2013 Packer Draft Review

[adambr2]

Sure, you get lucky and get instant contributors in the early rounds in the draft like with Lacy and Matthews, but it isn't always the case. Cobb was pretty much a non-factor in the offense in his rookie year, but I think most of us expected him to turn into an impact player eventually, which he has.

Also, not all 1st round picks are created equal. It's a lot easier to get an instant contributor in the top 5 than it is where we have been picking the last 5 years (somewhere 21+ this year, 26 last year, 28, 32, and 23. )

There have been complaints that Datone Jones isn't Ziggy Ansah -- well, if we could have gotten Ziggy Ansah at #26 I'm sure we probably would have. Doesn't work that way. So much difference in value between the #5 and #26 draft picks.

 

[HyponGrey]

Boyd may well be our NT of the future at this point, until we draft somebody else. Don't expect to see him get sacks, he's learning to play the run.

Barrington's skill set may have him set up to replace Hawk, once again, until we draft somebody else. I still say Barrington is too small.

I wish we had picked Wolfe over Worthy. Stupid boom or bust pick... Let's hope Worthy can become a decent player this offseason.

Coples is a bit of a weird one since he failed miserably at DE, so the Jets finally play let him play OLB. Datone Jones may wind up taking this path eventually as Jones has some really nice movement skills.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Dozens of rookies make an impact, but dozens more do not until later in their careers. It's not a big deal that Jones has not made an impact yet.

Right.
But we are giving out grades. Grades. So far. And so far, what grade has he earned?
D- seems fair for the first round pick. So far.

 

[FrankRizzo]

I wish we had picked Wolfe over Worthy. Stupid boom or bust pick...

Most mock drafts I saw had us taking Wolfe not Worthy. It's funny, when you look, just look at, our OL, and then you look at, our DL.
Had Wolfe been an OL, I think TT takes him over Worthy.

 

[PackerFlatLander]

Jones has been vastly underwhelming. I don't know what our deal is, but it seems like every time we draft one of these tweener tall and quick defensive ends, they end up doing next to nothing. Jamal Reynolds, anyone? I hope Jones becomes more of an impact player, because his name doesn't resonate across the screen enough, so far anyways.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

I don't get the people that expect Jones to produce in his first season. He's a rookie who missed most of training camp with an ankle injury. Yes, the occasional rookie dlineman makes an impact in the NFL. However, the vast majority do not. Calais Campbell, one of the top five 3-4 dlinemen in the NFL, didn't make much of an impact his rookie year, he only played 234 snaps in 20 games in his rookie year (didn't miss any games to injury, just wasn't good enough to play that much).

 

[rodell330]

I expected wayyyyy more from Jones. He barely even gets any snaps?? i wish TT would draft OLB'S who are ACTUALLY OLB'S and stop wasting picks on guy's who have been linemen all their lives thinking they will make the transition. Clay Matthews is a stud olb but you know what? the guy is a real olb!!! notsome project d-end. I'm not shocked Perry can't play olb...and i sure hope they don't try to turn Jones into one and waste him to. I've been better with my "criticism" of Teddy but he needs to take a different approach when he's drafting guys on defense...especially if they are going to keep Capers and stay in this 3-4. The pieces are just not fitting together in this scheme.

 

[easyk83]

Sure, you get lucky and get instant contributors in the early rounds in the draft like with Lacy and Matthews, but it isn't always the case. Cobb was pretty much a non-factor in the offense in his rookie year, but I think most of us expected him to turn into an impact player eventually, which he has.

Also, not all 1st round picks are created equal. It's a lot easier to get an instant contributor in the top 5 than it is where we have been picking the last 5 years (somewhere 21+ this year, 26 last year, 28, 32, and 23. )

There have been complaints that Datone Jones isn't Ziggy Ansah -- well, if we could have gotten Ziggy Ansah at #26 I'm sure we probably would have. Doesn't work that way. So much difference in value between the #5 and #26 draft picks.

Exactly. IMHO I think it's rather shortsighted to be focused on the instant playing time of late first rounders. I'd argue it's completely wrong. I think you really have to draft at that part of the draft with the mindset of "what is this player going to be like in his second or third year and on?" Otherwise you'll wind up with so-so limited upside type who never really turns into impact players. We should know, Ron Wolf drafted a bunch of those back in the middle 90s. Once you get north of 15,16 you're looking at guys with flaws in their game, underdeveloped technique and body types that need a year in the weight room or high production types who just aren't very big strong or fast. Oh yes you'll also find guys with character flaws.

Case in point see Aaron Rodgers and even Clay Matthews. I don't think either was expected to come in and dominate on day 1. Rodgers obviously needed 2 years on the bench before he was ready and Matthews was a surprise rookie sensation. Both instances Green Bay managed to snatch the consensus best player in the draft and did it from the bottom of the first round.

I see it like this:

picks 1-10 - you're looking for instant impact
picks 10-20- look for instant impact but don't be afraid to draft guys who need a year or two to develop.
picks 20-32- draft for long term potential here.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

How is Jones a tweener??!? He was 6'4", 283 lbs coming out of college. That's not a tweener for anything, that's almost the exact profile for a five-technique DE.

