April
2013 Draft Leaves Packers In Need
The Green Bay Packers added 11 new players to their offseason roster via this past weekend’s NFL draft. Packers GM Ted Thompson, as he does every year, maneuvered around and was able to add some additional picks to the stash that he began the draft with.
Heading into the draft, the team’s biggest needs were Defensive Line, Safety, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Tight End and Offensive Line. The team addressed the defensive line with two selections in the first five rounds. At running back, they added two players in the first four rounds and they selected two offensive linemen in the fourth. Any pick within the first five rounds should be expected to stick on the team’s final 53 man roster. The key word is “should” so I cautiously say that those three areas seemingly were covered.
While some GM’s draft more for need, Thompson’s philosophy has been more about taking the best player available on his board at the time. Two good examples are his selecting two offensive tackles within 10 draft slots of each other in round four and trading back into the fourth round to select running back Johnathan Franklin when he had already selected a top-tier running back two rounds earlier in the form of Eddie Lacy.


















