I respectfully disagree that "Thompsons drafting is not the problem".
Ted Thompson has had 5 drafts and we still have no offensive line, no depth in most areas and poor special teams.
I believe those three issues are an indictment on Thompsons drafting record.
"yooperfan" wrote:
I believe those issues are an indictment of Thompson's inability to utilize all his resources specifically free agency. Thompson should have addressed the problems you mentioned via free agency. That's the problem. His drafts have been pretty much focused on offensive skill players and a little bit of everything defensively, mainly linebacker.
He's landed two respectable offensive lineman in Jason Spitz and Josh Sitton, but he's ignored the tackle positions like you pretty much state or certainly know. Sure, trading up for Sam Baker would've been a wiser move than moving down and drafting Jordy Nelson, but the fact remains, Nelson is a nice player. Same can probably be applied to Michael Oher, who would've been a solid pick, but nobody could argue the Raji pick.
My entire point is that Thompson's drafts are passable, but not addressing key needs via free agency is the problem and his ultimate failure as a GM.
The Packers will have needs at SS, RB, OLT, ORT, OLG, DE, and OLB going into next season. They'll probably draft one or two solutions and try to fill the rest with late-round picks. This, assuming Thompson returns next year. You can't expect late-round picks to be solutions, especially right away. That's where a free agent pickup would make a ton of sense.
The team needs some blend. For example: Had GB overpaid for Igor Olshansky, they could have used the No. 9 pick on Michael Oher. All it takes is maybe one more signing like the one I suggest, and this is a much better team IMO because it allows the Packers to fill another need using the draft.