2012 NFL Draft: Packers Bolster Defense

In the interest of fairness, equal time, and actually taking a few moments to write about the team that has made the playoffs over the last couple years, I figured I'd offer up a few draft thoughts on my favorite football team, the Packers.

As I mentioned earlier this week, the Packers were in a rather odd position. Even though Green Bay was 15-1 last season and didn't lose much in free agency, the general consensus going into the draft is that the Packers have some work to do, especially on defense.

General manager Ted Thompson apparently agrees with this assessment. In his time as GM, he has now made five trades to improve his team's draft position ("trade ups," in other words). Two of those trades happened Friday night.

Dissatisfied with his position at 27th in the second round, Thompson moved up four spots in a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. He dealt the Packers' second-round pick and a fourth-rounder for the right to move up and take Michigan State defensive lineman Jerel Worthy. The big man should work as a defensive end in the Packers' 3-4 scheme, while first-round pick Nick Perry is slotted in opposite Clay Matthews at right outside linebacker. The goal with Worthy is to get a replacement of sorts for Cullen Jenkins, who was a key cog in the Packers' line during their Super Bowl XLV run. Jenkins left for Philadelphia after the lockout last summer, and he was not even remotely replaced. His loss rendered many guys, most notably Matthews and nose man BJ Raji, as much less effective than they were the previous season. Matthews' dropoff in production was also caused by a lack of a pass rush threat anywhere else in the front seven.

Thompson wasn't done. Seeing a lack of depth at cornerback, he dealt back into the second round, getting the 62nd pick from New England in exchange for the Packers' third-round selection and another Saturday pick. Thompson added to his secondary with Vanderbilt cornerback Casey Hayward. He doesn't have to make an immediate impact, but instead can work behind Tramon Williams and Charles Woodson. If he develops quickly, he provides the Packers with the security needed to potentially move Woodson to safety if that's a choice the organization wants to make.

(I'm not saying I'm in favor of it or not. As long as Woodson can play at a high level, I don't care what position he plays. I'll let the coaches make that call.)

Green Bay isn't done. This week's release of former All-Pro safety Nick Collins -- who suffered a serious neck injury in Week 2 last year and was apparently not going to be cleared to play by the Packers' medical staff -- creates a gaping hole in the middle of the secondary. Green Bay suffered greatly without Collins last year, as Charlie Peprah was torched on a seemingly regular basis. This isn't a good draft for safeties, so it's possible Thompson has something else in mind there.

Hopefully, the team doesn't plan to go into the season with the status quo. It was a scary good last season, and not in a good way. The other hope is that building more strength elsewhere on defense will help alleviate the issues at safety.

As we all know, a good pass rush can cover for a lot of deficiencies in the back. Similarly, having a strong secondary can help counter a poor pass rush. Of course, no matter what, you can only expect to cover receivers for so long before someone gets open.

The Packers still have some picks on Saturday, giving them a chance to add to a pretty solid special teams group (not the kicker and punter, instead I'm talking about adding depth for the return and coverage teams). Between that and the crop of undrafted free agents, it seems unlikely Thompson -- no matter how good he is at this job, and we know he's good -- is going to find a Week 1 starter. Can't be ruled out, but it would be foolish to count on it.

Last year's playoff disaster is still fresh in the minds of the Cheeseheads, but the way Thompson has started this draft should help calm their nerves a little bit.

Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy Deserve Credit

I try to be fair.

When I think people deserve to be criticized, I will do so. It works this way in my writing, and it works this way when I'm on the radio. If someone's performance merits criticism, I'm willing to do it, regardless of who it is. No one can be immune.

Earlier this season, I was highly critical of Green Bay Packers management, specifically general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy.

In the spirit of fairness, however, it seems we've reached a point where the two need a certain amount of credit thrown their way.

Packers Deny the Obvious

It's hard to argue that anything good came out of Green Bay's loss to Chicago Monday night ... unless you're not a Green Bay fan.

The Packers melted down in front of the nation, committing so many penalties (18) that if you cut the number in half, it's still too many for a team to be guilty of in a game. It's beyond absurd, really, that an NFL team not named the Raiders could commit that many fouls in a 60-minute game.

The other (actually, there were so many of these that "Another" would be more appropriate) startling development was how quickly coach Mike McCarthy abandoned the run.

Tuesday, McCarthy defended himself and his run game. Of course, there appears to be no run game to defend in Green Bay right now, but McCarthy says that's not the case. He spoke about John Kuhn and Brandon Jackson, who received all the designed carries Monday night (Aaron Rodgers had a couple scrambles).

"You have to look at what's the definition of the run game. I looked at this particular game, and I felt that our running backs were productive," McCarthy said.

"I thought Brandon and John played well with the opportunities that they were given with the ball in their hands and what was put in front of them.

"I thought the running back production was a positive in the game."

The numbers don't support a strong showing for the running game, but McCarthy seemed to hint that he was considering Julius Peppers, Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher as part of the evaluation.

He declared, once again, that Jackson and Kuhn are good enough to take the Packers to a winning season.

"I like our running backs. We are going to use them accordingly to get the ball down the field. I'm not trying to sell something that is not true," McCarthy said.

