Offseason Mock

[Wade-A-Holic]

*Spitz moves to center, which is his best position and he's an upgrade over Wells (especially in the run game), who gets hurt too often. Sitton takes over at right guard. Colledge moves to right tackle, where he'll be more comfortable and can compete with Giacomini for the starting spot.

Free Agency
- Re-sign Bigby, Tramon Williams, and Hunter.
1. DE Igor Olshansky: Had a down year in San Diego. Good run stuffer and ideal 34 end. Tough player.
2. S Jim Leonhard: Smart, great tackler for his size, nice compliment to Collins, who I hope is unleashed a bit and given some more freedom to roam and make plays.
3. CB Lito Sheppard: Philly will probably just cut him at this point to shave 3 million off their cap number. Thompson stole Woodson while his stock was down and there were questions about his character. I don't think Thompson is cheap. I think he's shrewd and tries to avoid bidding wars that can cripple a franchise's financial flexibility. Sheppard is a great fit in our new scheme.

Trade
- Al Harris to Arizona for their 3rd round pick. For Arizona, who runs a lot of man coverage on the outside, Harris is a big upgrade over Roderick Hood. I'm afraid Harris will struggle in our new zone-heavy scheme.
- Ruvell Martin to Philadelphia for their 6th round pick.

Draft
I'm assuming that my 3 favorites at #9 - Curry, Monroe, Jenkins - are gone (along with both the Smiths).
1. DT BJ Raji: He's not my favorite prospect. His arms are too short for my liking and I don't think he's a natural nose, but that doesn't mean he can't be really good there. He and PIckett are a solid combination there.

2. OLB Clay Matthews: A true hybrid DE/LB (as opposed to a tweener), very strong, stout, smart, intense, good pass rusher, stud on special teams.

3a. OT Jamon Meredith: I'd be thrilled if he fell to this pick. He's a good athlete and a natural pass protector on the left side. He can compete for the job on the right side to start out or just spend a year behind Clifton.

3b. DE Jarron Gilbert: 6'6, 280, 36" wingspan, very strong, plays low and with great leverage, very stout, good pass rusher with a variety of moves, uses his hands well, non-stop motor.

3c. OLB Cody Brown: Will need some work learning to play in space, but he has the athletic ability to do so, he's a good pass rusher with a decent array of moves and a great motor.

4. WR Austin Collie: Good size, good speed, good route runner, good hands, smart, hard worker.

5. OG Seth Olsen: Can't believe this guy doesn't get more attention. He's from Iowa, who is known for producing good offensive linemen, has good size, pretty good athleticism, has been productive, displays good technique, and has a fire in his belly. I'd even peg him as a darkhorse to grab the starting left guard job.

6a. FB Quinn Johnson: Kuhn and Hall are assignment sure and good players, but neither can move people in the run game and it showed on the goal line and short yardage situations last season. Johnson is a truck, with or without the ball, is a good athlete, a good special teamer, and a very hard worker.

6b. P Kevin Huber: Let's hope he's better than Sander.

6c. OT Sebastian Vollmer: A very promising project. He's 6'8 with long arms, a natural bender, and he has good feet. I watched some film on him after reading about his Shrine Bowl practice performances and believe he has left side potential. A practice squad guy.

Depth Chart:
QB: Rodgers/Brohm/Flynn
RB: Grant/Jackson/Wynn or Lumpkin
FB: Johnson/Hall or Kuhn
WR: Jennings/Driver/Jones/Nelson/Collie
TE: Lee/Finley
LT: Clifton/Meredith
LG: Barbre/Olsen/Colledge (if need be)
C: Spitz/Wells
RG: Sitton/Olsen
RT: Colledge/Giacomini/possibly Moll

LDE: Olshansky/Harrell/Jolly
NT: Pickett/Raji/Cole
RDE: Jenkins/Gilbert
LOLB: Kampman/Thompson/maybe Hunter
LILB: Hawk/Bishop
RILB: Barnett/Lansanah/Chillar
ROLB: Matthews /Poppinga/Brown
LCB: Woodson/Sheppard/Williams/Blackmon/Lee
FS: Collins/Rouse
SS: Leonhard/Bigby

LS: Goode or JJ Jansen
PK: Crosby
P: Huber

[Matches Malone]

Is Durant Brooks any good? I heard about him being a pretty good prospect a year ago, and then was drafted by the Redskins. Now I see he's on the packers roster. Does he still have that powerful leg from college or was he cut by the skins for a reason?

