There are NINETEEN new faces that will be walking into the Green Bay Packers Locker room -11 draft picks and eight UDFAs. The last two years, the Packers have drafted 24 players and all but three made the team. In addition, a least one UDFA has made the Packers for 19 straight years (three last season). Ther roster turnover has been significant and will likely continue this season, but it’s hard to see as high a percentage of this year’s new faces making the team. Regardless, there are sure starters among this year’s draftees and some long shots who will need to surprise. I’m sure you’ve read volumes of information on them by now, but here are some of my thoughts…
Favorite Draft pick – Javon Bullard. It’s been years that I’ve been sitting on my perch pining (not for the fjords, but for) a thumper of a safety. Someone that will make receivers take their eye off the ball as they prepare to be leveled. Bullard is that guy. Throw in the fact that he has experience in the slot and both safety roles, and he’s going to be fun to watch and a fun chess piece for Hafley to play with.
Least Favorite Pick – Travis Glover. I threw his name in as the #25 OT for the CHTV Draft guide, but honestly, just to give a small school kid some recognition. He wasn’t even on the radar for a lot of draft analysts and I highly doubt he would have been drafted if the Packers didn’t use pick 202 on him. He has the position versatility the Packers are in love with, but not the athleticism, with a 4.71 RAS featuring very poor shuttle and 3-cone times.
Speaking of position versatility on the offensive line, remember when “continuity’ was THE THING you wanted among your offensive line group? You wanted those same five players together as a unit in the same spots every game. To that, the Packers say pfft! We;ve seen them gradually go away from that idea over the last 4-5 years, but it now appears it’s hardly a consideration. I mean how many NFL teams rotated healthy starting offensive guards all season like the Packers did last year? Probably none.
Jordan Morgan – So here are my feelings on Jordan Morgan. I had him as OT #7 in the CHTV Draft Guide. I though he would go after Tyler Guyton, who instead went a few picks after Morgan was nabbed by the Packers as the sixth OT taken. Morgan has a lot of what the Packers look for; experience, movement ability and potential multi-position versatility. To me, Morgan is the perfect Packers tackle to guard conversion prospect, but the problem is he’s a first-rounder. If the Packers are taking an OT in the first round, they want him at OT. The only way he becomes a guard is if he fails as a tackle. The one thing i didn’t like about Morgan was that he absorbs a lot of contact from rushers, He needs to shore up his hand placement to keep them out of his chest, where power rushers can walk him back into the QB. The good news is that hand and arm technique is a fixable thing. It’s not like saying he doesn’t have quick feet – that’s something you either have or don’t and Morgan has it in spades. Overall, while I’m not excited about the pick, I’m not disappointed either.
Edgerrin Cooper – Well, Packers fans got a Cooper, just not the one they wanted. Like the other Cooper, this Cooper has one hell of a highlights video. It looks like the Packers have themselves a hyped-up “see ball, get ball” version of Quay Walker. I think you’ll be seeing a lot of 4-2-5 with Quay and Edgerrin flying around. The devaluation of the true Mike linebacker in the NFL is real and it has the Packers at the forefront of that movement.
Thelonious Monk – Well, the Packers got a versatile offensive lineman from Duke, but it wasn’t fan-favorite Graham Barton. Under-the-radar Jacob Monk, who played center, guard and tackle over five seasons as a starter for Duke, was the object of the Packers desire, as they traded a sixth round pick in order to move up five spots and nab Monk. Monk had the fastest 10 yard split at the combine (1.66) among all offensive linemen. No offense to Monk, but looks-wise, you wouldn’t say hey, that’s a 9+ RAS athlete, but he is.
