NFL Draft

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

I am excited that the draft is finally here. Maybe this is the year the Vikings find a serviceable QB (fingers crossed).

Who is your team?

[MyGuyTy]

Raider fan......and damn happy with our selection of Mack! Arguably the best player in the draft next to Clowney.

My cousin who's a huge Browns fan has been wanting Manziel for months, When the Browns took a DB at #8, I thought he was gonna jump off his balcony, lol. Everything turned out great for him in the end though, glad Manziel ended up in Cleveland.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Great draft for the Raiders. I think Carr was also a good pick.

[MyGuyTy]

Vikings had a great draft themselves.....and got their QB ;)

Hopefully both Carr and Teddy can turn the misfortunes around for both teams, lol. I doubt we'll see Carr for a year or two though with Schaub now in Oakland. Especially if he returns to his old form that he was in Houston.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Vikings had a great draft themselves.....and got their QB ;)

Hopefully both Carr and Teddy can turn the misfortunes around for both teams, lol. I doubt we'll see Carr for a year or two though with Schaub now in Oakland. Especially if he returns to his old form that he was in Houston.

I think Schaub's best days are behind him. Hopefully, he can produce for a year so that Carr can learn behind him.

[MyGuyTy]

I think Schaub's best days are behind him. Hopefully, he can produce for a year so that Carr can learn behind him.

Yeah he definitely lost his confidence last year, but he's still only 32. So hopefully he snaps out of the funk that he's in. Either way it's only a 1 or 2 year plan to bridge the gap before Carr takes over. What are the chances Teddy is the opening day starter in Minn?

[Prof_Plum]

Bears fan... not a particularly sexy draft but they filled some huge holes on one of the worse defenses in the league last year. First 4 rounds, CB (Fuller VTech), two DTs and a S. In the 5th got a backup RB to Forte. Overall, job well done. Defense has been completely overhauled during the off-season.

Only negative, which was out of their control, was seeing A Donald (Pitt DT) being taken by StL one pick before theirs.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Yeah he definitely lost his confidence last year, but he's still only 32. So hopefully he snaps out of the funk that he's in. Either way it's only a 1 or 2 year plan to bridge the gap before Carr takes over. What are the chances Teddy is the opening day starter in Minn?


I think that the chances are slim. The team is paying Cassel to start and I think he can do a good job next season.

[the 'stache]

I can't remember my team ever having the best draft, but it appears this year, the Packers do.

Sports Illustrated: "2014 NFL draft grades: Vikings, Packers and Raiders receive highest marks"
"Green Bay Packers
Few teams addressed obvious needs as aggressively and intelligently in this draft as the Packers, starting with first-round safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. The Alabama product can cover deep, and he’s a great hitter from linebacker depth up. Three underrated receivers — Fresno State’s Davante Adams in the second round, Wisconsin slot man Jared Abbrederis in the fifth and Saginaw Valley State’s Jeff Janis in the seventh — should make Aaron Rodgers very happy. Cal tight end Richard Rodgers is the Jermichael Finley replacement — a receiver who can flare wide and make plays. And Southern Miss defensive tackle Khyri Thornton will help a line in great need of young, tough talent."
Grade: A
http://nfl.si.com/2014/05/10/2014-nfl-draft-grades/2/
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Bleacher Report: Green Bay Packers: Ted Thompson, A
"Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson's philosophy is to draft and develop players rather than spend big money in free agency. Here is how he did this year.
The Packers needed a safety in a bad way. Fortunately for them, the best one in the draft fell right into their lap.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix out of Alabama became one of the steals of the first round when he fell out of the top 20, and Thompson was glad to oblige.
Losing receiver James Jones in free agency won't hurt one bit with Davante Adams in town. He is a bigger, more talented version of Jones, who fared quite well in the Packers offense in recent years.
If head coach Mike McCarthy can develop Adams quickly, he will be a boon to the offense right away.
It will be interesting to see if California tight end Richard Rodgers can contribute as a rookie—Thompson may have found the long-term replacement for Jermichael Finley if the latter doesn't come back in free agency.
Green Bay needed some help at linebacker, too, and Carl Bradford was an excellent fourth-round find."
Grade: A
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2048464-2014-nfl-draft-grades-report-cards-for-all-32-gms/page/13
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Sporting News: Green Bay Packers: A
"Although the big immediate impact from this group will be how well Clinton-Dix and Thornton address their defensive issues, it shouldn't be lost how they stockpiled some more weapons for Aaron Rodgers. Wisconsin's own Abbrederis and Janis had the talent to be taken earlier."

