Guys on the roster that I anticipate could make a splash this year:
Jeremy Thompson - this seems like kind of a long shot, but the scheme move would seem to play to his strengths. If he's a player, Greene will get that out of him.
Pat Lee - I see this kid coming on strong, if not this year then next, and I do think he'll flash some this year.
Finley - this kid seems like he's either going to disappear or turn into a monster. Since I'm a fan, I'm betting on the latter - another year in the pros will do a lot to continue his physical maturation, and he showed some signs at the end of last year. Like Pat Lee, he might not really explode until 2010, but I do expect to see continued evolution and a greater contribution in 2009.
Brandon Jackson - given the need to have at least enough of a running game to keep defenses from killing Rodgers, I think McCarthy will concentrate on it early, and if Grant starts slow I think Jackson will get more carries. And I think he'll make the most of those. One more word: Screen.
Sitton - a combination of experience and a shift in the blocking scheme (McCarthy has alluded to scheme shifts on O, and I bet it's on the line) will make this kid a very pleasant surprise on the O line.
Those are just the scenarios I think are somewhat realistic - there are other possibilities that, while remote, are not impossible (for instance: What if, by some miracle, Bustin does get healthy and does a great job as a 3-4 DE?). Point being, one of the hopeful results of having lots of youth is that as that youth develops, your entire core is elevated. IF Sitton, Lee, Thompson, and Finley develop into quality pros (and you then add them to Rodgers, Jennings, Kampy, etc.) , it's pretty hard to criticize Ted's approach.
The gamble is they don't always develop, which is where - in some opinions, including my own - FA comes into play, where you can get some players who have already developed.
I'm not sure how to 'grade' Thompson in terms of FA; it depends on whether one agrees with his tendency to rely mostly on drafting and developing potential talent to the exclusion of acquiring proven, existing talent. If you do, then he's doing a bang-up job - we've got numerous promising young players on the roster who absolutely could turn into Jennings-type success stories, and we've got plenty of money to pay them all when it's time to do so. Moreover, you can be pretty confident that you won't ever have to worry about the Packers being in cap hell, because he manages away from that.
But if you think that there are times when circumstance calls for adding that proven talent to push the team to the next level, then this year he's not doing much at all, and we're talking about a year when we've got some needs. You're probably pretty nervous, and you're probably feeling pretty pessimistic about things.
IMO, both viewpoints are valid - and I'm somewhere in the middle of them.