Interesting (but futile) exercise over at Packer Update, where a “former scout” talks through the various positions on offense (defense to be done later today) and how they may be addressed this weekend at the draft.
One comment jumps out at me, however, under the discussion of the tight end position:
Donald Lee is the only NFL-caliber tight end on the current 80-man roster, so this position has to be addressed fairly early.
Really? How does he know?
Nobody knows what the Packers have in Tory Humphrey other than the Packers. Word was that the coaching staff was very high on him coming out of the mini-camps last year and that they expected to see good things from him in training camp before he was lost for the season on the first day of camp. Yet I constantly see people making statements like the one above, how Lee is the only TE on the roster, how the Packers simply must draft a TE on the first day, ect. Remember how every Packer and national pundit wrote off the receiving corps in training camp last year, saying how Donald Driver was the only legit player the Packers had at the position? I specifically remember Bob McGinn saying the Packers would be the laughing stock of the league if they went into the season with Morency, Jackson, Wynn and Grant as their running backs. It was these very players that ended up being part of one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL, second only to a once-in-a-lifetime Patriots team. And on the defensive side of the ball, who, at this point last year, looked at the Packers’ depth chart and said - “Atari Bigby - he’ll be the starter at strong safety!”
The point is, for all the declarations of what the team does and doesn’t have personnel-wise from all of us in Packer Punditry, only the Packers know for sure. The rest of us, even former scouts, are just wild speculators, hoping one of our pontifications proves correct so that we can reference it sometime down the road in an effort to make ourselves seem knowledgeable. Better that we all admit that we have no idea and enjoy watching the professionals go to work this weekend…
Andrew said in April 23rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm