Pick 1 - Damarious Randall - S

[Newz]

I could see the Packers playing 3-3-5 as a regular formation with HaHa as rover and Randall fs who drops down into the slot. Then they'd have flexibility against the pass and run, having 4-5 guys who can cover, but also tackle. That of course was a big drawback with Tramon. He sucked as a tackler. Randall is getting some knocks in that department, but he had over 100 tackles. Obviously he is a good tackler in some regards. So he's just not a ss. Nobody needs him to be. Just make tackles in space.

I like this idea a lot given that a majority of our corners and safeties seem like they are very good tacklers. Seems to make a lot of sense with our depth chart right now. I guess we'll see how things turn out with the draft and young guys developing though.

[bigrich88]

Initially I was neither mad nor ecstatic about the pick, as is obviously known Green Bay is a great draft and develop team. We took Sam Shields on as an undrafted free agent, who for the great majority of his football career had played wide receiver, ad have developed him into a Pro Bowl level CB. If teams had known what type of player Sam Shields would develop into he would have easily been drafted. Reason why I bring Sam Shields up is that based on measurable Randall and Sam Shields seem to be very similar players, and with how great our secondary coaches have been at developing players I can see Randall developing just has Shields has and becoming a Pro Bowl caliber player. And if his development does turn out like that then this is a slam dunk of a first round pick.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Initially I was neither mad nor ecstatic about the pick, as is obviously known Green Bay is a great draft and develop team. We took Sam Shields on as an undrafted free agent, who for the great majority of his football career had played wide receiver, ad have developed him into a Pro Bowl level CB. If teams had known what type of player Sam Shields would develop into he would have easily been drafted. Reason why I bring Sam Shields up is that based on measurable Randall and Sam Shields seem to be very similar players, and with how great our secondary coaches have been at developing players I can see Randall developing just has Shields has and becoming a Pro Bowl caliber player. And if his development does turn out like that then this is a slam dunk of a first round pick.

I think their confidence in Witt coaching up corners was a factor in this pick. If Randall can get the technique down he could be a real good player. Kinda surprised they liked him more than Collins and curious if they would have taken Jones if the Cowboys hadn't

[Ill-yasova]

Another reason I really don't care for the pick is that there is good depth at CB position in the draft. We could have got good value in the 2nd round at the CB position. Depth at ILB will be pretty thin by the time we pick. Hope we move up.

Why would that be the case? This is a fairly deep draft when it comes to ILB's, and only one has come off the board so far. The only reason to move up is if they're particularly keen on 1 or 2 of Kendricks, Perryman, McKinney, and Dawson (presuming that's the top group). If they stay put and draft ILB, we should at least get a prospect who is perceived to be solid.

Supposedly they're high on Thomas, and a lot of members of the board were this time last year.

And like I said, with all the safety, and safety/corner hybrids, they could be planning to play a lot of 3-3-5 instead of 3-4-4 in upcoming seasons.

I'm generally not crazy about a 3-3-5 because the o-line can really overwhelm that first level, but I'd be interested to see some kind of hybrid style of it. If they take a slightly undersized pass rusher with good coverage skills I'd say you are definitely on to something though.

[Buckrageous]

The more I think about it the less I like this pick. I feel like Malcolm Brown was gifted to them and they passed. I would of been happier taking a shot at Gregory (playing CM inside) or an ILB too. The D has been weak up the middle for years, I just hope an ILB falls to them in the 2nd (McKinney I hope) and I don't really see a NT later. Maybe Davis from Iowa though I'm not completely sold on him.

Also, TTs comments about him were uninspiring and contradictory, "he's a football player" and then goes on to discuss his baseball career. He apparently would rather play baseball but injured his throwing arm so we went back to football.

[rilamann]

I feel for the Packers to have more than their usual ''puncher's chance'' in the playoffs in 2015 TT was going to have to hit a couple home runs in the draft (on the defensive side of the ball) but this pick seems like a whiff.


