Here's what Packers coach Mike McCarthy had so say Saturday night at the conclusion of the 2011 NFL draft in Green Bay:
On loading up on offense:
There was definitely that feeling in the draft room for a while. I think it got to a point where we felt we needed to pick a defensive player because we were feeling a little guilty. But it's really the same process you go through every year. Our personnel department does a tremendous job stacking the board, setting the board. The values are placed on the players which round we feel they belong and the coaching staff has their opportunity to have input into that and we really just trusted the board and stayed true to it.
Do you feel the roster is very deep?
I think it's very apparent just with the draft being completed that we've added depth and competition for our football team. That's something that is very apparent as we look at the depth chart, just as I'm sure you have also. And that's what you want. I felt last year's training camp was the most competitive training camp that we had up until this point in my tenure here in Green Bay. And I'm very optimistic that this year's training camp will be even more competitive, so it's a process you go through and those are good problems to have. Like everybody, we don't know what the schedule's going to be because of the labor situation. But we look for a very, very competitive training camp so we'll be ready to go when we come out of training camp to take a run at another Super Bowl victory.
On the additions at tight end:
I'm a fan of the tight end position. I just think that the body type of tight ends and outside linebackers, there's versatility that they bring to the table. And it's more about offense than defense, I'm referring more to special teams. The tight end position is going to be a very competitive situation. They're all athletic, they all have the ability to play from the backfield, can play in the No. 2 slot as a receiver and give us the diversity that we would like to continue to play with. I think it was something that we really felt good coming out of training camp last year. We did have the injuries to Jermichael (Finley) and Donald Lee early and our Tom (Crabtree) and (Andrew) Quarless did a good job of growing in those particular packages as the season went on. You just want flexibility. That tight end position, the running back position gives you that flexibility to move in and out of one-back and two-back concepts and get as much continuity as you can with your offensive front and your perimeter group.
Can D.J Williams be special?
We felt that he had one of the higher grades as far as his hands and ability to run after the catch. And I just know calling plays in this league, when you're designing offenses, the ability to attack the middle of the field is something you don't have enough players to attack the middle of the field in the tight end position and the receivers that have the ability to win in the slot. That's something that we were very impressed with throughout the draft process, his ability to catch the football and make plays.
How do you deal with the labor uncertainty?
Well, we're like every team in the league and I'm like every other head coach. You have a plan and once you have a plan you have to have adjustments. You have to have the ability to set schedules and adjust with the uncertainty of the times that we're in. And that's exactly what we're doing. We had the opportunity to communicate with our players there for a short time. We felt that was very beneficial just to check in with our players and we have a schedule in place for labor, either way the situation goes.
Did you want to improve your offense?
I think anytime you fall into the mindset of feeling you're a little bit better than you think you are then that's a mistake. I think it's factual, it's on paper. But this is a team sport. There's a lot of things that happen throughout an offseason and a lot of things can happen throughout a training camp, and we're a perfect example of what can happen throughout a season. So we will compete, train and pull this group of men together. We'll line up our best 53 when we come out of training camp and we'll get ready to take whatever path is put in front of us to be successful. And that's really as clear as I can state it, so I'm excited about the young men that have been added to our football team. They are prospects that we want to develop and hopefully they contribute this year or in future years. Time will answer that. We're a championship football team because of all the components involved and to pull that together takes more than one player here or one player there.
Is Derek Sherrod ready to play, just as Bryan Bulaga was a year ago?
Well, we prepare every player to play. We prepared Bryan Bulaga and the rest of the draft class when they got here to try to be ready to play as fast as they can. Now, I understand you have only so many team reps and so forth, but you try to get players ready to compete and contribute as fast as they can. I think we've done an excellent job of playing with young players early. And that's something we'll accomplish with this group. That'll be our mindset when Derek and the rest of this draft class finally gets here. Now, we're in a little bit different landscape than we've been in prior years, and hopefully that will change here shortly, but we feel that getting players to play quickly has been a strength of our coaching staff. And we'll do the same when we get started with this group.
Did you feel your offenses needed more?
We weren't the best offense in the league - that's the goal. The goal is to win the championship, No. 1. We accomplished that. Then you break it down offense, defense and special teams. We feel that we have more to offer offensively. It's a very common practice when you go through a season and you take all the reps, the 1,000-plus plays that you competed with throughout your regular-season and postseason, and you go back and you look at the reps that you're training through training camp and the offseason program. And we didn't correlate as high as we did in the past and a lot of that was due to injury. We feel we have more to offer, we have more offense that we never really got to last year and we feel like we can do a better job looking forward.