 

[Carl]

I expected wayyyyy more from Jones. He barely even gets any snaps?? i wish TT would draft OLB'S who are ACTUALLY OLB'S and stop wasting picks on guy's who have been linemen all their lives thinking they will make the transition. Clay Matthews is a stud olb but you know what? the guy is a real olb!!! notsome project d-end. I'm not shocked Perry can't play olb...and i sure hope they don't try to turn Jones into one and waste him to. I've been better with my "criticism" of Teddy but he needs to take a different approach when he's drafting guys on defense...especially if they are going to keep Capers and stay in this 3-4. The pieces are just not fitting together in this scheme.

Jones is a DE drafted to become a DE. He's not an OLB.

 

[yooperpackfan]

Jones is a DE drafted to become a DE. He's not an OLB.

Yet.
Mike Neal?

 

[Carl]

Yet.
Mike Neal?

Nothing wrong with switching positions of a guy when he's not working out at one. Worth a shot.

 

[rodell330]

Jones is a DE drafted to become a DE. He's not an OLB.

As to why i said i hope they don't try to turn Jones into a OLB There has been murmuring tho that they would use him as an OLB...that would just be dumb.

 

[rodell330]

Yet.
Mike Neal?

Exactly. I can only imagine what this defense would be like if they never tried to "experiement" with Aaron Kampman and just left him alone smh.

 

[AmishMafia]

Right.
But we are giving out grades. Grades. So far. And so far, what grade has he earned?
D- seems fair for the first round pick. So far.

I actually didn't start this thread out as grading the current performance of the draft picks. I think that is where the disagreement has arisen from. My OP was just a discussion of our draft itself. If we were redoing the draft - I would have no problem with taking Jones again and believe he will still turn out to be a wise choice. I would have liked Jones to dominate, but I am comfortable with him developing because I believe he can dominate in a few years.

 

[El Guapo]

Exactly. I can only imagine what this defense would be like if they never tried to "experiement" with Aaron Kampman and just left him alone smh.

That's twisting the facts. The team switched to a 3-4 defense which meant either you get rid of one of your best defensive players or get him to adjust to a different position.

That's not "experimenting" with one player it was a change to the entire defense

 

[El Guapo]

Overall this was a good draft for the Packers, but the two stars are Lacy and Bakhtiari. Those were two positions of huge need (RB and OL) and they panned out. If a healthy Tretter contributes next season then this will really be a quality draft, in addition to the other picks that seem to be doing decent.

 

[easyk83]

I expected wayyyyy more from Jones. He barely even gets any snaps?? i wish TT would draft OLB'S who are ACTUALLY OLB'S and stop wasting picks on guy's who have been linemen all their lives thinking they will make the transition. Clay Matthews is a stud olb but you know what? the guy is a real olb!!! notsome project d-end. I'm not shocked Perry can't play olb...and i sure hope they don't try to turn Jones into one and waste him to. I've been better with my "criticism" of Teddy but he needs to take a different approach when he's drafting guys on defense...especially if they are going to keep Capers and stay in this 3-4. The pieces are just not fitting together in this scheme.

I suspect that Jones getting limited snaps has more to with our dumpster fire run defense. I suspect we would have seen a lot more of Datone Jones if we had a true workhorse NT.

 

[rodell330]

That's twisting the facts. The team switched to a 3-4 defense which meant either you get rid of one of your best defensive players or get him to adjust to a different position.

That's not "experimenting" with one player it was a change to the entire defense

The only way to see if something works is to ??? ________ (Fill in the blank). To see if Kampman could adjust to the 3-4 as an olb they had to?? _________.

 

[easyk83]

The only way to see if something works is to ??? ________ (Fill in the blank). To see if Kampman could adjust to the 3-4 as an olb they had to?? _________.

Aaron Kampman shouldn't have been tried as a 34 OLB, he would have been better as an Right Defensive End playing around 285-290 pounds.

 

[easyk83]

One thing going against Datone Jones Mike Daniels is playing very well at Datone's spot.

 

[rodell330]

Aaron Kampman shouldn't have been tried as a 34 OLB, he would have been better as an Right Defensive End playing around 285-290 pounds.

Thank you. I will never live down the fact that one of our best defensive players got ruined because nobody else thought of this. Aaron Kampman was Clay Matthews before Clay Matthews. People get upset because some folks wanted to go back to the 43 and Matthews wouldn't be as effective in the 43 their minds but look what it did to Kampman. The 34 handicapped the guy..literally.If i'm not mistaken he blew out his knee trying to drop back into coverage or something and was never the same. Tragic

 

[easyk83]

Thank you.

Well the team had him slim down from about 275 pounds, which was his most effective weight, to around 260 the year before that. But Kampman didn't pick up any speed he just lost strength. For a guy who's primary attributes consisted of strength and leverage the OLB spot probably wasn't right for him.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Overall this was a good draft for the Packers, but the two stars are Lacy and Bakhtiari.

Micah Hyde is right there too so far...

 

[HyponGrey]

Most mock drafts I saw had us taking Wolfe not Worthy. It's funny, when you look, just look at, our OL, and then you look at, our DL.
Had Wolfe been an OL, I think TT takes him over Worthy.

I distinctly remember you being the captain of the Worthy train. Athletes really light your fire don't they? Perry, Hunt, Irvin, Worthy, etc