I'm going to start from the top.

9 - BJ Raji, IMO it was raji or crabtree. Raji filled a need for a stout NT (a rotational player with pickett). I'm sure all of us will be eyeing crabtree the next few years to see how he plays; and he looks like a Great WR ... does he fullfill a need? not really. While Raji does.

So while I'm not as excited about raji as if we would of gotten crabtree; raji may help us win more ball games.

26 - Clay Matthews - Seems like a good kid, I personally liked clint sintim better for our OLB possability. But it appears Ted Thompson really wanted him and traded 2 3rd rounders for him. I wouldnt of felt so bad if it was one 3rd but both ... well. He looks like a good OLB player and a good ST player but not worth 2 3's.
I will wonder what we could of gotten with sintim and 2 3rd rounds instead thou.

109 - TJ Lang. Not much is known about him. Appears to be versitile and is really physical with his opponents. I like the pick.

145 - Quinn Johnson; a bit surprising ... our FB are something I actually have no complaints of. They perform their job well and even make some plays (catches/runs) here and there. This guy here looks like a BPA and something Ted Thompson couldnt pass on. He's more of a straight line hit and run power blocker and will be competition for the 2 spots. I was thinking Ted Thompson would draft a blocking TE but this guy is fine with me. Decent enough pick.

162 - Jamon Meredith ... ahhh ... this is the star of our draft IMO. Why? He's a 2nd round or early 3rd round pick that we grabbed in the 5th (a steal). He's also quite good and rated quite high on mocks and various boards. I was really hoping for 2 OT in the draft to hone up our Oline and we got 2 decent picks. I have a feeling he's going to be a star on our team.

182 - Jarius Wynn; this guy appears to be a gamble pick. From what I have read on him he started to get better his last 2 games and thats about it. He is a bit light for our needs as a 3-4 DE at 275. But again its a (let's see if he turns out to be decent in the future pick). I assume Ted Thompson used this guy as a BPA again. who knows ...

187 - Brandon Underwood; he seems alright; sounds like a fast/thin corner. Who knows maybe with watching some pros (harris/woodson) he'll get good.

218 - Brad Jones; dont know too much about him - watched a highlight video and he looked decent.

Overall - While I didnt get the picks I would of liked; Ted filled up the needs quite well.

With our new D coaching staff I can see our D being in the top 12 this year.

-although everytime I see crabtree make a great catch I'm going to wish he was on our team-

I think overall, and not having a clue how any pick will turn out, it was a good draft. We needed some serious help in our defensive front seven and he went after that help. We needed O line, he got O line (including a possible gem in the 5th round). We could have used some depth in the secondary, he got it.

I differ with you on some specific points:

- I think, for the team's needs, Matthews is a better player than Sintim. If all I cared about was pass rush, I'd be more inclined to agree with you, but I don't think Sintim offers as much versatility as Matthews.

- IMO, we did not need to come out of this draft with any more than 8 players - I would have been fine with 7, really. The loss of an extra 3rd (even if it is the dreaded "Favre Pick") doesn't bother me one bit. On the contrary, I'm pleased that Ted did what he felt was necessary to get the consensus BPA/Need pick.

I agree with you about Meredith - that could turn out to be a very memorable pick. I like Lang, as well - brings some toughness and competition to the middle of the line. If either of these guys can maximize his potential and see the field next year, I predict a good-to-great year for the O line.

Of course, we'll have to see what happens once they start to work - but from a standpoint of addressing needs and getting talent where we needed it, I'm calling it a good draft.

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overall: stoked.

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I am very happy with this draft. Good job Thompson you surprised us all!

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Just from reading the bios of the players, it seems Ted Thompson tried to address some of the glaring weaknesses from 2008.

I think Raji will be an future all-pro, and will make some solid contributions to the defense in 2009.

with the addition of clay mattthews and Quinn johnson on special teams, Ted Thompson has hopefully made the special teams a better unit.

by selecting Meredith and Lang, Ted Thompson has covered the issue of taucher and clifton reaching the end of their careers in greenbay. I think both new offensive linemen may see some playing time in 09.

there is some controversy in Ted Thompson selections this year. not selecting crabtree, passing over everett bown, trading away three picks for matthews, when we could have stayed at 41 and got this player anyway.

I wish Ted Thompson had selected raji in round 1, everett brown in round 2, and te travis beckum in round three, but am not to upset with the clay matthews selection.

i do not think
Jarius Wynn
Brandon Underwood
Brad Jones
will ever make the team

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I am very happy with the draft. The areas that needed work, have been addressed. Capers now has the tools he needs to be very creative on D. Big buys, fast guys, strong guys, and combination guys. No telling what he can pull out of his bag of tricks.

Oline, looking forward to some stiff competition in camp. Looks like 13 Oline players on the roster now competing for the 5 starting spots. I see that there may no longer be a need for Colledge to be inside and can either just compete for one of the tackle spots or be a solid backup for both sides.

The rest are all players that add depth in the competition level for positions that were fairly strong already.

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How many Olinemen do you think we'll ultimately carry?

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Overall... pretty nice!

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I am thinking 9. I am hoping for 5 starters and having 4 backups that can cover multiple positions. 2 backups for Guard/C and 2 backups for T/G

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No comment.

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