I don't get the point you're trying to make. Of course it'd be nice to have Kuechly and Poe - 31 other teams feel the same way right now.
Are you trying to say "in a dream world it'd be nice if they were in Packer's uniforms" or that Ted should have known better and moved up and selected them?
Originally Posted by: musccy
I guess it would be more in line with the "in a dream world" scenario. Hey, this is a discussion, and a man can dream can't he? Actually, maybe it is a bit of both. As a GM of one of the best teams in the NFL, and with all of the resources they pour into talent evaluation, maybe Ted might have known better to make a bold move, rather than sitting back in a more comfortable, conservative stance.
The bigger point attached to this is imagining if Ted had actually traded up into those prime spots to take those players, and how differently we may have fared. We could have been a much more balanced team, and could have been more of a true contender last season and the season before.
We could stand to add impactful players much like those mentioned. They rarely fall in your lap. But really, this is all speculation amongst us fans, looking back with the benefit of hindsight.
I was simply thinking, wow, what it may have been like had we made some bolder moves and added players like that to this D. Thinking of what this team might be now. The difficult part is looking at what this team is now, and seeing many players added over the last 3 years not panning out, and the holes left to fill in this roster.
Daniels is an exception. Hayward may have some promise based on his rookie year play. Datone Jones could be an ace in the hole if he develops (but I haven't seen anything to make me feel confident that he will be special). Hyde looks like a safe player added to our D, with a bit of a speed limitation. Josh Boyd seems promising after the little bit he got to play.
Nick Perry? The guy has gone MIA far too often. R1 2011
Jerel Worthy? He didn't do much before his ACL, now he's a year out and I don't hold out hope that he will be a big contributor, and I hope I'm wrong there. R2 2011
Sam Barrington - I'm really hopeful he shows something next season. R7 2013
Nate Palmer - Same. R6 2013
McMillian is gone. R4 2012
Manning is gone. R5 2012
Davon House. What do you say? R4 2011
DJ Smith is gone. R6 2011
Ricky Elmore is gone. R6 2011
Lawrence Guy is gone. R7 2011
So, that's ONE player who has contributed and developed pretty well within that 3 year span. Mike Daniels, going into his 3rd year with the team. Another, Casey Hayward, showed incredible promise as a rookie, then was lost to injury his entire 2nd season. Datone didn't really play. Hyde played a lot and shows promise. Boyd hardly played. These are our best 5 players added to our D over this 3 year span.
10 players either are no longer with the team (5), or have failed to contribute (5).
Don't you think Ted maybe should have known better? It is his job to know. How is this shotgun thing working, adding all those picks? Right now, I would say it is not working. I would rather we added (at least) one true impact player per year on D with a more aggressive approach. Yeah, take some chances, trade away a bit to move up and get the goods.
Otherwise, we are left with players like Nick Perry as the best of a very sorry looking group of 10 players Ted chose to take in the manner he prefers. All ten of them could be classified as failures.
Ted needs to do a better job, period. The staff also needs to do a better job of getting these players developed. I thought it was a travesty Datone Jones hardly saw the field last season.