Jersey Al's Packers Blog

Vince Lombardi had 30 picks in his first draft.  The next year the AFL had its first draft of 33 rounds. Competition for picks was an all out war.  In today’s draft when the final pick is made, it becomes the Wild Wild West for GM’s working to sign the best of the UDFA’s.  With 32 teams drafting, and 7 rounds of picks, getting those picks right can cure or kill a team. Signing the lesser-known players you have scouted is just as important as getting those draft picks right.

(This article is by Lifetime Packer fan Don Christensen, a frequent contibutor as “Yoop” on the TalkinPackers Message Board, who weighs in today with his choices for the UDFAs with the best chances to stick with the team.)
NFL General Managers build teams from the top down with the draft, then from the bottom up developing young players. Many expect their top picks to start right away.  Last year, Clay Matthews made it to the Pro Bowl his rookie year.  But many high draft picks end up playing limited roles in their early years.  I believe the expectations the fans have of higher draft picks is unrealistic and the development of late round picks and undrafted players is greatly overlooked.  Read more... (1308 words + 6 images, estimated 5:14 mins reading time)

By Guest Author, Pigskin Paul

Our friend Pigskin Paul takes a close-up look at three of the Packers’ undrafted free agents that are hoping to snag a roster or practice squad spot:

One of the free agent mystery men who won a contract after his audition as an unsigned invitee to the Green Bay Packers 2010 Rookie Camp, was SHAWN GORE, who played his prep and college ball north of the border. So who better to give us a scouting report on GORE than our good friend COLIN LINDSAY from The Great Blue North Draft Report. Here is his synopsis in evaluating GORE coming out of college.

When word leaked out that Green Bay had a WR in for a tryout from little Bishop’s University in Canada, just about everyone assumed it was Stephen Turner who put on a remarkable athletic performance at this year’s Canadian league draft combine where he ran the 40 in just over 4.30 seconds.  Read more... (1455 words + 9 images, estimated 5:49 mins reading time)

by Guest Author, Thomas Hobbes

Packer fans, here’s a different way to look at the recent NFL Draft:

An interesting piece of information just came to my attention, namely a photo was recently leaked of Jerry Jones during the NFL draft in front of the Dallas’ Cowboys’ big board .

More importantly, Cowboy fans with no lives have spent hours working out the players listed in the majority of rounds one through four. I’m sure Jones is livid that his board was exposed (Luckily for the Cowboys it looks like the picture was taken while the draft was going on, so its unlikely that any other teams gained any unfair information).

Here is what Cowboys fans have been able to determine:  Read more... (1420 words + 7 images, estimated 5:41 mins reading time)

Throughout the Green Bay Packers storied history, their GMs and scouting departments have worked endlessly to find those undrafted hidden gems that other teams may have missed. They yearn for players that can make the roster at an inexpensive cost and contribute to the team. You might call that the ultimate value proposition among NFL GMs.

As the Green Bay Packers’  2010 rookie camp has come to an end, 25 NFL dreams have been shattered for now. At the same time, 3 more tryout invitees were signed to contracts after the weekend of workouts, bringing to 14 the number of undrafted free agents (UDFAs) that will be given a chance at NFL fame and fortune with the Packers.

The Packers roster in 2009 included four major contributors that were not selected in the NFL draft: Cullen Jenkins, Atari Bigby, Tramon Williams and Ryan Grant. In addition, other UDFAs on the roster were Spencer Havner, John Kuhn, Jarret Bush, Evan Dietrich-Smith, Josh Bell, Bret Goode and late season practice squad signee Cyril Obiozor.  Read more... (1890 words + 11 images, estimated 7:34 mins reading time)

On this last day of Packers rookie camp, I decided to take a look at what the very bottom of the Packers roster looks like right now.

2010 DRAFT PICKS – DO NOT COUNT TOWARDS ROSTER UNTIL SIGNED:

75      Bryan Bulaga  OT          Iowa
96      Mike Neal          DE      Purdue
42      Morgan Burnett      S      Georgia Tech
81     Andrew Quarless  TE      Penn State
74     Marsh. Newhouse T/G      TCU
44     James Starks     RB      Buffalo
98      C.J. Wilson         DE      East Carolina

PLAYERS SIGNED FROM PRACTICE SQUAD OR DURING OFF-SEASON:  Read more... (1273 words + 5 images, estimated 5:06 mins reading time)

If you’re looking for a straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense breakdown of each Green Bay Packer draft choice, I have just the article for you. Written by guest author Pigskin Paul, this synopsis will give you the key points you need to know about each new player. Enjoy!

ROUND 1    PICK 23    BRYAN BULAGA/OT/IOWA/6’5/315                   PPP RANK #11

So did the PACK get the steal of the DRAFT when BULAGA fell to them at PICK 23? Probably not. Did they get great value at the Pick? Sure did. Is he the next FORREST GREGG in Green Bay? No, he’s more likely to be the next CHAD CLIFTON. And that’s something they have been trying to find and Draft for the past 5 years. He has more technique and athleticism than BARBRE. He is more ready to step in and produce than BRENO.  Read more... (1539 words + 12 images, estimated 6:09 mins reading time)

By Guest Author, Thomas Hobbes

So now that the NFL draft is officially over, tons of fans will converge on Packers web sites to air their grievances about not drafting a particular player or reaching for another.  They will hand out grades to teams and players alike; argue with other fans about what should have happened, and how the analysts have no idea what they are talking about.

I frankly am uninterested in such things; you’re typically not going to find out how good a draft class or a player is for 3-5 years and a player’s success has a lot to do with the team and the environment they get drafted in.

Nevertheless, every team drafts a player with a role in mind, and in this article I hope to analyze what role I think each player was drafted for; I am not concerning myself with what I think will likely happen, I have not placed a grade or an analysis of each player’s potential for a reason.  Read more... (2825 words + 6 images, estimated 11:18 mins reading time)