Grade the Draft

[MikeIsGood]

We had a first-day poll. But I thought we could have a poll to grade the full draft and share your thoughts.

1) BJ Raji || DT Boston College
1) Clay Matthews || OLB Southern Cal
4) TJ Lang || OL Eastern Michigan
5) Quinn Johnson || FB Louisiana State
5) Jamon Meredith || OL South Carolina
6) Jarius Wynn || DE Georgia
6) Brandon Underwood || CB Cincinnati
7) Brad Jones || OLB Colorado

[trwi7]

I gave an A-/B+. I loved the players we took, but I'm still a little worried about how much we gave up to get Matthews. That's the only thing keeping me from giving it an A.

[wichmae]

A and there is absolutely no question about it...

[LUKE23]

A. This was TT's best draft, IMO. Getting two immediate defensive starters was great, getting Meredith in the 5th round when some had him projected in the 2nd was icing on the cake. I think we got three starters out of this draft and I think the other guys could have roles, especially Johnson, who just abuses people on run blocking.

Love this draft. Love it.

[aaprigs311]

I'd give TT and the Pack an A-/B+. I loved just about every pick. I didn't give up the "A'' because we probably gave up more than we should have for Matthews. Would have been nice to keep one of the thirds. Still, it worked out for the best. TJ Lang and Jamon Meredith were steals relative to where they were selected and will provide instant depth and competition all over the o-line. Raji? Not much that hasn't been said. He's the force in the trenches we were lacking. We couldn't have found a better 3-4 fit in Matthews. He's the prototypical everything for a 34 pass rusher. Lastly, I loved the Quinn Johnson pick. The guy is a one man wrecking crew. He's gonna open some holes for Grant, no doubt. He'll be a special teams stud on top of what he can do for our running game and what type of attitude and toughness he brings to the field. I'm going to be flying high and eager to see these guys in action come July at camp. I'm very pleased with the way TT drafted this weekend. We got the impact players we needed and I'm feeling like we're the best team in the Central again. Great work TT, MM, and everyone else that played a hand in the Pack's draft.

[automatic44]

I went with the A-/B+. I was initially pretty hesitant with how much we gave up for Matthews, but considering we got 2 players in Lang and Meredith, who were considered 2nd to 3rd round picks by many, in the 4th and 5th round, that only makes the trade look better. I absolutely love the Quinn Johnson pick. So many times last year we struggled to pick up the first or make it into the end zone on short yardage runs, I think Johnson can definitely help us improve that area. I also think we improved our special teams significantly. Matthews was touted by just about everybody as the best special teams player in this class, and Johnson proved to be productive in that area at LSU as well. Overall, I like how physical these guys are, I hope they can help give our team a much more aggressive style of play and demeanor that we've been lacking a bit lately.

[MikeIsGood]

A-/B+ from me. I think it's great we got 2 guys that can come in and start on our defense right away which will help ease the transition along. It's nice that the guy we're going to plug in at OLB opposite Kampman already knows how to play standing up. But as well as everything ended up working out in the end, I do think it's worth mentioning the price they paid for him. It's good they got the guy they wanted, and I hope he does really well, but even TT noted that it wasn't a "great" trade and that they had to give up a lot to move up for him. With that said, some guys ended up dropping to our fourth and fifth round picks, which was awesome. I think both Lang and Meredith were good picks for our o-line moving forward. Both are noted as being versatile players capable of playing inside or out, both with experience at multiple spots along the line, and both were expected to already be gone by many draft pundits - especially Meredith. I think the Johnson pick was a smart one. As someone else noted, he was the #1 rated FB in the draft and he excels as a blocker. 107 knockdowns, blocking on 15 touchdown runs. I like the Wynn pick, also. Sounds like he has room to beef up yet and could turn into DE depth. Good late-round flier there. I like, as others have mentioned, that we picked up two guys that have been touted as great special teams players, and I like that we had all of our needs addressed in our first five picks - without making reaches.

Super solid. Have to be happy as a Packer fan. It was a great weekend.

[MajorDad]

I liked the choices TT made. I liked the fact TT traded picks to move up rather than trading down to add more picks. before the draft Tt had said he felt the packers had plenty of depth and didn't need a lot of picks to plug holes. it looks like he was actually telling the truth.

it should be noted that we didn't give up players in the Matthews trade. we gave up draft picks. While the picks were high, the supposed talent level in this year's draft was not the same as in the past. With that said, a 3rd round draft pick in this year's draft could have equaled the talent level of a 4th or 5th rounder in previous years. going into the draft with the knowledge that this year's overall talent level was lower than previous years, i think it was a very smart decision to trade the amount of picks we traded in order to get a player that WILL have an impact.

the second day of the draft made the first day's moves look smart. TT was able to steal two very good offensive linemen in lang and merideth and he found a very good fullback.

at the end of the day, TT found two players to make his proposed 3/4 defense work and he found two linemen to fill a glaring offensive line need. Matthews will probably stand out more as a rookie than RAji will. but that's only because raji will be double and triple teamed and clogging the middle forcing the action to go to the sides. I would have liked the opportunity to draft Andre Smith, but you go with the cards you are dealt. I've always been of the opinion, you should draft quality over quantity. I've always been of the opinion, you can find fringe FA's who are just as good as 6th and 7th round picks, and trading down just for the sole purpose of getting additional picks is pointless. this is the first time TT seemed to agree with me.

[Rockmaninoff]

I voted A-/B+.

