Management VS Favre Lets see Brett is all about winning and with his age, would like to win the Super Bowl in the next couple of years. Brett sees the finish line of retirement coming, he just wants to go out on top as a winner, like John Elway.

There is one major hurdle though and that is Ted Thompson and the rest of Packer brass to give the QB all the tools that he needs to be successful. Packer management is looking toward a five year plan even though Mike McCarthy is working off a three year contract. I believe that Mike McCarthy’s contract will be extended, because Coach McCarthy is doing a lot for team chemistry and getting the team going in the right direction. But I would not blink an eye if Ted Thompson found another coach to replace Mike McCarthy.

I found out over the weekend that both Ted Thompson and Brett Favre do not see eye to eye on a lot of football issues. Even though (TT) will say the Packers want Favre back to play another year at QB. There is a deeper want to get Brett Favre to retire but only on Brett’s officially acknowledging it. Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy don’t like the many times that Brett will just throw the ball up in the air for no apparent reason, more than likely causing an interception.

So both sides are in a waiting game called who will blink first. Right now Brett demanded a trade from the Packers when Randy Moss was not brought to Green Bay in a trade. Ted Thompson stood his ground and said, that Brett Favre is all about winning, which also is the Packers stance in trying to win and putting the best team on the field each year, and that it is only natural for a player like Brett Favre to get frustrated. There is even talk and I don’t know how true it is that the longer the silence clouds this issue between Favre and the Packers the more doubt it cases on the fact that Favre will be the QB come September. Can anyone say Dallas…

So it basicly comes down to, who is right and who is wrong. Well, they being Ted Thompson and Brett Favre are both right and they are both wrong. Lets understand that the Packers only have to hold onto the legend of Favre for a couple of years more. Then they can go into post mortem with the team they are building for future successes. Thompson is trying to make a team based on the team concept and based on individual concept. Instead of the I, I, I, me, me, Ted wants a team mentality with the all for one, one for all approach.

Go Pack!!!

Joe Blackwell

I have some comments and concerns that I have broken down here.
1) The Packers draft grade is a B.
DT Justin Harrell looks to be a force. Football is won through the offensive and defensive lines. It all starts up front. I have absolutely no qualms about strengthening either one. Also, it is not easy to find quick, exlposive and athletic 300 pounders that can stop the run outside the top 15 or 20 picks. Kevin Williams, Tommie Harris, Haloti Ngata, John Henderson were all high first round picks. Teams don’t get shots at drafting those players everyday.

RB Brandon Jackson looks like a player. I saw some tape of him and he was very elusive and a hard runner. He should be a good addition. Looks like a football player.

DT Allen Barbe. I was praying to God that the Packers would draft a left tackle. I never knew that they would be able to get one athletic enough to be gunner on special teams. The man is big, is capable of adding more muscle and should be able to handle the athleticism of the zone scheme immediately. It was evident all season that Chad Clifton is only one injury or a few years away from retiring. His body is breaking down and he can’t move like 5 years ago. If he gets hurt and we didn’t have a backup LT. Our season would be over.

Kicker Mason Crosby. Really happy we have a strong kicker to compete with Rayner. Rayned did well for his first season, but anytime we can get a kicker that can kickoff through the back of the end zone, we must take a look. What better way to neutralize Hester than to kick it out of the end zone. Simple! If Mike Stock is as good a special teams coach as McCarthy says, he should have no problem getting these guys to kick more consistently.

The others guys drafter are pure football players and should make an immediate impact on special teams. I predict one or two of them will make the roster and their presence will make the current backups pay more attention to special teams.

2) Let me rebuke the Ted Haters and anyone who is complaining that this draft wasn’t sexy enough for them.

First at running back, Marshawn Lynch would have been a great pick but he wasn’t available. I wasn’t particularly enamored with Kenny Iron or Tony Hunt at all. Michael Bush is hurt and will redshirt this year.

Second, wide receivers take 2-3 years to develop and anyone we drafted this year will not be able to help Favre before he retires anyway. Guys like Greg Jennings are so rare that I would expect any rookie WR to do the same. The real sour spot is that Javon Walker wasn’t mature enough to work out his contract dispute timely. He was Favre’s big weapon and we won’t be able to replace before Favre hangs them up. I was never a huge Randy Moss fan and I don’t think we should have added him to our young, impressionable roster. He can play when he wants to, but only when he wants to. He’s not a Packer. I truly think Favre would be better off improving his decison making with the ball than encouraging him to throw desperation passes by adding Moss.

Third, I noticed Zac Alcorn runs a 4.6 40 while Greg Olsen runs a 4.5 40. Not much difference. I would if there is any difference on the football field, especially on grass or frozen grass. Zac seems like an athlete, lets give him a chance. Personally, I would never pick a TE in the first round if he couldn’t block and catch. A one-dimensional player is way to easy to negate.

