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Minnesota Gophers RB and Packers undrafted free agent Duane Bennett.

If you’re looking for a position group on the Packers roster that might be infiltrated by an undrafted free agent, running back is a strong possibility.

Ryan Grant is likely gone, James Starks can’t stay healthy, Alex Green is coming off a bad knee injury and Brandon Saine is unproven. Here’s a look at the Packers 2012 undrafted free agent running backs and why they might have a shot at making the team.

Duane Bennett, RB, Minnesota
Height: 5-9
Weight: 213 pounds
Pro Day Results: 40-yd. dash — 4.62; 20-yd dash — 2.70; 10-yd. dash — 1.56; 225-lb. bench reps — 28; Vertical jump — 35.5″; Broad jump — 10’00″; 20-yd shuttle — 4.16; 3-cone drill — 6.92.
Career Notes: Finished with 2,126 rushing yards, 13th in Gophers history. … 639 rushing yards on 166 carries (3.85 avg.) senior season. … 96-yard kickoff return for TD against Wisconsin week 10 of senior season. … Blocked a punt and returned it for TD senior season. … Earned freshman All-Big Ten honors. … Sophomore season ended after two games due to knee injury.

Overview
Because I live in Minnesota, I get a chance to see the Gophers play on a regular basis. The Gophers are usually a chore to watch, but they had a few intriguing teams under Glen Mason. Using offensive lineman that were a bit undersized but extremely mobile, Mason built the Gophers’ offense around a running game that featured guys like Marion Barber III, Laurence Maroney, Thomas Hamner and Gary Russell.  Read more... (1197 words + 1 image, estimated 4:47 mins reading time)

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I've gone crazy!

Unless you were asleep at the switch, or were abducted by aliens, it was hard for PACKERS fans to not notice that the team’s 2012 DRAFT effort had a very different flavor to it this year. WHITEY flipped positions around 3 times and has a new nickname: TRADER TED. It just so happened that the team needed Defense and almost every time the team Picked the Best Available Athlete on their Board it was a defender. They seemed to get more than their share of players who had a higher Draft value than the spot at which they took them.  But let’s slow down the train a bit and look at items individually for a couple of minutes.  Read more... (1329 words + 1 image, estimated 5:19 mins reading time)

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1. 

   2012 NFL Draft

   Ted Thompson hasn’t gone crazy:  While many people were surprised by the fact that Thompson traded up several times, a good indication that Thompson is still following his MO is that he’s trolling the media about his “change” in personality.  If you’ve followed Thompson enough, you’d know that he’ll never tell anyone anything, so if he’s saying he’s doing things differently, chances are he really isn’t.  I now think Thompson wasn’t as averse to trading up in the past as we all thought; it simply didn’t make much sense in previous years to do so.  For instance right now Thompson probably has one of the best teams in the NFL in terms of depth so he can afford to trade picks to move up the draft but when Thompson took over in 2005 the team was in a salary cap nightmare and salary cap nightmares usually also mean that there were no quality backups on the team (or else why pay more for an aging veteran?).  Secondly, the rookie salary cap has altered the draft to a point where the picks at the top of the 1^st round are the most valuable (as they should be) and teams have adjusted accordingly by trading up in order to secure the best talent for them. In fact the majority of 1^st round draft picks ended up being selected by teams who were not the team originally award the pick.  I am a little surprised that Thompson was so quick to recognize the change and act upon it, which is why I now think that Thompson isn’t averse to trading up, he just could justify paying the price in the past.

 Read more... (825 words + 1 image, estimated 3:18 mins reading time)

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Shea McClellin OLB Boise State

Both Shea McClellin and Whitney Mercilus could be considered late risers on most NFL draft boards, including the Packers’ board. Different types of late risers, but late risers nonetheless.

Mercilus had only two sacks and didn’t do much of anything at Illinois in 2009-10 before exploding for 16 sacks and nine forced fumbles in 2011. McClellin wasn’t a highly regarded recruit coming into Boise St., but kept improving and became a feared edge rusher and versatile hybrid LB/DE. While Mercilus was projected as a first-rounder as soon as “draft season” started, it took a while for McClellin to get the attention he deserved and start rising up boards.