Does adding 10 draft picks increase competition?
Well, I mean, I'm pretty confident we're going to be a hungry football team this year. We have a new opportunity, it's a new challenge, a new mountain to climb. I think it's common practice anytime the NFL draft goes on, players do sit at home and they're fully aware of who's been drafted and what round and what position. There's nothing like competition and we feel like we've added some competition on our football team today.
Is Sherrod going to play left or right?
That's really something with Derek we'll continue to talk about it. It's a common practice, as you know. We've drafted a number of tackles coming out of college and they all don't just line up and play tackle. Really the conversations, we've been focused more on the left side right now, and that's something we'll continue to talk about as a staff.
You said you had a training camp schedule in mind, even with the lockout, what is it?
I think it'd be very premature to even talk about it right now because I don't even know what our offseason schedule is going to look like. I've always approached the offseason and training camp as a whole. You have objectives and targets that you need to accomplish in the offseason program that can carry into your training camp. The structure of training camp will change, that has been completed, that has been something we've been working on as a staff, and I think it's premature, I don't want to talk about it publicly until I have a chance to talk about it first with our players.
Did the lockout, and no free agency right now, affect your draft?
There's definitely a philosophy out there to try to acquire as many seventh-round picks as you possibly can to try to replace rookie free agency. Those conversations did go on. But we feel good about having 10 picks. There was a number of players that we talked about throughout the sixth and seventh round and frankly, the way it fell we just stayed true to our board. We didn't get caught up in our depth chart and felt like we needed another defensive lineman here or a linebacker and things like that. We really stayed true to the board.
Is there potential for the Wildcat now with Cobb onboard?
To me, the Wildcat is a package of deceptive play and how much you want to major in it is really our choice. Randall was not drafted so he could play the Wildcat, I'll just make that clear. Now if we line up and do something like that, that'll be part of our deceptive packages that we have in every week. We have prepared as an offensive staff for this type of player being added to our offense. It gives us some flexibity and it gives us the chance to get into some different looks and it gives Aaron Rodgers the opportunity to maybe get some cleaner looks and defensive looks to help us in other concepts. I understand the Wildcat is in vogue in the National Football League right now and if we line up in that we'll probably cause something different. But he was not drafted for that.
What transition do you want for Alex Green coming from spread?
I think every time a player, particularly that plays in the core of an offense and comes from the spread, there's definitely carryover to situation football and the first is third down. I think it's a very important situation in offensive football. So his ability to recognize protections with both tackles playing with open ends, he'll have some carryover there. One back runs and things like that. Those are all components that we have in our offense. I really like the size and just his ability to get to the second level. I think he's a very instinctive inside runner. I think he's an excellent fit to the way we play on offense, particularly our one-back concepts.
What about Cobb's versatility?
I'm very excited. Anytime you have a perimeter player that gives you an opportunity to maybe create one-on-ones for somebody else or put him in position to play in a one-on-one situation where he is an exciting player when he gets the ball in his hands, that's what it's all about. This game is about matchups. There's only so many formations you can line up in and there's only so many things a defense can do against you. At the end of the day, individuals need to win their matchups and Randall's definitely a matchup player.
Cobb will get a shot as a returner?
Randall will have an opportunity to be a part of the return game. He's a multidimensional football player as far as punt return and kickoff return, in the slot, he's played the Wildcat, he's been a holder on PATs. He's a very talented, multidimensional football player.
Has the lockout been a problem?
It doesn't help -- I think that's obvious -- if you cannot get your rookie class to get in here to get the reps. Maybe that won't be the case. Our rookie orientation is scheduled for two weeks from this weekend. Hopefully, they'll be able to participate in that.
Why is character and chemistry so important?
Team chemistry is very, very important to our success here in Green Bay. It's one of the building blocks of the program. So it is important. It really comes at the responsibility of the personnel department. I think it speaks volumes about our scouts, the relationships they have in their areas and their abilities to get to know these prospects and to have a grade physically and on their character. Because you do what to make sure you're bringing in the right type of people into your program the best you can. There's not an absolute science, as there would be in the 40-yard dash and things like that. But team chemistry is very important. We feel it's a very important component of our success in winning Super Bowl 45.
Can you win without chemistry?
I think history would show that people may have won in spite of it. But it's an approach. But I don't think it's an absolute that the chemistry, the leadership in your locker room is very important.
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