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2014-05-11/2014-nfl-draft-grades-are-in-from-easy-a-to-odious-d/slide/6
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Yahoo Sports:
"GREEN BAY PACKERS: It is tougher to find players who will stick on a roster as talented as the Packers', but general manager Ted Thompson may have pulled it off with yet another very solid crop. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix certainly made sense as the rangy centerfielder to help Green Bay's lack of ideal speed and fluidity in the deep patrol. The Packers also added high motor front seven defenders in defensive tackle Khyri Thornton and Carl Bradford. The addition of wideout Davante Adams and tight end Richard Rodgers give the Packers potential replacements for James Jones and Jermichael Finley and Thompson didn't stop there, adding arguably the draft's best route-runner in Jared Abbrederis in the fifth and developmental prospect Jeff Janis in the seventh to protect against another injury-shortened season from either Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb. The Packers added athleticism, physicality and intensity each day of the draft, making it one of the NFL's clear winners in this year's draft."
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/2014-nfl-draft-grading-32-174122160--nfl.html

Grade A
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SB Nation: "NFL Draft grades 2014: Green Bay Packers come out on top"
"Grade: A
This has the makings of another great class for Ted Thompson and the Green Bay Packers. Starting off with Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix and Davante Adams was as strong a first two rounds as any NFL team had. Richard Rodgers is an athletic tight end with impressive body control who could help ease the loss of Jermichael Finley. They then added Carl Bradford to play inside linebacker and two value picks at wide receiver in Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Janis. Not bad for Green Bay."
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl-mock-draft/2014/5/10/5705040/2014-nfl-draft-team-needs-johnny-manziel-browns-packers
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FOX Sports: Grade A "Ted Thompson nailed this draft"
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/p...-draft-051214#img_12

[MyGuyTy]

How about that! 3/4 of us who posted here have our teams in SI's highest draft grades ;)

Now it just needs to translate into wins......well no so much for the Pack since they're already a great team :)

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

The Pack are a very good team. I am afraid that Rodgers will continue to shred the Vikes defense because we didn't really upgrade our DBs.


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[Prof_Plum]

The Pack are a very good team. I am afraid that Rodgers will continue to shred the Vikes defense because we didn't really upgrade our DBs.
Both Rodgers and Megatron are a problem. So, because both the Lions and Packers are in the Bears division, Chicago specifically used their 1st round pick on a CB (Fuller), despite the fact that the Bears already had two All-Pro CBs in Jennings and Tillman. As it turns out, last year a nickel back was on the field for 79% and 70% of the defensive snaps against Green Bay & Det, respectively.

[VoodooChild]

Sorry everybody but the Steelers had one hell of a draft:

1st Round - Shazier ran a 4.35 forty as a MLB!
2nd Round - Tuitt is a perfect fit as a DE for their 3-4 system
3rd Round - Archer had fasted forty at the combine at 4.26
4th Round - Bryant is finally the tall 6'5" WR that Big Ben has been asking for and ran a 4.4 forty

And they even took a project NT in the 6th. McCullers is 6'7" 350+ lbs! I really love their picks. They got younger and faster on Defensive and added some interesting playmakers on Offense.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

I think that 40 times are overrated. Shuttle times are more indicative of game speed.


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[VoodooChild]

Ha, Ok I'll play along. Archer had the 2nd fastest shuttle time for RB's, Shazier was top-10 for LB's and Bryant was top-15 for WR's.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Ha, Ok I'll play along. Archer had the 2nd fastest shuttle time for RB's, Shazier was top-10 for LB's and Bryant was top-15 for WR's.


Sounds like Archer plays up to his actual speed.

[MyGuyTy]

Ha, Ok I'll play along. Archer had the 2nd fastest shuttle time for RB's, Shazier was top-10 for LB's and Bryant was top-15 for WR's.

Darrius-Heyward Bust ran a 4.3....

Darren McFadden ran a low 4.3 (2nd fastest RB next to Chris Johnson) and if anybody has ever seen DMAC play for the Raiders will say he's the slowest RB they're ever seen, CONSTANTLY getting caught from behind.

In a nutshell, 40 times don't always indicate game speed success ;)

On the flipside, the reason Ray Lewis slipped in the draft was because scouts and GMs felt he lacked size to play MLB and was WAY too slow.......ummm, yeah.

[Runscott]

Darrius-Heyward Bust ran a 4.3....

Darren McFadden ran a low 4.3 (2nd fastest RB next to Chris Johnson) and if anybody has ever seen DMAC play for the Raiders will say he's the slowest RB they're ever seen, CONSTANTLY getting caught from behind.

In a nutshell, 40 times don't always indicate game speed success ;)

On the flipside, the reason Ray Lewis slipped in the draft was because scouts and GMs felt he lacked size to play MLB and was WAY too slow.......ummm, yeah.

Yeah, quickness rules over speed, and ability to read plays doesn't hurt. Someone was saying that Ty Cobb was acting on things as he was reading the situation, while others have to read first, then act.

[stlcardsfan]

The only way to grade a draft is to go back 3-5 years and assess. Analyzing the current draft is a fruitless exercise.

[VoodooChild]

The only way to grade a draft is to go back 3-5 years and assess. Analyzing the current draft is a fruitless exercise.

True, but where is the fun in that. Don't we all want to be the next Mel Kiper:D

Obviously these somewhat random drills prospects are made to go through at the combine do not totally equate to NFL success. It's not like they are wearing full gear when running the 40 and shuttle. And measuring the times down to the 100th of a second seems useless too. However, this is a professional sport we are talking about. Not sure it's going out on a limb to say that it's better to be fast, quick, and strong.

For every "bust" listed who ran a fast 40, there are sub 4.3 guys like Rod Woodson and Deion Sanders who didn't turn out to be too shabby. And don't forget Bo Jackson. He ran between a 4.12 and 4.18 depending on who you ask.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

True, but where is the fun in that. Don't we all want to be the next Mel Kiper:D


Especially that sweet hair;)