I want to have the ''TT knows more than we do'' attitude with this pick and im sure TT does indeed know more than any of us,but his track record when it comes to drafting defensive players doesn't give me much confidence.

[Balls2TheWalls]

I'm definitely not going to say this is a miss. I will feel much better about it if we get a linebacker who can impact our defense immediately. I think that calling a first round pick a miss before the pads have even gone on is a mistake. Ted Thompson has proven me wrong time and time again, so wait and see is going to be my path. Hopefully Ted kills this like he kills undrafted CBs.

[Buckrageous]

I want to have the ''TT knows more than we do'' attitude with this pick and im sure TT does indeed know more than any of us,but his track record when it comes to drafting defensive players doesn't give me much confidence.

I told myself last night TT knows more than me, Im probably wrong as I was trying to stay positive. Then Bill Belichick took the guy I wanted so Im back to questioning the pick.

[Profound23]

I want to have the ''TT knows more than we do'' attitude with this pick and im sure TT does indeed know more than any of us,but his track record when it comes to drafting defensive players doesn't give me much confidence.

I told myself last night TT knows more than me, Im probably wrong as I was trying to stay positive. Then Bill Belichick took the guy I wanted so Im back to questioning the pick.

Sounds a lot like Greg Jennings vs. Chad Jackson

[Flames24Rulz]

I've learned not to question TT when it comes to drafts. I'll wait until this guy actually hits the field before I start either praising or critiquing the pick. It does seem like he's filling a need, so I have no issues with it as it currently stands.

[Buckrageous]

I want to have the ''TT knows more than we do'' attitude with this pick and im sure TT does indeed know more than any of us,but his track record when it comes to drafting defensive players doesn't give me much confidence.

I told myself last night TT knows more than me, Im probably wrong as I was trying to stay positive. Then Bill Belichick took the guy I wanted so Im back to questioning the pick.

Sounds a lot like Greg Jennings vs. Chad Jackson

No, not really. I never wanted Chad Jackson. But if you want to compare the entire resume, not just 1 random 2nd round pick, you could compare conference championship game or Super Bowls. I like TT but to compare him positively to Belichick because of one random pick is ridiculous.

[rilamann]

I want to have the ''TT knows more than we do'' attitude with this pick and im sure TT does indeed know more than any of us,but his track record when it comes to drafting defensive players doesn't give me much confidence.

I told myself last night TT knows more than me, Im probably wrong as I was trying to stay positive. Then Bill Belichick took the guy I wanted so Im back to questioning the pick.

Last year I had a man crush on HA HA and he was the guy I wanted going in and that's who TT ended up taking,and HA HA appears to be the first impact player TT has drafted on the defensive side of the ball in years so maybe he should consult some of us on this board from now on before the draft if he's going defense.



I kid.

TT can walk on water when it comes to drafting offense,he might be the best GM in the league or at worst top #3 if we're talking about drafting on offense but he has cement shoes when it comes to drafting defense.Look no further than how historically bad our defense has been the past few seasons,a majority of his defensive picks are cringe (Jerel) worthy.

In 10 years Collins and Matthews and maybe HA HA are the only big time impact players and difference makers TT has drafted on defense.Raji was looking like a big time impact guy but he's pretty much sucked for whatever reason since 2010,Jolly was looking pretty damn good until he developed a taste for cough syrup.

TT has had some bad luck with some of his defensive guys but there's been too many Pat Lee and Justin Harell type picks on the defensive side.

[Balls2TheWalls]

TT has done a *great* job of scouting cornerbacks. He has been able to hit on all pro players undrafted, and has made some pretty solid picks in Hyde and House. Goodson is still a work in progress, but Ted is either a great scout of corners himself or he has someone who is great at scouting corners working for him. I'm coming around on the pick. I think I overreacted to the player being called a safety. Pat Lee and Justin Harrell happen to every team.

