Notes From Lombardi: NFC North

I love the ol "the Packers outscored their opponents" argument when taking away all the defensive touchdowns means they didn't....

packers

1. kampman, hawk, jeremy thompson, brandon chillar. unleash hawk and kampman. get some DL help in the draft to keep the OL off of our pass rushing LBs.

2.jordy nelson is a good kick returner. it's more about getting the guys in front to block for him.

3.yes they tackled horribly at times, but that YAC stat comes alot from getting burned over the top,due to no pass rush, as well.

4.ANDRE SMITH BABY!!!! if he is there at #9 i want him. depth, yes. good depth. meh.....

5. they don't have what it takes on the DL, yet. i have faith that TT will adress and fix this in and after the draft.

Mike in WI: How can you say TT is bad at drafting in the first few rounds? Ever heard of guys named Nick Collins or Greg Jennings? How about Daryn Colledge? James Jones, Aaron Rouse and Jason Spitz were all third round picks. Jordy Nelson was anything but a joke last year and looks like a perfect long term replacement for double D. Brian Brohm looked bad in the preseason but Rodgers looked bad in his first preseason too so that's not a good barometer. Pat Lee showed alot of promise when he was on the field.

TT has found some absolute steals in the second and third round. How could you honestly say TT struggles in the early rounds when he picked up Jennings and Collins in the second? If those 2 drafts were done over both of those guys would have gone in the first.

do yo guys realize that the difference between the 13-3 season and the 6-10 season was the losses 7 losses we had of 5 points or fewer? and WHAT was the reason we lost most of those games? DEFENSE. and WHAT is the saying about WHO is to blame most of the time in those tight losses? i believe it points to bad COACHING. and WHAT got replaced? the badd defensive coacing.

also, for the people who say we suffered "just a few" injuries- while your quantities may be correct in that we lost 4 players on defense. you have to also realize that those four guys were arguably the BEST at their respective positions. lose your best player at all four levels of the defense and still only lose those games by 4-5 points or fewer......(now this is sacrcasm folks) yeah, your a REAAAALLLLL bad team, and still have "a far way to go".

TT seems to do an okay job drafting. But when compared to the perenial powers of the NFL he just doesn't stack up overall. 4 years and only 1 winning season. And don't forget only 3 of those 13 wins came against teams with winning records.

The DEF needs to concentrate on the line. The D-Line left the LB's and DB's out to dry last season with it's lack of pressure. That should be the focus this year.

Love him or hate him this is probably TT's last year to prove he's an effective GM.

jeremiah,

Why would you be excited about Andre Smith? He has shown questionable character the past few months. I don't want to use the 9th pick on a guy who does not take playing football seriously. He could be great or his lack of ambition may make him a huge bust. Ted used 7 out of 9 picks last year on the offense, this year he needs to go after defense and fix the holes on the O line using free agency.

This is the season of make or break for Ted Thompson. His inactivity in free agency showed that he clearly believes that his players are better than the likes of Canty, Olshansky, or Burnett. And that is fine if he is right. If his draft picks won't pan out this year and the ones of 2007 and 2008 won't develop as expected, then he is in deep trouble. I think he relies too much on everything going in the Packers favor. IF Cullen Jenkins comes back full healthy, IF Barnett comes back fully healthy, IF Jolly can play a 3-4 DE, IF Giacomini can play RT. Too many IFs.
To the ones that come with the argument that many losses last season were close - yes, but many wins during the 13-3 season were as well. Eagles, Redskins, Broncos, Chiefs games were all very close. That could have easily been a 9-7 season, and you have to consider you are playing the worst team in football, the Lions, twice a year. Fact is, Ted Thompson the GM has a 31-33 record, has 1 winning season in his 4 seasons, and has reached the playoffs only once. While you can make the argument that he had to deal with the Mike Sherman mess, at the same time, teams can turn it around quickly in the NFL - see Dolphins of last season.

Ryan - "and we were still 2 missed FG’s from 8-8. this team isnt that far away at all."

That is the saddest thing I've ever read regarding the Packers. Just pitiful. You just might want to think about setting your sights higher... a lot higher. Or switch to being a Lions fan.
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As for TT's rating as a GM? D-

A C rating would require a .500 record and TT falls short. He has 1 winning season (for which he appreciatively thanked #4), one .500 season and 2 losing seasons.

Tom, if you read my whole post you would know that I said even with DEVESTATING injuries, and terrilbe coaching, we still whould have been 8-8. which in turn means with good coaching(Dom Capers) we will be right back were we belong(atop the NFC North)

A large portion of the GB losses were due to Bab Sanders inability to cope with the loss of Bigby, Barnett and Jenkins.

Obviously, Sanders doesn't have a good rep in the NFL, only being able to scrounge a position gig on a mediocre Buffalo staff after his dismissal from Green Bay.

The players themselves have quite a bit of talent. According to Gregg Williams, the GB players quality was a huge positive factor in his interview for a DefCor job.

Oh and TT was the GM of the Year in 2007.

His critics - to put it mildly - don't know what they are talking about.

DD-Williams was so excited he went to N.O.

TT needs to hit on more players if he's going to limit the Packers ability to upgrade the team by not using FA. Our Dline is thin, that is obvious and Michael Montgomery isn't going to help that!

The quality of life in NO is preferable to that in GB to a lot of people ... heck, not freezing your tush six months a year is preferable.

Just sayin.

PS. Montgomery is a warm body that gives TT some room to maneuver in the draft. Mike could bulk up and surprise as a 3-4 end but Ted will probably add a tackle and an end with two of his top four picks.

This is why he isnt signing any overpriced free agents. Theres no reasons to overpay when you dont have that many holes.

PPS. These invalid codes are extremely annoying. This is getting into the double digits now.