Mostly, because I'm a little trepidatious with Raji. Lots of character concern reports, but hopefully he can be a big time player. I really think that Dom Capers will help with that. Loved the Capers hire by the way.

Raji was the best player available, and he also filled a huge need, so I can't judge the pick too harshly.

Loved the Matthews pick. Kevin Greene has an apprentice. I'm glad that Ted went out and got who he wanted, regardless of the value chart. TT more than made up for those lost picks in the later rounds.

Loved the Lang and Meredith picks. I'm feeling much better about the offensive line. Training camp will be very interesting for that group.

And the Johnson pick. Along with the O-line upgrade, this guy should improve the Packers run game the most. It looks like the Pack is going back to more of power run game?

Wynn and Underwood are great 6th round picks. Probably not ready to contribute other than on special teams, but tons of potential. Great height and athleticism for their positions, both just need to get bigger and gain more experience.

And, I don't want to sound like a total homer, but Brad Jones could develop into our James Harrison. Yeah, I said it.

Thompson did the impossible this weekend, and reunited the fan base. Who would have thought?

[blueedwards]

A+ all the way!

[Balls2TheWalls]

My initial feeling was to go A-/B+, but with the quality of player in the late rounds (with Jamon Meredith being the crowning jewel in the late rounds), I have to say A.

Clay Matthews and BJ Raji are going to be long term staples. The cost of the trade is slowly going to become a non-issue.

[humanrefutation]

I hate grading drafts right after they happen. It doesn't mean jack sh**. But, with that being said, I'll give this draft a B. The reason why it isn't higher is because I'm a little worried about Raji's motor. I'm alright with the Matthews move, though that's only because I'm trusting TT's evaluatory ability. Meredith was a nice pick, as was Johnson.

[MajorDad]

I just finished reading where Tt had a tough choice to make of Crabtree , raji and the Mississippi tackle. he claims that all three had the same grade. however , many others in the know claim crabtree had a much higher score.

Looking at the salaries these first round picks are commanding, it made me wonder what if Tt would change his philosophy and become an active player in the free agent market. The vast majority of veteran free agents are signing for a lot less than first round draft picks are now receiving. What if Tt had been able to sign a quality FA nose tackle, or a quality FA tackle, or if harrell had panned out and the packers stayed with a 4/3 defense? We all know the packers have plenty of available cap money.

I thought it was a great draft, and have no problem with Tt picking raji over crabtree. it was the right move to make. however, if Tt was an active player in the free agent market , this draft could have been even better. if Tt had been an active player in the FA market, he could have signed a quality FA nose tackle and then drafted Crabtree. he could have had his cake and eaten my too.

my lone lament about Tt and the packers' draft is that TT places way too much emphasis on acquiring talent through the draft and not enough emphasis on being an active player in the free agent market ad going after the stud free agents.. and with the contracts rookies are receiving these days, i would think securing a free agent with experience might be a cheaper and more viable option in the future.

[ReasonablySober]

I'm not sure there was a quality nose tackle available in free agency. I don't recall anyone like that changing teams.

[LUKE23]

The draft is how good teams build Reed. In every sport. There are only 2-3 game-changing FA's available per year in NFL FA and they cost an absolute FORTUNE. If you build primarily through the draft then you're allowing your team to grow together and you're also able to keep your own good players once they hit FA. You also guard against paying people big money once they hit their older years in many cases.

I love how TT has built this team. And I believe everyone will see that in 2009.

[MickeyDavis]

I've been one of the bigger TT bashers on here in recent months but I don't see how anyone cannot give the draft an initial grade of A/B.

[MikeIsGood]

Alright, so we have 34 votes in. Some might trickle in here-and-there, but that seems to be a pretty good tally for the Packer board.

I'm not counting the "F" as it's clearly an outlier/Bears/Queens fan, and I'm tempted to not count the "C" either since the person didn't have the balls to post about it, but I'm leaving it in. A is worth 4, A/B a 3.5, B a 3, etc... The board's grade in summation is...

3.66 | A/B.

Which seems to fall pretty well in line with how the media is grading it.

[MajorDad]

I will admit, using the draft will build a "GOOD" team, not a great one. but you can't depend soley on the draft to build your team. if you have 3 needs, you should use free agency to address at least one of those needs rather than depending on the draft to fill all of your needs. If tt had used free agency, his draft would have been easier and also created more depth. you can't argue that green bay didn't have the cap space.

if there was no great nose tackle available, TT could have used free agency to to acquire a nice WR or offensive tackle or linebacker. Surely there was a quality free agent at one of those positions. and with the exception of maybe 3 free agents, the majority of them recieved much less in salary terms than what this year's first round draft choices will receive. if Tt had acquired a WR through free agency, then it would have been a no brainer for him of who to choose between Crabtree and Raji.

it was said Tt was seriously considering drafting crabtree. if thats' true, he obviously felt the packers were in need of a WR/playmaker. By only using the draft and not free agency, TT never addressed that WR position. at the begining of the draft he felt very strongly toward filling that hole. but he could only draft so many players for so many positions. he made some excellent choices. but think how much better the off season would have been if Tt had also played the FA market and acquired a quality WR to go with this draft. You can't expect to build a team solely using just draft picks.

[Ayt]

He wasn't thinking about taking Crabtree because we need a WR. He was thinking about it because Crabtree has the chance to be a special player.

WR was the last position we needed to look at in free agency.

[rilamann]

I was looking forward to the 2009 season before the draft now im giddy haha.

I give TT an A.