Common Thread in Packers Draft: Character and Durability

Among Nick Perry, Jerel Worthy and Casey Hayward, none seem to have major character concerns or an injury history.

There are positives and negatives about every player in the NFL Draft.

Packers third-round draft choice and Vanderbilt cornerback Casey Hayward supposedly doesn't have elite deep speed.

And say what you will about the motors that seem to run hot and cold on the Packers' first two draft choices, USC linebacker Nick Perry and Michigan State defensive lineman Jerel Worthy, but note that none of these players has major character or durability concerns.

When talking about character, that means that there hasn't been any history of players appearing in the police blotter.

Immature has been a word used to characterize Worthy, but that's something the Packers can work with. Young players have a way of being humbled once they enter the NFL once they find out they're no longer the Big Man on Campus.

There's been no off-the-field issues with either Worthy or his cohorts taken in the first two rounds of the Draft, which is a good sign.

As far as injury history goes, it's been minimal for all three players taken so far.

The biggest concern, and it's not even necessarily related to playing, is the presence of migraine headaches suffered by Hayward as noted by Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an interview with a scout.

The only injury history I could find with Perry is he missed one game in 2010 with a sprained ankle. And with Worthy, he wasn't able to do the bench press at the NFL Combine because of a pectoral strain, but he hasn't missed a single college game.

Both Perry and Worthy were junior entrants into the Draft, so their playing careers have been shorter than most, however.

It would appear general manager Ted Thompson and the rest of his staff are making a conscious decision to minimize risk as they're adding heavily to the defense this year, twice by trading up in the Draft.

No player is a sure thing. Every player taken so far has some quality that makes them a potential bust. But that's not limited to just the Packers. Every player in the Draft has some deficiency that comes with risk.

The Packers have taken character risks in the past under Thompson. See cornerback Brandon Underwood, for example. But look at when the Packers drafted Underwood: in the sixth round.

They've also taken players with injury red flags. Two high-round draft choices on the defensive line stand out in particular: Justin Harrell and Mike Neal. Perhaps the Packers have learned a lesson.

Teams are better off taking a chance on a questionable player in the later rounds when the salaries paid are much lower. If they don't pan out, there's little cost in releasing them.

While some fans clamored for linebacker Bruce Irvin of West Virginia or cornerback Trumaine Johnson of Montana, the evidence would suggest the Packers saw the risk associated with those players and would have had other safer options ranked ahead of them.

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Comments (7)

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PackersRS's picture

April 28, 2012 at 10:51 am

Great post Brian. You realized something nobody so far had thought about.

I just didn't get why mention Bruce Irvin when he wasn't available to begin with, but otherwise great work.

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Brooklyn81's picture

April 28, 2012 at 10:54 am

I get it and trust me I definitely don't wanna see any of those kinds of players on our team but it does happen every once in a while. But what i would like to see is some players with some nasty to them. Some Ray Lewis, Justin Tuck, JPP, Justin Smith, Terrell Suggs, JJ Watt, Brooks Reed type ppl especially on defense. Some ppl that play their ass off every game. Last season i felt like Bishop was the only guy on our defense that consistently played like that when he wasn't injured

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ppabich's picture

April 28, 2012 at 07:27 pm

I think that's quite a slight to CM3 and CWood.

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Jeremy's picture

April 28, 2012 at 12:03 pm

I'm glad we have Thompson who generally makes really good decisions and learns when he makes bad ones. As a contrast, look at the total and complete idiocy of the Redskins. I can't image how hard it has to be to be a fan of team ownership and leadership like that.

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Brooklyn81's picture

April 29, 2012 at 02:41 am

I agree they did play hard to but we need that person that makes everyone on the team want to play like that. But you can see that they are definitely gonna fix the tackling with the draft picks we got. All are great tacklers. And woodson could have done better tackling too

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Blake's picture

April 28, 2012 at 11:01 pm

As a Michigan fan, the only concerns I have regarding Worthy oertain to that stupid tattoo. This aggression against Mizzou will not stand.

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jrunde10's picture

April 29, 2012 at 11:46 am

"Packers third-round draft choice and Vanderbilt cornerback Casey Hayward supposedly doesn't have elite deep speed."

Brian, Mayock seemed to be in agreement with you on Hayward. Mayock criticized scouts, who said Hayward lacked speed, multiple times during the day-- with the packers not being a point of emphasis.

As far as Bruce Irving goes, I like a player who is a little crazy and has a mean streak, but when robbery comes into play, I throw up my hands. I question John Schneider's first round drafting, but then again he did take Earl Thomas.

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