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2012 NFL Draft

In last week’s Bridesmaids piece we went over how the cream of the draft is talked about way too much and we peeked just a bit into the crust of the matter with the late rounder’s and UDFA’s.

Today, lets look at the meat and potatoes of the draft, those 3^rd though 6^th rounder’s.  This is where teams are built; you just have to look at Packer players like Sitton, Lang, Jones, Bishop, Starks and more to see what these players do for a team.

Some of these prospects come out and play right away and even start. But most take a little time to become full time starters.  These players show how good a coaching staff really is.  The best coaching staffs see what these players can do and put them in a position to make plays, all the while teaching them the finer points of the team’s systems and techniques. When a player has to earn his playing time and/or fight to keep it, you get the best out of them.

In this area of the draft system, compatibility and the value from that has more to do with where a player is picked in these rounds then anything else.  One GM’s trash is another GM’s treasure.  Read more... (1806 words + 1 image, estimated 7:13 mins reading time)

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From the end of the NFL season and through the draft we see the big name prospects dominating coverage.  Getting those top picks right or wrong impact teams for years.

Everyone wants the next Clay Matthews or the next Aaron Rodgers. Fans want to see that kind of player fall into place.

To be honest, by the time the draft comes around I have had enough of   those players.

You can only guess so many times where those top 20 or so players are going to go and it just gets boring.  So I am going to peek at the bottom of the draft instead.

When you review the rosters top to bottom in the NFL, starters, backups, practice squads there are hundreds of undrafted players. Last year 61 new undrafted players made NFL rosters.

Every year teams sign ten to fifteen UDFA’s in feeding frenzy that takes place the minute the draft ends to try get the best of the rest.

The Packers at this time have twenty seven UDFA’s on their roster, with eight of them starting games last year.  Read more... (1053 words + 1 image, estimated 4:13 mins reading time)

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As the Packers prepare to face the Cleveland Browns in their first preseason game, the defense is ready to embark on their second year under Dom Capers. The key unit to watch out for, in my opinion will be the defensive line.

Last season, the injury-riddled secondary struggled as the Packers were unable to mount enough of a pass rush to help the inexperienced replacements out. A big part of the lack of pass rush can be attributed to the defensive line not getting a push up the middle or occupying blockers so the linebackers had blitzing lanes.

When Dom Capers was hired to be the Packers Defensive Coordinator we all heard the doom and gloom predictions of what would happen making the change to a 3-4 defense without having the players to fit the system

That proved to be a wasted worry, as the improvement in the defense was one of the best things to come out of the 2009 season.

But the defensive limitations where exposed playing against the best QB’s. The lack of pass rush was evident playing against good QB’s.  When you give someone like Kurt Warner room to move up in the pocket he will pick your defense apart.  Read more... (1333 words + 1 image, estimated 5:20 mins reading time)

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