Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Some quick Packer draft talk

Last night on SportsCenter, the Packers were the featured team in terms of draft talk and some interesting tidbits came up.

First is that, with the exception of Aaron Rodgers, we've used our first round pick for the past few years to pick up a defensive player.

The second nugget that came out was how last season's draft really ended up being a vote of confidence in Aaron Rodgers. I never looked at it this way, but Brady Quinn unexpectedly dropped in the draft and the Packers had a chance to take him if they were unsure or unhappy about the heir apparent they already had. Instead, they stuck with Rodgers and thus far, between the Dallas game that was the NFC game of the year and how he's looked in pre-season games, I think every fan as well as everyone within the organization feels a lot better about the possible future of this team.

This year's draft doesn't look like it will play out any different. I've read differing mock drafts, but it seems unanimous that we'll be going for some sort of player in the secondary. On SportsCenter they suggested that we'll be seeking a corner to back up the aging Al Harris and Charles Woodson. Most Packer fans who've seen these two get penalty after penalty might agree, but it's an interesting suggestion from the same people that couldn't stop extolling the virtues of the "best cornerbacks in the country." Last year every broadcaster spoke as if these two were the Messiah's of this team, but in the span of literally like a third of the off-season, they are now aging and we are in such need to cover their butts that we have to use our first round draft pick to do so. The SportsCenter guys suggested we'll take a CB out of the University of South Florida and the only name I can find is Mike Jenkins.

The other suggestion I've seen and read is to pick up another versatile Tight End. Donald Lee really stepped it up and proved that he's our go-to TE. When Bubba Franks decided to show up for part of last season, we had a very effective two TE set. We (thankfully) got rid of Bubba and he signed a one-year deal with the Jets. That means that a key pick up this draft has to be a TE that can support Lee and give Aaron Rodgers more options.

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