Fourth, Reggie Nelson is going to be a great safety and would have been a solid pick. However, lets give some of our guys a chance. We can’t keep more than 2-3 safeties. Underwood looks like a player. Let’s see what he can do before we put someone in front of him that has to start because of financial obligations.

3) Concerning the NFC North:

I thought analysts concern that Adrian Peterson runs too high were overblown until I saw some tape of him. He run way, way too high, practically upright. All it’s going to take is a hard hit from Ernie Sims or AJ Hawk to put him on IR. He runs nothing like Chester Taylor who runs low to the ground. Plus AP is a me guy. I wouldn’t touch him with a 39.5 foot pole.

Calvin Johnson will play well, but Al Harris benches 400 pounds and has impeccable technique. Harris will lock him down and he won’t get far. He’ll need some safety help which Underwood will have trouble providing since he’s only 5-11. However Underwood can intercept so hopefully he will be able to get to the ball first, or get into Johnson chest or at least take out his knees. Maybe Thompson’s response to Johnson was a 6-4 safety named Rouse. we’ll see.

Greg Olsen will make an impact, just not a first-round impact. He doesn’t like contact, that’s why he doesn’t block. Let’s see how long he stay’s healthy. Winslow and Shockey can’t stay healthy and even though they are great players, they add nothing to their team. Plus, you can’t tell me Barnett can’t cover him. Hawk is physical and athletic so he’ll be able to jam and cover. Let’s see who plays Sam.

By Matt Schmalzigan

I think you’re a bit over the top on this one. You’re beginning to sound like some of the PackerNews Forum “fans” (Kbro, et. al). I can understand how disappointed you are that they didn’t draft for the “Need” like they did last year. I believe, however, that Ted Thompson, regardless of what other folks are saying, is attempting to do his best to make the Packers better and more competitive. If you think about the places where Detroit and Minnesota drafted, it’s no wonder that they did so much better.

When Ron Wolf became the GM of the Packers, he really showed me what I didn’t know about the draft. He wheeled and dealed and had four third round picks in 1995. I thought he was nuts for not packaging some of them and getting a second round pick. He kept them and got Darius Holland (a boom or bust pick), William Henderson, Antonio Freeman, and Brian Williams. This core of players put the Packers over the top and into the Superbowl. When asked why he didn’t package the picks for a 2nd round pick, Wolf stated that the quality of the players didn’t drop off much between 2nd and 3rd round.

I’ll state categorically that Ted Thompson is no Ron Wolf. But, much like Wolf, Thompson spends significant time and energy preparing for and dealing with the draft. For us novices who don’t have the resources that Thompson does to support him.. to really second guess him is pretty foolish from my point of view. When Thompson drafted Terrance Murphy in the 2nd round, that was a good pick. When Thompson drafted Nick Collins in the 2nd round, that was a reasonable pick. When Thompson drafted Greg Jennings in the 2nd round, that was a good pick. All of those guys weren’t even on my radar.

What tends to frustrate people is that Thompson holds his cards close to the chest. Here’s a question: Why tell people what you are planning to do? Why tell people what went down with Moss? Why disclose what you’re thinking? Why give your opponents a view into what you’re thinking? It may come back to bite you if your opponent can guess what you are thinking. It reminds me of what the Google founders once stated: “We believe that secret stuff should be kept secret. That means that we don’t talk about it.”

Wolf was far better at stroking the media than Thompson. I do think that Thompson is extremely astute and it’s an insult to him to think that he doesn’t understand what’s going on. While I believe that, I also believe that Thompson is too insular in that he doesn’t have his finger on the pulse of the Packer Fan audience like Wolf did. Wolf was able to draft keeping their feelings in mind. Thompson doesn’t and it will probably cost him his job eventually unless he changes.

Mis-steps of Thompson include the following: * Giving a contract extension to Sherman (that might have been mandated in order to not cut him off at the knees). * Picking up Koren Robinson. * Not Picking up Randy Moss. * Not getting replacement Offensive Guards quick enough.

Good Moves of Thompson include the following: * Not re-signing Rivera and Wahle. At the time, he was heavily criticized, but time has proven him right. * Hiring McCarthy… Although the jury is still out, he seems like a reasonably coach. Certainly, he did more than the Vikings or Lions Head Coach. * The 2006 Draft. It didn’t take too long to determine that this group of guys played pretty well. And… they will be getting better. * Acquiring a much better core of players. * Getting rid of players who have grown old. In general Football is a young man’s game. Several folks have stated that it’s better to get rid of someone a year too early rather than a year too late. You certainly don’t want to have a long contract on an older player. The fall on these players can be very fast.

By Steve Booth