Dougherty: Packers attack CB problem but neglect pass rush

With the state of the D I think they had a choice in approach: put patches on multiple areas of the D, or fix one area and tread water elsewhere. Couldn't do it all in one shot, so here we are. I guess my only argument would be in choice of players in executing this approach (Jaire Alexander, Josh Jackson v. Derwin James, Dante Jackson/Josh Jackson). I don't get the impression it was a good year to reach on edge guys. Even the 2nd tier guys went in the third which is crazy for pass rushers.

Hopefully next year is a better year for edge guys. If not, we have two firsts to move up into the top 10 or top 5 to get the best guy we can. Go from there.
 
Reading here and there, this is all I've got.

New defensive coordinator Mike Pettine always had an aggressive, disruptive pass rush when he was coordinating the Jets’ defense from 2009-12, even though that team had very mediocre edge rushers. Pettine generated pressure through scheme by putting extra defensive backs on the field and having them roam around, creating a blurry look. At the snap, some would rush and others would rotate into coverage. It was hard for blockers to identify which would come, and the beauty was those defensive backs always arrived quicker than a defensive lineman or linebacker would.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/04/28/nfl-draft-2018-team-grades-picks-analysis

That makes some sense of the first 3 picks, definitely. TW's experience could also help with this. Now, whether or not this translates from 2012 to 2018, I have no idea. I'll assume that the DB's better know how to tackle in this scenario, vs throwing themselves on the ground or simply skipping away. ??
 
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here's an article from that bastion of professional sports reporting which seems to echo many of the thoughts expressed in this thread:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robrei...-of-the-green-bay-packers-draft/#5c8b5b9a6c5c

Brian Gutekunst knew he couldn’t fix everything that ailed the Green Bay Packers in his first draft as general manager.
Former G.M. Ted Thompson left the roster in shambles. And history shows it typically takes two years, or more, to overhaul a roster and get a team back on track.

Gutekunst appears to have taken strides to help the Packers bounce back from a 7-9 season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Gutekunst spent five picks on defense, four on offense and two on special teams.
And when it was over, Gutekunst and the Packers felt awfully good about what they’d accomplished.

“I think we stayed disciplined to the process and tried not to get out of that, and we feel really, really good right now,” Gutekunst said after the draft ended Saturday evening. “Hopefully moving forward there’ll be other opportunities, and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of Gutekunst’s first draft as Green Bay’s G.M.

THE GOOD
• Cornering the market: The Packers had one of the NFL’s poorest collection of cornerbacks in 2017. But Green Bay addressed that problem taking cornerbacks Jaire Alexander of Louisville and Josh Jackson of Iowa in the first two rounds.

Alexander’s best film came during his junior year, when he finished with five interceptions, nine pass breakups and earned second-team all-ACC honors. Alexander’s play slipped during an injury-plagued 2017 campaign. If the Packers get the 2016 Alexander, he’ll likely be the opening day starter in the slot.

Jackson sat for most of his first three seasons in Iowa City, then exploded in 2017. Jackson led the nation with eight interceptions and had a remarkable 26 passes broken up. He could start outside from day one.

“They both are excellent ball hawks,” Gutekunst said. “They find the ball, not only coming forward but with their back to the ball. Certainly, one’s a taller, longer player (Jackson). One’s probably going to be more twitchy and explosive (Alexander). I think they both have the versatility outside and in the nickel.”

• Triple play: Green Bay’s group of wide receivers was embarrassingly thin after starters Davante Adams and Randall Cobb. So on Day 3 of the draft, the Packers selected Missouri’s J’Mon Moore in the fourth round (pick 133), South Florida’s Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the fifth round (174) and Notre Dame’s Equanimeous St. Brown in the sixth (207).
The common theme with Green Bay’s newest receivers is size. Moore stands 6-foot-2 1/2 and weighs 206 pounds. Valdes-Scantling is 6-4, 202, and St. Brown is 6-4 ½, 218.

If one or two of the rookies emerge, the Packers’ offense — which slipped to 26th in total offense and 21st in scoring — should get back on track.

“It wasn’t something I targeted, like, ‘I want to get three receivers to add that depth.’ I think we kind of went on a case-by-case basis,” Gutekunst said. “As we looked up at the board, we said, ‘OK, what are our options now?’ And when the pick came, that was the best option. It wasn’t something we targeted, we didn’t do that last year either, it was just something that kind of fell to us that way.”

• Inside job: Green Bay hasn’t had a difference maker at inside linebacker since Desmond Bishop in 2011. But the Packers may have gotten a steal with third round inside linebacker Oren Burks of Vanderbilt.
Burks, a former safety, moved to inside linebacker his final year with the Commodores. Burks ran a 4.62 40-yard dash and should get immediate playing time in the base and sub packages. He also led all linebackers in the draft in the broad jump (10-10) and vertical jump (39 ½).

THE BAD
• Under pressure: The Packers’ pass rush needed a jolt. Instead, Gutekunst didn't address the position until his final pick when he took edge rusher Kendall Donnerson of Southeast Missouri State.

“I wouldn’t use the term bypass,” Gutekunst said. “We tried to let the board come to us like we always do. If it’s not there, it’s not there. And the value of the players that we picked were just higher valued players than the pass rushers that were on the board.”

• Tight end shortage: Packers head coach Mike McCarthy typically likes to carry four tight ends on his roster. Green Bay bypassed the tight end group altogether, though, leaving it with just Jimmy Graham, Lance Kendricks and Emanuel Byrd on the roster.

“If we were in a position to draft tight ends based on where we were on the board, or excuse me the draft selection and the grades we had, we probably would have had a tight end,” McCarthy said. “It’s not as much about the guys that are here. It’s about trying to add the best prospects to our football team.”

