Looking around various draft sites I find up to six names of CB's who may go in the first. In no particular order there's Jenkins, Mckelvin, DRC, Smith, Cason and Talib who have all been mentioned as 1st rounders.

I've seen different Mocks with the Pack taking either DRC, Smith, Cason or Talib.

Some Mocks have a couple of these guys also going in the 2nd, so who knows?

There also seems to be a few good CB's for round 2 or 3. I personally want to know a bit more about the CB from Iowa, Godfrey I think is his name.

Perhaps the Combine will sort the order out more as how to rank these guys.

Of these names who do you draft experts think will actually be there for the Pack and which fit our scheme best?

I personally think there are only 3 1st round quality CBs in this draft: Mike Jenkins (South Florida), Leodis McKelvin (Troy), and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Tennessee St.).

I see Aqib Talib (Kansas), Tracy Porter (Indiana), Antoine Cason (Arizona), and Reggie Smith (Oklahoma) as the 2nd tier corners. All of those guys are 2nd round quality IMO.

I think Charles Godfrey (Iowa), Terrell Thomas (USC), Brandon Flowers (VTech), Dwight Lowery (San Jose St.), and Chevis Jackson (LSU) are the 3rd tier corners and I consider them 3rd round quality.

The 4th round quality guys are DeJuan Tribble (Boston College), Trae Williams (South Florida), Patrick Lee (Auburn), Justin King (Penn St.), and Tyvon Branch (UConn)

After that guys could go anywhere from the 5th to Undrafted IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by Grave Digger:
I personally think there are only 3 1st round quality CBs in this draft: Mike Jenkins (South Florida), Leodis McKelvin (Troy), and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Tennessee St.).

I see Aqib Talib (Kansas), Tracy Porter (Indiana), Antoine Cason (Arizona), and Reggie Smith (Oklahoma) as the 2nd tier corners. All of those guys are 2nd round quality IMO.

I think Charles Godfrey (Iowa), Terrell Thomas (USC), Brandon Flowers (VTech), Dwight Lowery (San Jose St.), and Chevis Jackson (LSU) are the 3rd tier corners and I consider them 3rd round quality.

The 4th round quality guys are DeJuan Tribble (Boston College), Trae Williams (South Florida), Patrick Lee (Auburn), Justin King (Penn St.), and Tyvon Branch (UConn)

After that guys could go anywhere from the 5th to Undrafted IMO.

Ya gotta love it when the draft is deep in an area of need. Gotta love it even more when you have a GM who doesn't just jump at a name. I would be real surprised if we took a CB in the 1st with this much depth out there.

Off of my top prospect's board:

1st Round:
13. Mike Jenkins/South Florida
21. Leodis McKelvin/Troy
22. Reggie Smith/Oklahoma
24. Aqib Talib/Kansas

2nd Round:
39. Tracy Porter/Indiana
41. Patrick Lee/Auburn
45. Antoine Cason/Arizona
53. Trae Williams/South Florida
54. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie/Tennessee State
58. Brandon Flowers/Virginia Tech
59. Charles Godfrey/Iowa
62. Justin King/Penn State

3rd Round:
79. DeJuan Tribble/Boston College
94. Terrell Thomas/Southern California

4th Round:
105. Tyvon Branch/Connecticut
114. Chevis Jackson/Louisiana State

5th Round:
144. Dwight Lowery/San Jose State
146. Jack Williams/Kent State
161. Terrence Wheatley/Colorado
173. Simeon Castille/Alabama
174. Michael Grant/Arkansas

6th Round:
180. Justin Tyron/Arizona State
186. Darnell Terrell/Missouri
197. Jack Ikegwuonu/Wisconsin
198. Zackary Bowman/Nebraska

7th Round:
221. Brian Witherspoon/Stillman

Priority Free Agents:
265. Wilrey Fontenot/Arizona
266. Matterral Richardson/Arkansas
274. Trey Brown/UCLA
283. Jonathan Zenon/Louisiana State

The full list regardless of position : http://www.thapack.com/2008_NFL_Draft_Top300.html

We are still two months away from the draft, haven't had any workouts yet, don't have any medical info that leaks out...etc....so there is guaranteed to be several big changes between now and April.

quote:

Originally posted by DurangoDoug:

I've seen different Mocks with the Pack taking either DRC, Smith, Cason or Talib.

There also seems to be a few good CB's for round 2 or 3. I personally want to know a bit more about the CB from Iowa, Godfrey I think is his name.

Of these names who do you draft experts think will actually be there for the Pack and which fit our scheme best?

Scheme is important but I don't think Thompson and the Packer's scouting department lives and dies by how players fit the scheme. For instance, I think if that was a strict rule with them I don't think they would have picked Jason Spitz. And Greg Jennings isn't that proto-typical big, physical west coast offense wide receiver. And the Packers just didn't go out and dump some good players like Clifton and Tauscher even though they might not be the best fits for the offensive scheme. On the other hand, I think they probably did have Brandon Jackson higher on their board than most teams because he came from a similar blocking scheme in college. So scheme plays a role, but sometimes I think the mock drafters put too much weight on it. Especially with the Packers, because I think over the last couple of years there has been a few examples where Thompson has shown that there are likely some other aspects of players that he greatly prefers over the "is this guy the prototype for what we do?" approach.

All that being said, my guess is that the Packers would shy away from taking Antoine Cason in round one because most look at him as a zone corner.

Iowa has historically played mostly quarters coverage and while Godfrey is fast as hell in a straight line he is a bit stiff. Generally guys like that get labeled as zone corners. But he has the speed that Cason does not, so is it more likely that the Packers could draft Godfrey and "coach him up" to fit what they do? All that I would say is that it's more likely to happen with Godfrey than it would with Cason. If you want to do projections you'd have to sit down and weigh the resume vs. ability vs. scheme factors and when it comes right down to it your guess would be as good as anybody elses at this point in time (unless that anybody else's guess is a guess coming from the Packer's scouting department).

