GREEN BAY Thanks to the NFLs on-again lockout, who knows well, other than the wise souls in the black robes in the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals when coach Mike McCarthy and his staff will get to work with their 10-member 2011 draft class.

But while uncertainty reigns in pro football at the moment, this you can be sure of: The Green Bay Packers added players during the three-day draft who will spike the competition level at a number of positions and perhaps inoculate the team against the dreaded Super Bowl hangover on an already deep and talented young roster that was good enough to win Super Bowl XLV despite of the avalanche of injuries they sustained.

In other words, the Packers biggest challenge in 2011 might not be just heeding McCarthys warning about handling success. The bigger challenge might be figuring out which good football players to cut at the end of training camp, knowing theyll end up playing elsewhere.

Im pretty confident were going to be a hungry football team this year. We have a new opportunity, a new challenge, a new mountain to climb, McCarthy said after the seventh round wrapped up Saturday and the coaches and scouts twiddled their thumbs with no undrafted free agents to sign. Anytime the NFL draft goes on, players do sit at home and theyre fully aware of whos been drafted and what round and what position. Theres nothing like competition, and we feel like weve added some competition on our football team.

The Super Bowl hangover, at least for NFC teams, is real. The Packers were the 10th different team to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl last season, and no NFC team has won back-to-back conference titles since the Packers played in Super Bowl XXXI and Super Bowl XXXII following the 1996 and 97 seasons. Meanwhile, the only teams to win back-to-back Super Bowls over the last 20 years are the 2003-04 New England Patriots, the 1997-98 Denver Broncos and the 1992-93 Dallas Cowboys.

But with Aaron Rodgers having earned his place among the leagues elite quarterbacks, the Packers high-flying offense set to get its starting running back Ryan Grant and its nightmare-matchup tight end Jermichael Finley back from injury and the teams top-10 defense entering its third year in coordinator Dom Capers 3-4 scheme, it would appear the Packers have as good a chance as any team to buck the trend.

I think anytime you fall into the mindset of feeling youre a little bit better than you think you are, then thats a mistake, McCarthy said. I think its factual, its on paper (how good the Packers can be). But this is a team sport. Theres a lot of things that happen throughout an offseason and a lot of things can happen throughout a training camp and were a perfect example of what can happen throughout a season (with injuries).

So we will compete, train and pull this group of men together. Well line up our best 53 when we come out of training camp and well get ready to take whatever path is put in front of us to be successful.

General manager Ted Thompson went into the final day of the draft with six picks, and while he made three trades during the course of the final four rounds, the deals only ended up adding one pick.

Thompson started sending pick No. 129 (fourth) and No. 204 (seventh) to the Denver Broncos, receive No. 141 (fifth) and No. 186 (sixth) in return. Then, at No. 131, the Packers picked their first defensive player of the draft, selecting New Mexico State cornerback Davon House, before following that selection up by taking Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams, the Mackey award winner as the nations top tight end last year, 10 picks later at No. 141.

Thompson then made his second trade of the day, sending pick No. 163 to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for Nos.174 and 231, then turned around and traded No. 174 and No. 231 to Miami for No. 169 and No. 218, giving the Packers three sixth-round picks (Nos. 179, 186, 197) and two seventh-rounders (Nos. 218, 233) to close the draft.

At No. 179, the Packers took Utah offensive lineman Caleb Schlauderaff, then picked Appalachian State linebacker D.J. Smith at No. 186 before using their final sixth-rounder on Arizona linebacker Ricky Elmore at No. 197. In the seventh round, Thompson added another tight end in North Carolinas Ryan Taylor at No. 218 before ending the day by taking Arizona State defensive tackle Lawrence Guy at No. 233.

Those seven players join the teams top three picks Mississippi State offensive tackle Derek Sherrod, Kentucky wide receiver Randall Cobb and Hawaii running back Alex Green to form a 10-player class thats heavy on offense (five of the top six picks are on that side of the ball) and light on positions of perceived need (outside linebacker and defensive werent addressed until two of the final three selections).

We were literally going for value today, what we thought were good football players, Thompson said after completing his seventh draft as the Packers GM, having now selected 68 players since his January 2005 hiring. These guys have to come in and prove they can stand among the men on this team. But we felt like we added value, a core, and competition to our team today.

While Thompson said the Packers tried to conduct business as usual despite the labor unrest between NFL owners and the NFL Players Association, he acknowledged that not having free agency occur before the draft for the first time since free agency began in 1993 might have had an impact.

The uncertainty of what may and may not happen, and what the rules might be, theres no way to predict that. So we felt wed just go about our business like we always go about our business and adjust as we need to adjust going forward, Thompson said of the way the lockout was lifted on Thursday, only to be reinstated on Friday when the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the owners a temporary stay. Its very disconcerting for a person like me because I like to have a piece of paper in front of me that says, These are the rules, now go get em, compete just like anybody else. I imagine all 31 other teams are thinking the same thing. Its confusing and its exasperating and it is what it is.

While Thompson is not active in the free-agent market, the Packers do have a host of would-be free agents defensive end Cullen Jenkins, left guard Daryn Colledge, running back Brandon Jackson, wide receiver James Jones, fullbacks John Kuhn and Korey Hall and kicker Mason Crosby chief among them and Thompson acknowledged that he might have picked differently had he known which ones had been re-signed and which ones had gone elsewhere.

Its possible, Thompson said. You might have done things before this point that maybe would have led you to go in a different direction in the draft. But theres so much uncertainty today and yesterday and the first day, we just tried to say, Lets keep it simple, stupid, pick the best player and hope for the best.

And the approach seemed to serve them well. What happens next and when is anybodys guess.

Weve added depth and competition for our football team. Thats something that is very apparent as we look at the depth chart. And thats what you want, McCarthy said. I felt last years training camp was the most competitive training camp that we had in my tenure here in Green Bay. And Im very optimistic that this years training camp will be even more competitive.

Like everybody, we dont know what the schedules going to be because of the labor situation. But we look for a very, very competitive training camp so well be ready to go when we come out of training camp to take a run at another Super Bowl victory.

540ESPNMilwaukee wrote: