It's tough to build depth through the DLine. Most quality players aren't willing to sign contracts with teams that are looking to use them to build depth. They sign where they are truly needed and will get playing time, and if they aren't, then they probably aren't much better than Montgomery, Thompson, and Pettway.

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Yes, and that's why Corey Williams was traded. It would be hard to justify paying huge money for a player who was not even a starter. But the burden of finding good backups at a low price still falls on Thompson, and it hasn't worked out well this year.

Just for the record, here's what Mike Vandermause said in a chat when asked about this article:

[Comment From Andrew]
You've been accused of being a Ted Thompson apologist, but your article the other day was pretty tough on him. Did you have a change of heart or were you misunderstood most of the season?

[Vandermause]
I get a kick out of readers who, when I write something they don't like, immediately bring out the "you're in the tank for the Packers" accusations. I have no reason to be an apologist for the Packers, and I couldn't sleep at night if I was. I call it like I see it, good, bad or indifferent. Some may agree with my viewpoint, and others vehemently disagree. But when all is said and done, I don't worry about what others, including Packers management, might think when I write a column. I aim to be fair in offering my opinion. When Thompson does something right, I'll say it. When he screws something up, I'll say that too.

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I can't recall a single person saying trading Williams was a mistake last year. It was known he was going to be gone. We weren't going to pay him that kind of jack for the role he played. Especially with the season Jolly was having up to when he was injured and using (wasting) a pick in the first round on another DT.

It was pretty well understood Williams was going to be gone in FA and when we got a 2nd round pick for him, people were accurately saying Ted got something for nothing.

Sadly, that 2nd round seems to be nothing, but its too early to make that assessment in my opinion.

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Trades for draft picks are based off of percentages. Most GM's make that trade a majority of the time, it just seemed like a smart move at the time. Trades like that happen in baseball all the time, sometimes the player pans out and sometimes the draft pick or minor leaguer becomes a star. Most of the time, another 2nd round draft pick would help us more than an expensive Corey Williams.

I remember last year our DLine depth was all the rave. We had a rotation that everyone was calling one of the best and deepest in the league, you can't blame someone for trading from what seemed to be an apparent strength to trade for the future.

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Yep the problem isn't that the Packers traded Corey Williams. They did get a 2nd round pick and that was fair value.

The problem is that the Packers didn't replace Corey Williams.

Thompson drafted a big bust with Justin Harrell. He also didn't sign anybody in free agency to at least compete or be depth. He could of gone out and got another player to improve the defense and he didn't. It's his judgment to make and one that he failed at. That's the responsibility Thompson needs to take for this.

On the flip side. Why are Johnny Jolley and Ryan Pickett playing much more poorly this year than last year?

I think that's on Bob Sanders and those players.

It leads back to my original point that this problem with the defensive line and the defense in general is bigger than just one person. You win as a team and you lose as a team. Pinpointing just Ted Thompson or just Bob Sanders or just the players would be a mistake in my opinion. Hopefully Thompson accepts this and changes his approach and perhaps works with McCarthy into changing the approach of the defense. The only way that can be done is if you change schemes and that means changing coordinators.

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What player? Which defensive tackle was there to be signed that was willing to be the 4th option? I say 4th because Jenkins was back and forth between tackle and defensive end. I understand your point, but it isn't as if there was a plethra of decent to good defensive tackles on the market last season that were willing to be backups. Harrell's job was to fill in, and because of injuries he hasn't been able to do so. I can't blame that on Thompson.

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Great. And now Hunt...er, Harrell looks to be injured once again. When you draft someone with the 16th pick in round 1, you expect the guy to be a starter immediately (else why did you draft him that high???). Here we are two years later, and we're still having trouble getting him on the field, much less a starter.

With his injury history in College (leg surgery, ankle injuries, biceps surgery that cost him all but 3 games of his senior season) Harrell was a risky pick that has no where near come through to paying off. At the time the pick was widely questioned, and as time as passed it appears appropriately so.

That's a great question. I've been wondering about that all year. Pickett missed all of training camp, so I was expecting him to have a slow start, which he did. He's improved a bit as the season has gone on, but is still not playing as well as he did last year. And Johnny Jolly seems like just another guy this year. He's not making nearly as many plays as he used to. Could the legal troubles be distracting him?

I think that at least part of the problem is the loss of Cullen Jenkins and KGB. That right DE position is no longer a pass rushing threat, and it's made it a lot easier for opposing offensive lines to block everyone else.

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It has to do with the rotation. Having a rotation like we did last year gave the lineman like Pickett and Jolly the ability to rest and be fresh when the entered the game. This season we have to rely on those two so much because they are really our only quality tackles. Cole isn't that awful, he doesn't make great plays but to be honest I think our team gets beat on outside runs more often than on the inside ones.

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