[emunney]

Does it seem weird to anyone else that we place such a high emphasis on wingspan and reach in the NBA, but I can't find anything with regards to those measurements for NFL prospects?

Its actually referenced alot when it comes to linemen. Both offensive and defensive. WRs it kind of gets lumped into how each team views a prospects "catch radius". DBs when your hearing about a DBs ability to "high point a ball" or "win jump balls" its part of the equation.

Theres not a measurement thats available that isnt taken on these prospects

I don't know that I see wingspan. It's usually arm length. Which they should do for basketball players.

[jimmybones]

I could see the Packers playing 3-3-5 as a regular formation with HaHa as rover and Randall fs who drops down into the slot. Then they'd have flexibility against the pass and run, having 4-5 guys who can cover, but also tackle. That of course was a big drawback with Tramon. He sucked as a tackler. Randall is getting some knocks in that department, but he had over 100 tackles. Obviously he is a good tackler in some regards. So he's just not a ss. Nobody needs him to be. Just make tackles in space.

I like this idea a lot given that a majority of our corners and safeties seem like they are very good tacklers. Seems to make a lot of sense with our depth chart right now. I guess we'll see how things turn out with the draft and young guys developing though.

The immediate thought I had was hybrid defense. We don't play a lot of base 34. I want us to identify the best 5/6 DBs and play them in our nickel/dime packages in most passing situations. On obvious passing downs I want guys that can cover, I don't care if there is a C or S next to their name. I'm all for stockpiling talented and versatile DBs and arranging them from there based on the opponent and our gameplan. For teams that have really good TEs or RBs that can catch we should use a 3-3-5 and have Randall or Burnett cover the RB/TE.

On those in between downs I would prefer a DB that can somewhat tackle over an ILB that can somewhat cover if we have to choose one or the other. Playing 5 DBs on most downs can work when most of them can tackle.

[Bernman]

I think TT has earned general (not blind) trust when it comes to drafting prospects who played in "space" in college, and general (not blind) mistrust when it comes to drafting players who didn't play in space.

At least with DL he's horrible and has a long track record going back to his Seattle days of always having been. When it comes to that area I'd just like to see him not be stubborn, and address it thru a combo of fa, and volume late picks and udfas. Or better yet, defer.

If he tries to be the smartest guy in the room when drafting a DL high, he usually ends up the dumbest.

Smartest guy in the room with a DB, he much more often than not is the smartest. So I'm somewhat optimistic about Randall booming rather than busting for us, especially as I investigate him more individually.

[Bernman]

I'm generally not crazy about a 3-3-5 because the o-line can really overwhelm that first level, but I'd be interested to see some kind of hybrid style of it. If they take a slightly undersized pass rusher with good coverage skills I'd say you are definitely on to something though.

To compensate we can have a really physical 5-6 guys on that defensive front, with one, usually Matthews, having speed rush duties.

I think to fit the scheme I'm suggesting it would me most ideal if they drafted a take-on MLB. McKinney, for one, seems to have really good ability in that department. His weakness seems to be coverage and taking false steps. But that would be mitigated if he's supported by a rover like HaHa who can take on the duty of covering a TE, RB, or crossing wideout. McKinney's responsibility would be a speed to power downhill MLB.

But Perryman is the better player, and seems physical enough, and a guy with plays good leverage, so if they don't want to be so married to the scheme for the future they might just want to take him instead.

[ReasonablySober]

Mike Daniels was a pretty awesome pick. Raji was very good for a time.

[Bernman]

Raji was the consensus 1. I forgot to mention it's OK for him to take the consensus 1 if he's selecting particularly high because there's no thinking involved in that.

Daniels, exception to the rule.

It's a fact he's a terrible DL drafter, thus we had terrible OL's in so far as he's been responsible for.

[xTitan]

If anyone is a fan of pro football focus (I am) they gave this pick a C. Basically said he is a tweener, not exactly sure how he fits in, a willing tackler, but missed quite a few, ball hawk.....more of a second round grade.