1) The Williams deal, as noted above, he wasn't in the Packers long term plans.. you have a high dollar gent in Jenkins, Kampman, Pickett and Harrell.. we didn't have the budget room for another.. albeit far more effective player than Harrell and arguably Pickett.. so the move at that point made a ton of sense.
The error was not stocking the DT position with enough bodies and depending on undersized DE and Jenkins to fill in multiple roles along the line when effective depth at DE was a question mark as well. Last year, in an effective defensive year, we went into the season with I believe 11 or 12 players along the defensive line.. this season we started with 3 true defensive tackles.. any questions? Remember Harrell and KGB started the season inactive..
Jarrett Bush or another hog molly in the trenches? Should be an easy answer.
Knocking the pick of Brohm as part of the argument is irrelevant.
2) One could question the decision of not picking Merling in the 1st.. but want an honest opinion.. watching a little of that kid play, we got about the same type of player in Thompson in the fourth.
3) The Ryan move has been proven to be a mistake.. without question and is about as bad a gaffe as drafting a punter in the third..
4) Tracy White's impact on the special teams was a mistake, but, and I repeat but he was a one dimensional player.. in the years here he could never break into the defensive rotation.. that is telling... something like a Jarrett Bush.. the decision was to keep a backer with a ton of upside, (Miami I believe was going to plunk the Lanashan) and it came down to Bush or White hitting the street.
They kept Bush for the season because of the injuries at Safety.. it was probably a very difficult decision.. but a long term one over the short.
5) All GM's make mistakes.. the trick is to spread them out and not have them all bunched together.. Ted unfortunately had them fall together this year.. lessons can be learned from them though..
Never bank on a player with a longer injury report than on field statistics.
Never bank on a aging player that relies on speed and coming off leg issues.
"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"