AND NOW FOR THE FINAL WORD AT LEAST FOR NOW

The draft isn't over until it's over and then it really isn't over until the undrafted free agents are signed and as right now (Sunday night May 3rd) we have a list of the guys signed or about to be signed.

 

Malcolm Agnew

First a break down of their positions. There were five wide receivers, four running backs, three linebackers, two guards, two defensive backs, a tight end, an offensive tackle and a nose tackle. In addition, there were seven players invited to the Rookie Camp for a tryout. Of those there was a quarterback, two offensive linemen, two defensive backs, a tight end and a defensive lineman.

 

I actually know one of the signees, running back Malcolm Agnew from Southern Illinois University. He is the son of Ray Agnew - an 11 year veteran who played defensive tackle for the Patriots, Giants and Rams - and the brother of fullback Ray Agnew III - who also played at SIU and had a tryout with the Browns and is now with the Cowboys.

John Crockett

MOCKINGJAY DRAFT

Everyone and their brother had mock drafts leading up to the big event, so I decided to do something a little different and conduct what I will call my Mockingjay Draft if I was general manager instead of Ted Thompson.

 

One caveat is once I change a pick everything after that changes - but, of course, all you Trekkers know about the ripple effect in the time line of changing something in the past, so we'll just forget that aspect of it - and I will chose from the remaining undrafted guys in each round if I change the pick.

 

Round 1-30: Thursday night I said I would have drafted defensive tackle Malcom Brown from Texas instead of free safety Damarious Randall. But upon further reflection I would take Clemson ILB Stephone Anthony, who went to the Saints with the next pick. Either pick would have been better than Randall, but I will go with need at that point.

 

Stephone Anthony

Mike Mayock said: "Anthony is a big inside linebacker; a prototype. I think his best football is ahead of him. He'll be a starting inside linebacker immediately. He blew it up at the combine. For a guy that big, he's highly athletic."

SECOND VERSE SAME AS THE FIRST

With only one returning player at inside linebacker and two defections to replace at cornerback General Manager Ted Thompson went heavy at safety with his first two draft picks.

 

After taking the top ranked safety Damarious Randall from Arizona State at No. 30 in the first round Thompson took another sip from the safety well by snagging fourth ranked Quinten Rollins from Miami of Ohio with the 62nd pick in the second round with the plan being to move both to cornerback.

 

Quentin Rollins

Both are similar in stature (5-11, 195) and in the NFL.com rankings Rollins was actually ranked six spots higher on the overall rankings list.

 

Rollins is an interesting prospect. He is almost a carbon copy of last year's No. 6 round draft pick cornerback Demetri Goodson from Baylor. Rollins has only one year of college football experience while Goodson had two after both started their collegiate careers as basketball players.

 

If everything goes to form Rollins might not see any action at corner like Goodson did last year. In fact, with both Randall and Rollins moving from safety to cornerback neither of Thompson's top two picks could have any impact at all next season.

YOU DID WHAT?

I was almost totally wrong in my prediction about the Packers' first round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Well, maybe not totally wrong now that I think about. There were two parts of my prediction and I will examine my performance in two parts.

 

Part 1: So here comes my prediction. If (Marcus) Peters drops Thompson takes him at No. 30 red flags withstanding. If he doesn't and (Jalen) Collins is still there then he trades down (hopefully no less than six spots) and tries to draft him there or takes either (Eric) Kendricks, (Denzel) Perryman or (Benardrick) McKinney.

 

No. 1: I was right Peters wasn't there (I'll take any victories at this point). No. 2: I was right Collins was still available. No. 3: I was wrong Thompson didn't trade down.

 

Part 2: I could be totally wrong and (Thompson) goes off the board and picks a wide receiver or he stays with the need position and picks a name out of left field.

 

I hit this one right on the nose. Thompson went off the board and stayed with the need position and picked a name out of left field.

 

FINAL TALLY: On Part 1 I was right two out of three technically, but totally wrong on the whole. On Part 2 I was totally right (more or less). Not bad score for being wrong.

 

Damarious Randall

Now, if you're still listening to anything I have to say, here's my thoughts on free safety (soon to be cornerback) Damarious Randall from Arizona State.

 

No. 1: He was rated either the top (by Mike Mayock) or the second (by NFL.com) safety on the board, but safety was not hot position commodity, so I think he could have been drafted in Round Two.

A MIXED BAG OF NO. 1 PICKS

We're five days away from the 2015 NFL Draft. And even though it is being held in Chicago I am looking forward to it.

 

I have two reasons, or is it three, I'm not a fan of Chicago. First, Bears. Nuff said. Second, I live in Southern Illinois and those denizen's on the North Shore see Illinois as Chicago and the rest of the state. Us who live below the Eisenhower are considered bumpkins. And three, I live in a town with a lot of temporarily transplanted Chicago students and if I go to the local bar to watch the Packers games I have to suffer the slings and arrows - sometimes that is literally - of the Bears fans who love to harass Packer Backers. I think I can state without fear of contradiction (except for those delusional Bear fans who turn everything around - we all know people like that) the Bear fans are the ugliest and meanest in the world. I guess having to defend Jay Cutler can make you testy.