Even with Cason...I would think the Packer's might shy away from him because he doesn't have great speed. Well Al Harris ran a 4.62 40 coming out of college, and obviously that hasn't hindered his ability to play in the Packer's current scheme.

One guy I would suspect the Packers would have an eye on...and GD will hate me saying this...is Auburn's Patrick Lee. Not many top level college teams play man-press coverage, but Auburn does so Lee has a great deal of experience doing what the Packers ask their cornerbacks to do. He also has good enough height which the Packers seem to prefer and certainly is fast enough (4.40 to 4.45 range in the 40). And at least one source with a pretty good reputation (Pro Football Weekly) stuck him in the first round of their mock draft (#31 to the Giants). So if you are looking a possibility that is just kind of sneaking around there not getting a whole lot of press, Lee is a guy who seems to fit the Packer's profile and I would think is a pretty decent possibility.

quote:

Originally posted by PackerJoe:
41. Patrick Lee/Auburn

53. Trae Williams/South Florida
54. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie/Tennessee State

You think Patrick Lee and Trae Williams are better CBs than DRC? Those other guys I could buy but those two I'm curious about your reasoning. DRC has the size, speed, ball skills, change of direction skills, etc.

Williams comes up short in the size department and isn't that physical. Lee isn't as physical as he should be and doesn't change direction that well from what I've read. Both have great speed and are good at finding the ball but I don't think either have as much upside as DRC.

quote:

Originally posted by Grave Digger:

quote:

Originally posted by PackerJoe:
41. Patrick Lee/Auburn

53. Trae Williams/South Florida
54. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie/Tennessee State

You think Patrick Lee and Trae Williams are better CBs than DRC? Those other guys I could buy but those two I'm curious about your reasoning. DRC has the size, speed, ball skills, change of direction skills, etc.

Williams comes up short in the size department and isn't that physical. Lee isn't as physical as he should be and doesn't change direction that well from what I've read. Both have great speed and are good at finding the ball but I don't think either have as much upside as DRC.

Rodgers-Cromartie is a BUST!
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Seriously, Rodgers-Cromartie is being (admittedly) unfairly penalized only because I have never seen him play. Two years ago I had contact with a couple scouts on a fairly regular basis and therefore I could get an excellent evaluation and be able to form a better opinion of guys I hadn't seen much quicker. I no longer have that luxury...or have that luxury with much less frequency. So I tend to wait it out until I can get enough feedback from folks I trust before I list those guys at spots which may be more appropriate. To be honest, I'm not getting to wound up about it because the draft is still two months away and there will be at least a couple more opportunities for me to sort out opinions/data on players like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Brian Johnston, Mike Peterson, etc.

Is DRC really a 1st rounder? I remember him being "down the list" a few months back but because his last name has a Cromartie in it he seemingly soared to the top of everyones' board. I know nothing about the guy, though. I just want to know what you guys think. GD weighed in and he's always got good things to say. Anyone else?

quote:

Originally posted by Bad Moon Rison:
Is DRC really a 1st rounder? I remember him being "down the list" a few months back but because his last name has a Cromartie in it he seemingly soared to the top of everyones' board. I know nothing about the guy, though. I just want to know what you guys think. GD weighed in and he's always got good things to say. Anyone else?

The fact that his cousin is Antonio Cromartie is not the reason he's high but it doesn't hurt. He pretty much has everything you look for in a CB.

He didn't much hype because he played at a D1AA school. He put on a show at the Senior Bowl though. His big question mark was his tackling ability and he did a good job tackling at the Senior Bowl. I really like him as a prospect and I think he's most definitely a 1st rounder...I think there's even a chance he'll be gone BEFORE our #30 pick also.

Lowery is going to make someone very happy from San Jose State. Had he come out after his junior year, he might have crept into round 1.

The kid has sick talent, and is also a dynamite KR/PR guy.

Uh oh, don't look now but look who the GBN projected to #30 on their latest mock:

http://www.gbnreport.com/3-roundprojection.html

By the way if I'm picking for the Packers, under these circumstances I would select:

Round One = Keith Rivers/OLB/USC
I'd hate doing it because I think he fits best at the spot that Hawk currently occupies, but how can you pass on this good of a player at #30?

Round Two = John Carlson/TE/Notre Dame
GBN projected him here and that's the same guy that I would take. Tight end is a major need area for the Packers now that Bubba is gone.

Patrick Lee being picked 30th is a joke IMO!

If they're going to reach for CBs, why not just take Charles Godfrey at 30? He's better than Lee and could also play Safety.

They also have DeJuan Morgan going to the Raiders at 34 which I think is silly. They have 2 good Safeties and need help at WR, Dline, and Oline. There are several guys picked after Morgan who represent a much better value and fill much bigger needs.

I can't see Devin Thomas going before Early Doucet...at all. Thomas is good but Doucet better and if he was there for the 49ers I'd be willing to bet they'd snatch him up. I think he would be hard to pass on for Oakland, Miami, and the Jets also.

Antoine Cason is a guy I'd love to see in GB. He is falling down the charts for some reason but the guy can play.

NFLN's Mayock lists Brandon Flowers as the best CB in the draft.

quote:

Originally posted by Pakrz:
NFLN's Mayock lists Brandon Flowers as the best CB in the draft.

Yeah I saw that too. I think Mayock is B.S.ing a little there. Flowers is a good CB certainly but not the best in the draft and certainly not the 7th best player in the draft (like Mayock has him ranked).