The pick: Khyri Thornton, DT, Southern Miss

My take: This seems like it could be a reach, although Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. raved about Thornton during the ESPN draft broadcast. However, according to the ESPN Insider player rankings, the 6-foot-2, 304-pound Thornton was the 17th-best defensive tackle in the draft, yet only eight were taken before the Packers picked him at No. 85 overall. Several pre-draft predictions had Thornton as a third-day pick.

Strengthening a weakness: The Packers' run defense faded in the second half of last season, allowing 5.5 yards per rush over the final seven games. That was the second-highest average allowed in the NFL over that stretch, according to data from ESPN Stats & Information, so the addition of another defensive lineman was not a surprise.

Who the hell is this guy?

Originally Posted by: luigis 

Most impressive DL from NFLPA bowl. (Rob Rang NFLdraftscout.com)

Thornton (6-foot-2 5/8, 316) made 28 college starts, earning second-team All-Conference USA honors as a senior. He finished his career with 31 tackles for loss and six sacks.

Originally Posted by: uffda udfa 

I don't mind selecting big fatties. He may well be a perfect fit for the GB rotation. What I wonder is why at 85? So many project him being available later in the draft.

link 

Originally Posted by: wpr 

The draft is full of players who get drafted when "so many people" project him being available later in the draft. If you try to make sense out of it you will drive yourself crazy. At best we may wonder why did that particular GM like that particular player so much.

The questions are why did Ted like him so much and did Ted think he would have been available later in the draft. We may never truly know the answer to the first (although I am sure Ted will tell us) but the obvious answer to the second question is no he didn't. At least he didn't think he would be available with his next pick.

I love it how so many people (not you wpr) talk about "THE BOARD" as if there is some official draft board that everyone uses. The thing is there are 32 "THE BOARD"s and the most important thing for any any GM is where the guy is on their board.

It doesn't matter if some draft expert that is going by what some other draft expert quoted another draft expert as saying about a guy. All that matters is what Ted thinks of the guy.

I understand that some people are certain that the universe, or at least the football universe, revolves around them, so if they have never personally seen the guy play or they have never heard of the guy that means that the guy sucks. However, I am fairly certain that Ted has seen the guy play. That, IMO makes his opinion much more valid than those who have not.

I am not talking about Uff da and his opinion about Dix. That is a valid opinion. I'll still take Teds over Uff da's but at least Uffda has seen Dix play (at least I assume he has) and doesn't like him. That's fine. I'm talking about those people who admit they have never seen the guy play or have never even heard of him but still claim he is a crappy pick. Its like saying a movie sucks without having even seen the trailer (that is only a valid assumption with Nicholas Cage movies)

As for relying on all those strengths and weaknesses sections you may want to temper your expectations. I was listening to a radio program earlier in the week and they did a segment where they read off a guy's strengths and weaknesses without saying who it was and the panel members had to guess the round the guy was projected at and almost every one had picked the guy to be drafted lower than projected. A couple said they wouldn't even draft the guy based on the S & W and they were projected to be 2nd or 3rd round picks.

Originally Posted by: sschind