However, many of us remain concerned that the OL and DL and ILB which were absolutely destroyed twice by the 49ers and other opponents have not been adequately addressed.
We shall see....just a thought for the OL, is Jason Peters an option.
Originally Posted by: KRK
Actually the DL kicked ass, a strong majority of the games and IMO the only reason coverage (which struggled and you didn't mention) was able to hang in there.
Last season might be the least amount of time I've heard the OL bitched about since the early 2000s OL.
And ILB, yeah your right, they sucked... though Martinez did have a point in that he wasn't used to his strength this last season, but you can't use all 11to their strengths unless they have the same ones.
But, yes, I agree, OT is a large concern. Though so is CB for me.
I am simply not ready to cede that rookies can’t contribute. That’s a very popular opinion for those people who want to cover for poor decisions. “Give him time, give him time.” then three years later “Everybody knew the guy was a project” or “ that’s old news, quit kicking a dead horse.”
Originally Posted by: KRK
On a similar note, very popular opinion is that Gute was a great GM while going 13-3....but I'm not ready to cede that, as his draft picks really haven't develop at all yet.
Yeah there are some good ones, but they almost came at the level that they're playing at and haven't yet improved that much.
Though Gute is positioning them to give them room to grow, which if they do develop, that's extremely smart, but if they don't, leaves us in a potential hole at the position.
Also, with this last draft, it appears that Gute is setting himself to free up cap space in the future, so he has more for FAs, which he has used fairly well on defense, not as much on offense.
You keep saying a rookie won’t make an impact immediately. However, many rookies make huge impacts from the beginning. Writing off a rookie for their first year doesn’t make much sense.
And if even if your theory was correct, what’s the point in waiting to address your needs? If you get an impact from a rookie immediately in a position of need, great. If not, year 2 will be next year and that player will be a step ahead of next year’s rookie. Why waste time just saying “there’s always next year, so we don’t need to address that right now since he won’t make an impact this year.” Or “maybe other teams will just get worse, let’s hope for that.” Well that’s not happening, teams like the 49ers, Eagles, Vikings, and Bears all got better this offseason. I’m not so sure that we did.
Originally Posted by: go.pack.go.
Not many of Gute's rookies have huge impact from the beginning, except maybe those selected in the very top. Part of that is because he seems to be selecting guys based on their top ceiling potential.
Which you can get in round one, but further down, they only dropped because they need development... so he's going high risk, looking for that high reward.
The big problem with going after need is that most selection are swings and misses, so you need to look for best value, not necessarily best need.
Also, I still argue the Packers do draft for need... media and fans just don't see it because they define the word "need" differently. Fans mean, what have need right this second. Where the Packers look more toward a season in the future.
1) QB = not a need
2) RB = Need with Jones, Williams and Ervin all going into contract year
3) H-Back = Need because this system needed another, and lost Graham and Vitale
5) ILB = lost Martinez
6) OL OL OL = Linsley, Taylor, and Bak are all going into contract years. Madison injury might hold him out this year, Turner didn't play up to his contract.amd if they want to,.they can get out of it.after this year fairly easily.
7) OLB and S, = Packers lost OLB Fackrell and S Campbell
So all potential needs looking at next year model except the QB, which as Gute said months before the draft, if he sees a franchise QB drop to him, the Wolf model that these scouts have been trained in say grab them even if you already have one.