If McClellin and Mercilus are still avalaible when the Packers pick in the first round, I would take McClellin. I think McClellin still has some room to grow as a pass rusher and I’d love to see him develop opposite of Clay Matthews. I also think McClellin is a better fit in Dom Capers’ defense. He can rush from the edge, drop into coverage, stunt up the middle and move around if needed as Capers disguises his coverages and schemes.  Read more... (278 words + 1 image, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

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Tennessee-Chattanooga QB B.J. Coleman

Green Bay Packers draft prospect profile: QB B.J. Coleman

Player Information:

B.J. Coleman, QB, Tennessee-Chattanooga
6-3, 222 pounds
Hometown: Chattanooga, TN

NFL Combine:

N/A.

News and Notes:

In terms of physical tools, regarded as one of the best small-college QBs in recent years. … Limited to seven games senior season with a shoulder injury. … Good athlete and tough runner between the tackles. … Holds the ball too long at times, struggles to progress to secondary receiving options. … Compared to Boomer Esiason because of his instincts and hard-driven leadership style. … Transferred from Tennessee to Tennessee-Chattanooga after losing competition for starting job the spring of his sophomore season. … Completed 60.89 percent of passes for 1,527 yards and nine TDs in seven games as a senior. … Finished college career as the fourth player in school history to throw for over 6,000 yards. … Lettered three times as a pitcher in high school.

 What they’re saying about him:  Read more... (433 words + 1 image, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

• NFL.com: “Coleman has a quick set-up and plays with a good sense of urgency. He is athletic when scrambling and can place it on receivers both in the short and long passing situations.”

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By most accounts, Boise St. RB Doug Martin is a great talent. But most mock drafts have him falling out of the second round.

As the Green Bay Packers and the other 31 NFL teams rush to find a franchise quarterback and stockpile as many wide receivers, pass-catching tight ends and cover cornerbacks as possible, running backs are being left in the dust.

Passing rules today’s NFL, and that doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon. This fact hurts the value of running backs, making the position expendable in many cases. The movement to downgrade the running back position reminds me a little bit of the book Moneyball’s impact on drafting high school players in Major League Baseball.

In Moneyball, author Michael Lewis highlights how Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane avoided drafting 17- and 18-year-old high school kids, and instead tried to draft players with college experience. Beane thought high school kids were overvalued and much of their perceived value couldn’t be justified because, well, they were just high school kids.

After Moneyball was published, it didn’t take long for other teams to catch on and start thinking like Beane. Suddenly, high school players that may have been drafted early five years ago were being passed over for college prospects.  Read more... (501 words + 1 image, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

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Wisconsin OG Kevin Zeitler

Green Bay Packers draft prospect profile: G Kevin Zeitler, Wisconsin

Player Information:

Kevin Zeitler, G, Wisconsin
6-3, 322 pounds
Hometown: Waukesha, Wis.

NFL Combine:

• 40-yard dash: 5.31
• Vertical Jump: 29”
• Broad Jump: 101”
• 20-yard shuttle: 4.61
• 3-cone drill: 7.77
• Bench pressed 225 pounds 32 times

News and Notes:

Established a Big Ten record with 33 touchdown-resulting blocks in 2011. … Also totaled 142 key blocks/knockdown blocks. … Became the third college player since 1985 to produce two blocking consistency grades of 100 percent in the same season (2011). … Led all offensive linemen with a 97.23 percent grade for blocking consistency. … The top-rated guard prospect in the draft. … Occasionally practiced at center. … Penalized just three times in college career. … All-American and All-Big Ten Conference selection in 2011. … No major injury history. … Kinesiology major and lives in Waukesha, Wis.

What they’re saying about him:

National Football Post: “A good looking guard prospect with a thick trunk and natural girth through his base. Sits into his stance well, displays natural bend, can keep his base under him off the football and create an initial snap into contact. Isn’t overly powerful as an in-line guy, but creates good initial movement, works his legs hard through the play and extends his arms well into defenders.”  Read more... (516 words + 1 image, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

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