"Just because you don't line up and run it 25 times from the 'I' doesn't mean you are not committed to being productive with your running backs. If you look at the dynamics of our offensive personnel, we have the ability to play in a box offense. We have the ability to play in a spread offense. That is to our credit, and we're going to utilize that the best we can."

I get that the Bears play good defense. But the run game -- defined as the ability to matriculate the ball down the field without it being in Rodgers' hands or being thrown -- sucks.

Kuhn tried to get a few yards by cheating, but the Bears successfully challenged the play and exposed the officials' incompetence. He's okay, but nothing special, and he sure isn't going to break any long runs the way Ryan Grant did.

Jackson couldn't find a hole if he ran on a golf course.

The answer is not Dimitri Nance, a green back who was plucked off a practice squad, and so far has shown nothing to indicate he shouldn't be shipped back to a practice squad.

I'm not here to trumpet a free agent like Willie Parker. I'm also not here to say that Ted Thompson should actually use his phone for the greater good and deal for Marshawn Lynch.

But Thompson and McCarthy can't merely accept the offense as it is.

The lack of a running game -- again, defined as the ability to hand or pitch the ball to a thing called a running back and move the ball down the field that way -- is going to kill this team.

Rodgers is a very good -- if not great -- quarterback, but if he throws 45-50 passes a game because the Packers can't and/or won't run the ball, the Packers will see their season end before the NFC Championship Game.

That's not acceptable for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

No one thought the Packers would be in a spot where they needed a running back. You can't predict injuries, and you can't have a contingency plan for every player who can suffer a serious injury.

But when you get caught with your pants on the ground, it's time for action, not thumb-twiddling.

Oh, and apparently, "denial" ain't just a river.

Is Ted Thompson Going After Vick?

The Green Bay Packers started training camp over the weekend. Presumably, practice kicked off Saturday with the three quarterbacks head coach Mike McCarthy will take into the season opener against the Chicago Bears Sept. 13.

Aaron Rodgers, Brian Brohm, and Matt Flynn were McCarthy's choices a year ago, and there are no indications that anything will change at the position. The Packers didn't sign any free agents, didn't draft any quarterbacks, and don't appear to be on the verge of any trades.

Of course, this didn't stop the media from asking Packers general manager Ted Thompson about a quarterback Tuesday.

(Is there any way you guys will sign Michael Vick?)

(sigh) Uh, what is the answer that we give to questions like this? We're always looking to improve our team and we look at all options at all times. I wouldn't care to speculate in terms of the odds or anything like that.

(So you have looked at it to some degree)

We look at everything. Well, not everything. We don't look at stuff from across the ocean or something.

(Have you had any discussions about whether it would be worth pursuing him?)

We have had discussions about a large number of things and we're always talking personnel, different scenarios and things like that.

(This is an unusual guy, not a normal situation)

Yeah but the routine we go through is the same. It doesn't mean anymore that we're more likely or less likely to do it. It's a routine that we go through. It's automatic.

There's nothing wrong with checking up on stories and being watchful of news. It's perfectly legitimate for the media to be asking Thompson about Vick. He's a free agent at a position where it appears the Packers lack quality depth. However, Packers ace reporter Greg Bedard may have fallen a bit too hard for the sensationalistic value of Thompson's non-answer on his Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog.

Expect the chatter about this to only intensify solely because of Thompson's response. If you have no interest in signing a convicted felon that spent 18 months in federal prison for running a dogfighting ring, then just say so.

Bedard is a great reporter, and Packers fans are lucky to have him around. His opinion is valued because of the time he's put in as an NFL writer. He understands the game, and he certainly gets how the fans would receive such a move.

However, the thought of the Packers signing Vick is totally hypothetical and partially unrealistic.

First off, Vick would be accepting a job on a team where he has exactly a zero percent chance of earning the starting quarterback job by virtue of his own play. To get the nod over Aaron Rodgers, Vick would need the incumbent to fall flat on his face, or get seriously injured. While injuries happen in this sport, Vick is not likely to accept just being someone's backup and praying for an injury.

It's highly doubtful that Thompson would give Vick a significant contract. For starters, Rodgers just got an extension last year, and is very well paid. Also, Vick's past dictates that he accept a low or non-existent signing bonus, but that doesn't mean he will have to do that. Naturally, Thompson understands this, and isn't going to play stupid games with the shareholders' money.

Lastly, the Packers would be taking a huge public relations risk, right at a time where the team is just starting to show signs of full recovery from the Brett Favre fiasco. While it's arguable that this risk is worth taking, the Packers have to be very careful with a guy like Vick, who is as polarizing as any figure in the NFL right now.

For Vick to have any value to the Packers, they would have to design a special package of plays to use him in. Rodgers isn't going to sit, barring injury or completely unforeseen ineffectiveness, so Vick will have to be used in other ways. While McCarthy could certainly see some success with a Wildcat-type formation (Rodgers is a good-enough athlete to put on the field with Vick to cross up defenses), there has been no indication the Packers are interested in moving that way.

In the end, this appears to be much ado about nothing. The media was totally right to ask about Vick, but anyone who has been around Thompson for, say, five minutes should have known what his answer would be. Thompson believes personnel matters are to be kept under wraps until decisions are made, and he will never just randomly let the media in on his thinking.

Overreacting to his lack of insight on the matter is just silly.