 

But I digress. I will now address General Manager Ted Thompson's track record with No. 1 draft picks. He's had 10 and it's a very mixed bag with high highs and low lows.

 

Thompson had two big hits and another who might turn out to be. His first big hit literally fell into his lap. Two-time MVP and Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers was talked about as possibly being the No. 1 overall pick, but for some reason he was suddenly the red-headed step child of the first round.

 



Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl MVP

 

Future Hall of Famer (I have to LOL on that one) Alex Smith was chosen No. 1 overall by the San Francisco 49ers by first-year General Manager Scot McCloughan, first-year Head Coach Mike Nolan and first-year Offensive Coordinator Mike McCarthy. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

I DECIDED TO ACCEPT THE MISSION TO GO ON A FOOL'S ERRAND

You will find a 100 different mock drafts with this or that scenario leading to the 30th pick in the first round. When it comes to the other 31 teams, or maybe the other 30, since the Raiders seem to defy logic a lot of time, most of them are very logical and end up picking someone at a need position.

 

But in the case of the Packers it's a fool's errand to predict what General Manager Ted Thompson is going to do, so the art of predicting is a very imprecise. But I will try anyway because...I'm the smartest guy in the room and...whoops, you heard that. I didn't realize I was thinking out loud. Be that as it may let's continue.

 

First let's look back to see what Thompson has done over the past 10 drafts. He has the reputation (through his own words prior to each draft) of drafting the best athlete available (BAA) regardless of position, but does he deserve it? Let's see.

 

Ted Thompson in the War Room

 

2005: 1-24 (QB Aaron Rodgers) - Needs: guard, safety, defensive end, strong side linebacker and running back. However, Brett Favre was nearing the end and the only quarterbacks on the roster were future Hall of Famers (tongue deep in both cheeks) J. T. Sullivan and Craig Nall, so when Rodgers had dropped from No. 1 overall to be available at 24 a future replacement for Favre became the biggest need. NEED.

DRAFT REDUX

The 2015 NFL Draft is a week away and it's time for me to take a look at how General Manager Ted Thompson has done over the course of his 10 previous drafts.

Aaron Rodgers not a happy camper when finally drafted

Thompson's first draft was in 2005 and his first pick was a huge hit. The Packers were coming off a 10-6-0 season where they lost in the Wild Card round to the hated Minnesota Vikings 31-17 under General Manager/Head Coach Mike Sherman. Thompson was hired when Sherman was stripped of his General Manager hat. The pick was the 24th and after an embarrassing drop - this individual was being talked about as possibly being the No. 1 overall - Thompson snagged quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the rest is history (after a three year apprenticeship behind Brett Favre).

His second pick was also a hit. Free safety Nick Collins was picked in the second round with the 51st pick and he became an immediate starter. Ironically, it took three years for him to play up to the level of the man he replaced (Darren Sharper), but he did and would have been as good or better, but a bruised spinal cord suffered in the second game of the 2011 season ended his promising career.

The rest of the 2005 draft was undistinguished at best. Outside linebacker Brady Poppinga (No. 4-125) and defensive end Mike Montgomery (No. 6-180) could be listed as serviceable. Poppinga started 44 games over six seasons before leaving in free agency and Montgomery was a solid backup for five seasons.

Tragically five of his 11 picks had their Packer careers or their after-Packers careers cut short by injury. The second No. 2 pick wide receiver Terrance Murphy was taken seven picks after Collins and his career ended in the third game of his rookie year with coincidentally a bruised spinal cord.

Strong safety Marviel Underwood (No. 4-115), guard Junius Coston (No. 5-143), cornerback Michael Hawkins (No. 5-167), cornerback Kurt Campbell (No. 7-245) and guard Will Whittacker (No. 7-246) also had their careers compromised by injury.

Warren Sapp

I said I would get back to the current off-season maneuvers by Coach Mike McCarthy and General Manager Ted Thompson (although I guess I may have to wait for the draft to get any action out of Thompson), but another story caught my eye and I just have to comment about the trials and tribulations of one Warren Sapp.

 

I don't dislike many players I've never met who never did anything to me personally, but in the case of Warren Sapp I totally, down to my core, hate the man. I'm not a fan of Deion Sanders because of his immense ego and I do not like Michael Irvin (for his cocaine use and his huge and growing ego and the fact he got away with offensive pass interference every time he played the Packers - sometimes right in front of the refs - and the fact a cocaine addict was inducted into the Hall of Fame), but I don't hate them.

 

In the case of Warren Sapp I have no problem hating the man, so in my mind what has happened to him made me smile. If anyone deserves misfortune and ridicule Warren Sapp does.

 

For those of you who are new to Packers (at least new since Nov. 24, 2002) Warren Sapp blindsided Chad Clifton on an interception severely separating his pelvis. After the game Coach Mike Sherman made a point to confront Sapp and say "cheap shot, mother....." and Sapp responded, "If you're so tough put on a jersey." I had my problems with Sherman, but for what he did that day he will always be on my list of great men. As far as Sapp is concerned I agree with Sherman he's a "cheap shot artist" on the field and small man for many reasons off the field. And he's now proven me right.