[LUKE23]

Re-sign Jennings, sign Bart Scott. Draft Everette Brown. Kampman bulks up.

Jenkins/Pickett/Kampman
Poppinga/Scott/Hawk/Brown

After that don't care.

[Wade-A-Holic]

Re-sign Jennings, sign Bart Scott. Draft Everette Brown. Kampman bulks up.

Jenkins/Pickett/Kampman
Poppinga/Scott/Hawk/Brown

After that don't care.

I like Bart Scott a lot but he's going to be expensive and I really don't think we're going to need much in the way of inside linebackers. Kampman at end is a HUGE waste. He's not 5 technique end and his pass rushing ability will be essentially rendered useless at that position. Given the reality that he's moving to OLB, drafting Everette Brown would at least be a 2 year project before we see any results from it. He's such a liability in space that teams would be exploiting him and Kampman non-stop.

[Wade-A-Holic]

Is Durant Brooks any good? I heard about him being a pretty good prospect a year ago, and then was drafted by the Redskins. Now I see he's on the packers roster. Does he still have that powerful leg from college or was he cut by the skins for a reason?

Brooks was the #1 punting prospect but struggled for Washington last year. However, as is often the case with punters in this league, they usually just need to work at it on somebody's practice squad or something for a year or two and then they're fine. I actually wouldn't be mad if we went with Brooks and Kapinos into camp, but I think Huber is a very good prospect and has a pretty booming leg.

[LUKE23]

No way is Everette Brown a two-year project. He's a starter at 3-4 OLB right now, he's ideal size/frame for the position and is the best pure pass rusher in this draft. He's undersized at 4-3 DE, but he's perfect for 3-4 OLB, and the scouts are agreeing with me.

[Wade-A-Holic]

No way is Everette Brown a two-year project. He's a starter at 3-4 OLB right now, he's ideal size/frame for the position and is the best pure pass rusher in this draft. He's undersized at 4-3 DE, but he's perfect for 3-4 OLB, and the scouts are agreeing with me.

Yeah, the scouts thought that about Vernon Gholston and Manny Lawson, too. Lawson sucks, and Gholston looks incredibly bad in space, just like Brown does.

Also, scouts are split on whether or not Brown is a defensive end or a 34 linebacker. I've watched a lot of Brown. He gets thrown around like a rag doll in the running game. He stands straight up out of his stance every time, which is fine if you're pass rushing, but it gets him blown up in the run game time after time. At least Kampman offers stout run support and a pass rush even if he's a liability in coverage. Brown would only be able to play on 3rd downs, and even then the other team knows he'll be coming because nobody would be stupid enough to drop him into coverage right now.

[automatic44]

No way is Everette Brown a two-year project. He's a starter at 3-4 OLB right now, he's ideal size/frame for the position and is the best pure pass rusher in this draft. He's undersized at 4-3 DE, but he's perfect for 3-4 OLB, and the scouts are agreeing with me.

I like Everette Brown's pass rushing ability alot. he's the only end ive seen in this draft that has pass rush moves, and doesnt just rely on speed. however, i agree with wade-a-holic. with the exception of ware and merriman, you rarely see too many DEs come out of college and make a smooth transition to OLB. they have to learn how to operate in space, make different reads, react differently, and rely on open field tackling a lot more. thats what really hurt gholston this year, and he reminds me a lot of brown. im not saying brown wont be a good olb in the 34, but it will probably take a year for him to really grasp it. you would probably have to do what pittsburgh did with lamar woodley, play him sparingly his first season, and give him a chance to adapt by his sophmore season

[crkone]

Whatever we do we need to get some veteran's in here that have played a 3-4 system and can start. It will take some time for Collins to learn how to set the defense according to the offensive set and we need someone to help him out with that. Hopefully Bart Scott could do that.

[Wade-A-Holic]

Whatever we do we need to get some veteran's in here that have played a 3-4 system and can start. It will take some time for Collins to learn how to set the defense according to the offensive set and we need someone to help him out with that. Hopefully Bart Scott could do that.

I agree some veterans who are familiar with the system, or similar systems, would be nice. I just don't see us shelling out the money necessary to lure Scott. I think you have to look at that 2nd and 3rd tier of free agents for the most part, guys like Clark Haggans, Jim Leonhard, or even somebody like Yeremiah Bell.