. There’s no knowing how many good years any of them have left, and Clifton, who plays the critical left tackle position, has been in especially precarious health because of chronic knee problems that could be the aftereffects of the devastating separated pelvis he sustained in 2002.
Tight end also is a major need, where Donald Lee returns as a decent starter, with only intriguing but injury-prone Tory Humphrey behind him on the roster.
The Packers also could use a quality running back to share time with Grant, who’s physical running style could leave him susceptible to injury if he carries too heavy a load. The Packers drafted Brandon Jackson at halfback in the second round last year, and McCarthy has spoken highly of him this offseason as a possible ball carrier and likely key contributor on special teams, but Jackson’s play last season left reason to question whether he’s explosive enough to carry a regular load at running back.
Guessing who Thompson will take with his first pick is especially difficult because his three previous drafts have shown he sticks with “the best player available” philosophy more than probably most GMs in the NFL.
Thus he could fill a relatively pressing need at several positions with that first pick, though he’s just as liable to go for less of a need if he thinks an especially good player is available, like last year, when his high grade on defensive tackle Justin Harrell made him a surprise pick.
“At 30, if we know what we’re doing, we’re still going to be able to get a good player,” Thompson said. “The problem is, in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth rounds, your pick is at the end of the line, too. (Drafting at the end of the round) is more cumbersome later on.
"I don’t like picking early in the first round. It’s not so much (the guaranteed money), it’s just there’s so much focus on it and some of the decisions you normally have to make up there, you don’t have to gnash your teeth and make (picking later), because somebody else is going to make them in front of you.”
It also will be interesting to see how many, if any, trades Thompson makes this year. In his three previous drafts with the Packers, he’s traded down nine times and turned 23 draft picks into 34.
But in his eight years running drafts – five as a vice president with Seattle plus three as Packers GM – he’s never given up an extra pick to move up. So if he does any trading, he’s far more likely to move back than up again in this draft even though he’s improved the bottom half of the roster and could end up cutting more draft picks at the end of training camp this year than in past seasons.
Asked whether he could see coming out of this draft with 10 or 11 picks, Thompson said: “I could see coming out of this draft with 10 or 11 picks, depending on how the thing goes. We have added a lot of core players to our team, we are stronger and deeper than we were in past years.
"But it kind of depends on how the draft is working. As a general rule you’d always rather have 10 picks than six picks, because with 10 picks you’ve got more chances of finding a good player, obviously.
“At some point, maybe you get diminishing returns if you do that year after year after year. But at the same time, our job is to keep finding good players and create as much competition as we can, and if that’s a battle of draft picks from last year and draft picks from this year, if they’re good players, it’s still good for the Packers.”
Thompson and his scouts began their final series of draft meetings Monday and go from about 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day through Sunday. The coaches will join the meetings beginning Monday and running through Wednesday, when the Packers’ draft board will be finished.
