I would give the Packers a “B” grade.
Ted Thompson didn’t screw around. It was a straight ahead draft – going strictly for need. I don’t have a problem with that given how close the Packers are to a Super Bowl. I liked his aggressiveness in trading up for Jason Spriggs. There was a drop in tackles after him. The big thing is the intelligence level of these players. Look at the schools they’re from – Stanford, Northwestern, UCLA, Indiana.
TT might have scored a coup getting Northern Iowa CB Makinton Dorleant as a free agent.
In a perfect draft, TT would have traded down in the first round – he still probably could have gotten Kenny Clark or one of those Alabama D-linemen – and had the extra pick to get a RB. But Clark was his man and he wasn’t budging from 27.
TT gets it, though, that the Packers’ window isn’t going to keep open forever. These rookies appear to have the pedigree to pick up Dom Capers’ complicated system very fast and contribute. It’s actually a plus that Kyler Fackrell is 25.
So, all in all, I’m pleased.
