Ted Thompson's Record Examined

The first of the mock drafts came out today by Luke Easterling from USA Today Sports. The selections are an indictment on the job that General Manager Ted Thompson has done since the Super Bowl.

 

No. 1. RB Dalvin Cook, Florida State; No. 2. TE Jake Butt, Michigan; No. 3. EDGE Marquis Haynes, Mississippi; No. 4. G Kareem Are, Florida State; No. 5. CB Brandon Facyson, Virginia Tech; No. 6. WR Josh Reynolds, Texas A&M; No. 7. S Weston Steelhammer, Air Force

 

The actual player is unimportant, however, TE Jake Butt is interesting because the rumor is former 49ers coach and current Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is rumored to be in the mix for Mike McCarthy's job next season.

 

Ted Thompson Has Curious Office Hours

Watching the Packers.com transaction section is a mission in frustration. First, Packers.com is the ABSOLUTELY last place to go for timely news. The national news wires have Packers news quicker than Packers.com, so I normally don't check it.

 

Second, General Manager Ted Thompson only does business on Friday and Saturday. He makes moves for the next game at the last minute so whatever player he picks up doesn't have time to get ready for the game, leaving the Packers with one or two players unable to contribute.

 

Once again this happened this week. Cornerback Demetri Goodson, who had finally began to contribute in his third season, was placed on injured reserve after suffering a very serious knee injury three games ago against the Titans.

 

Who Will Run The Ball Against The Texans And Other Stuff

Since Eddie Lacy went down with an ankle injury in Week 6 quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been the Packers leading rusher. He has consistently gained yardage averaging 6.2 yards a carry and saved drives by making 20 first downs most on third down.

 

However, last week in the win over the Eagles Rodgers tweaked his hamstring, so his mobility will be restricted leaving the ground game up to the halfback James Starks, tailback/slot back Ty Montgomery, fullback Aaron Ripkowski and halfback Christine “A Boy Named Sue” Michael.

 

Starks is beginning to show signs of life with 41 yards on 17 carries against the Eagles for 2.8 yards a carry after beginning the season with the worst statistics of his career averaging just 1.8 yards. Starks had some good runs, but he needs to do more this week.

 

If We Only Had Defense

"We could while away the hours, conferrin' with the powers, consultin' with Mike Pence. And my head I'd be scratchin' while playoff thoughts were hatchin' if we only had defense."

 

Prior to the win over the Eagles last Monday Night the Packers suffered through a four-game losing streak, the longest since a 5-game streak in 2008 when Aaron Rodgers became the starter and the team fell to 6-10.

 

While the Packers offense in general and Aaron Rodgers in particular had been dysfunctional at best and downright awful at worse for 14 straight regular season games it wasn't the offense that let a 4-2 record fall to 4-6.