THE UGLY
• Isn’t that special: Green Bay drafted punter JK Scott in the fifth round and long snapper Hunter Bradley in the seventh round. Both were the first players drafted at their respective positions.

Scott and Hunter may go on to have stellar NFL careers. But few teams invest draft picks in these positions.
“We saw a lot of value,” Gutekunst said. “Both players have performed extremely well at a high level in college football, and we just thought it gave us a chance to provide a lot of competition at that area.”
 
HeartyHops said:
Reading here and there, this is all I've got.

New defensive coordinator Mike Pettine always had an aggressive, disruptive pass rush when he was coordinating the Jets’ defense from 2009-12, even though that team had very mediocre edge rushers. Pettine generated pressure through scheme by putting extra defensive backs on the field and having them roam around, creating a blurry look. At the snap, some would rush and others would rotate into coverage. It was hard for blockers to identify which would come, and the beauty was those defensive backs always arrived quicker than a defensive lineman or linebacker would.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/04/28/nfl-draft-2018-team-grades-picks-analysis

That makes some sense of the first 3 picks, definitely. TW's experience could also help with this. Now, whether or not this translates from 2012 to 2018, I have no idea. I'll assume that the DB's better know how to tackle in this scenario, vs throwing themselves on the ground or simply skipping away. ??
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Good read HH ! I think you have to think though that the spread game had not fully developed in the NFL since the last time he was a true DC. My concern is that he's been out of it awhile. Might take him sometime to get his feet wet/adjust his scheme. Just a thought.
 
44blitz said:
Good read HH ! I think you have to think though that the spread game had not fully developed in the NFL since the last time he was a true DC. My concern is that he's been out of it awhile. Might take him sometime to get his feet wet/adjust his scheme. Just a thought.
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Hopefully, being a consultant for the Seahawks, he'll have had a good loom look at what today's offenses are doing. Not sure how big his role was out there but I'm hoping his scheme improves this defense.
 
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i've been told that this is a good loom:

SX60loomSpecifications.jpg
 
rpiotr01 said:
With the state of the D I think they had a choice in approach: put patches on multiple areas of the D, or fix one area and tread water elsewhere. Couldn't do it all in one shot, so here we are. I guess my only argument would be in choice of players in executing this approach (Jaire Alexander, Josh Jackson v. Derwin James, Dante Jackson/Josh Jackson). I don't get the impression it was a good year to reach on edge guys. Even the 2nd tier guys went in the third which is crazy for pass rushers.

Hopefully next year is a better year for edge guys. If not, we have two firsts to move up into the top 10 or top 5 to get the best guy we can. Go from there.
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I agree that there probably weren't EDGE players available with value where we were picking. Edmunds in the first was still a project, he did NOT play EDGE in college. Also, I thought it was mentioned here before, that QBs are getting rid of the ball so fast now (usually under 2 seconds) that it negates a pass rush. Over the last few years we've been so bad at coverage that it didn't matter how long QBs held the ball, we just didn't seem to pressure them. So, hopefully, by getting some guys (King, Alexander and Jackson) who could cover we will see improvement in the pass rush. Wilkerson's addition will help. Beigel and Adams pretty much were red-shirted last year. Gilbert flashed a little at the end of the season. That's four guys who really weren't here at all last year.
Getting an additional 1st round pick next year is significant. Remember that Clemson had two or three DL that could've been in the first round THIS year who returned to school. Michigan has DL Gary and my 2019 man crush is probably coming out next year, Nick Bosa from OSU. Next years DL/EDGE is top heavy and we have TWO first round picks. Gute just might know what he's doing.
 
Dubz41 said:
I agree that there probably weren't EDGE players available with value where we were picking. Edmunds in the first was still a project, he did NOT play EDGE in college. Also, I thought it was mentioned here before, that QBs are getting rid of the ball so fast now (usually under 2 seconds) that it negates a pass rush. Over the last few years we've been so bad at coverage that it didn't matter how long QBs held the ball, we just didn't seem to pressure them. So, hopefully, by getting some guys (King, Alexander and Jackson) who could cover we will see improvement in the pass rush. Wilkerson's addition will help. Beigel and Adams pretty much were red-shirted last year. Gilbert flashed a little at the end of the season. That's four guys who really weren't here at all last year.
Getting an additional 1st round pick next year is significant. Remember that Clemson had two or three DL that could've been in the first round THIS year who returned to school. Michigan has DL Gary and my 2019 man crush is probably coming out next year, Nick Bosa from OSU. Next years DL/EDGE is top heavy and we have TWO first round picks. Gute just might know what he's doing.
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Some of my personal disappointment comes from thinking that Gute would show more urgency in building the team than TT had in the past, then seeing him really just build competition at certain positions and stack the deck in his favor for next year and beyond. In a way that's reminiscent of TT's first draft when he took Aaron. It was an investment in the future, with eyes down the road instead of right here and now. Gute will be charged with moving the team on from Rodgers some day, but more immediately he's going to be tasked with moving the defense on from Clay Matthews, and maybe that's where those first rounders come in. Of course you can always respond that Edmunds could've been that guy this year and you wouldn't be wrong.
 
rpiotr01 said:
Some of my personal disappointment comes from thinking that Gute would show more urgency in building the team than TT had in the past, then seeing him really just build competition at certain positions and stack the deck in his favor for next year and beyond.
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i would argue that he has shown more urgency. he brought in wilkerson early on in free agency to deal with the qb pressure issue. he brought in two experienced veteran corners to cover us in case the draft was not productive in that area. i like that he recognizes that there is more than just the draft to fill holes. i think he's on the right track. and he might not be done with bringing in veterans to provide depth. we'll have to see what happens later when teams cut down to 53 and a few surprises emerge.
 
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