Jermichael Finley’s name - theory

There were many more interesting names in the 2008 Draft. But I thought I might share my theory on how Finley was named Jermichael. (And I should add, a scenario I’m not unfamiliar with…)

Setting - hospital in Texas, March 26, 1987:

Mother talking to father moments after mother delivers. “What should we call him. We’re so indecisive. We’ve narrowed it down to two, I love Jeremy and and you love Michael. We have to decide. I also am not sure if I should have the lasagna or the chop suey”.

Mom: “Let’s go with Jeremy”.

Father, “No, should be Michael.”

Mom: “Jeremy”

Father: “Michael”.

Nurse: “um, we need a name”.

Mom: “Fine, how about Micheremy?”

Father, “No, but Jermichael would work”.

Jermichael.

Jokes aside - I’m excited to welcome Jermichael to the Packers. Exciting player.

Thoughts on the Packer Draft? Immediate grade: B

Packergeeks invites your comments/thoughts on this past weekend’s draft. Just to recap for reference sake, our 9 picks:

1. Jordy Nelson - WR
2. Brian Brohm - QB
3. Patrick Lee - CB
4. Jermichael Finley - TE
5. Jeremy Thompson - DE
6. Josh Sitton - G/T
7. Breno Giacomini - T
8. Matt Flynn - QB
9. Brett Swain -WR

Some of the reaction to the draft has been interesting. Some are ticked that we took 7 offensive players. Some are ticked we took 2 WR and 2 QBs. Some don’t like the attitude of Giacomini. Some think Patrick Lee is very mediocre. One guy (”Sparky” on WSSP) really didn’t like the draft and believes TT really blew this one. Doug Russell on WSSP earlier in the morning loves the draft. One of the guys at ESPN Milwaukee Radio is ticked at anyone who grades drafts saying you have to wait 3 years to know the true grade of a draft in the NFL. Yet, they then dissected the positive and negative points about the draft. It’s really the same thing fellas, you just didn’t assign a letter to it.

If I had a leaning at this point, overall I would fall in favor of his selections this past weekend. While I did not classify WR as a need position prior to the draft, our #4 (Robinson) and #5 (Martin) receivers are really only OK and could possibly be upgraded. Obtaining Jordy may not be a bad pick if he indeed has the upside TT and the staff believe he has. To be consistent, I have to support picking a bigger/possession-type WR as I have been asking for one for years. The Brett Swain pick is a bit more mysterious unless they have special teams thoughts for him or perhaps think he may be a Wes Welker-type slot receiver. Patrick Lee was a need pick, regardless of TT’s claim that he only picks the best player - TT knew we needed at least another corner to compete behind Harris and Woodson. I’m fine picking the 2 QBs, especially Brohm. He is a really good player - you gotta wonder how the draft would have turned out had Petrino stayed at Atlanta - would he have taken Brohm #3 - probably. (I do wonder if TT has a notion to develop Flynn and Brohm and try to deal one of them down the road, especially if one of them sees some back-up action and plays well - like Matt Schaub). I really like the TE pick-up: a young guy who is coachable, has tremendous athleticism, is a great receiver and at the same time someone who can be developed. And, some fresh blood at DE in Jeremy Thompson might help out what became a worn down pass rush by year’s end lasts year. And, we need bodies to compete on the O-Line - and importantly, once we decide who will play, we need to coach them hard and give them a chance to succeed. I don’t want this back-and-forth crap like last year.

I do wish TT had angled harder to pick up a viable RB (and/or a FB). Grant is very good and I am fairly confident he’ll continue to play well. But I don’t like the guys behind him. I heard Homer on ESPN radio over the weekend reminding us to not forget about Noah Herron. Listen, I like Herron because he’s from Milwaukee, but I don’t like him on the Packers and I really don’t like his hair. But I fear the Packers’ brass likes him because he’s solid, doesn’t make mistakes and works hard. I’m sorry, sometimes there’s more to football than working hard. It’s interesting really, with the RB position, we have Herron who works too hard with limited results, Jackson who works pretty hard with OK results, Morency who works sort of hard with nothing-nothing-nothing-big run-nothing, and then Wynn who doesn’t work hard at all and has decent results. I still believe we should have pulled something to pick up Rashard Mendenhall when he was in that brief, inexplicable free-fall in the first round. Or, Steve Slaton. We need some excitement back there and I want a viable 1-2 punch. That said, I will allow for the possibility that TT and MM have seen something from these other RB guys in the off-season I haven’t and that perhaps we may be more stable there than most of us presently think.

What are your thoughts on the overall draft by the Pack?

UPDATE: Forgot to add that I think we should have picked up a linebacker - even a 7th round guy to be a competitive body in camp. With 9 picks, TT should have been able to find one RB and LB who could contribute.

Packers select Jermichael Finley in 3rd round

Intriguing prospect. This guy made a surprising decision to enter the draft after having a solid year at Texas (as only a 3rd year sophomore). He indicates that he entered the draft primarily because he has a young family to take care of.

Read up here on this guy’s talents. I like drafting for a tight end - especially a 6′5″ guy who is 243lbs now, but with the capacity to add a good amount of weight without affecting his quickness. This guy’s athleticism is thought to be exceptional and I think this is a strong draft choice. He also apparently has great hands and is not afraid to contend for jump balls (could be valuable to Packers in the end zone). His blocking sounds like it needs improvement, but one comment made was that he’s very coachable (of course he is, most TT/MM draft picks are), so blocking can always be improved. Good pick.

I’ll leave you with this quote from the analysis:

“Finley will bring instant value in a double-tight end package, as he can line up in the slot, wide or in motion.”

Brian Brohm with 2nd pick, Patrick Lee with 3rd pick

What do we all think of that? Let Packergeeks know.

Brohm  - I like it. He was one of the players who would have been picked really high in last year’s draft had he come out. He can play and if you really analyze his 2007 year, he did little to hurt his stock. He is a very good quarterback and I really like Rodgers having some competition. Rodgers has shown some ability here and there but the truth is he’s still a bit of a question mark (especially with the injury concerns).

I think because most Packer fans are nice people, we are all rooting for Rodgers because he had to wait a few years patiently to get the chance to play - so we may feel a bit badly for him personally. In fact, I’ve already heard some out there (on radio broadcasts of the draft) not liking this pick because they feel Rodgers should just be given the starting job no question. I disagree. If Brohm comes in there and dominates, he should start. I like getting someone like this deep in the second round. Nice.

Lee - I heard one of the talk radio guys pulling for Patrick Lee - so he must be happy. I confess I know little about him. For those of you who also don’t know much about him - read up here. At least we drafted in more of a need area with this pick. I think it will be helpful to have another talented athlete back there. I do think that one thing TT has in mind when he makes picks is the confidence he has in the coaching staff and their ability to bring players along. From what I’ve read about Lee, sounds like he has some raw talent and speed, some quality return ability, but may also have to work some to be competitive at the next level.

 

Welcome to Wisconsin Jordy Nelson, from Packergeeks

Remember, the last time TT took a 2nd round WR who was relatively unheralded, he picked Greg Jennings - a guy most Packer fans are certainly glad we have. 

 

Who is Jordy Nelson, the Packers 2nd round pick?

Leave to TT to draft some seemingly obscure guy that was not high on other draft boards. Upon hearing this, my response was probably similar to other Packer fans “who the hell is this guy and why would we draft a receiver (who’s not also a return guy)”???

Well, I did some quick research and did comfort myself. He is a big player whom I suspect the Pack thinks can get bigger with proper weight training. Sounds incredibly coordinated and was an All-American WR last year. He only weighs 217, so I would doubt that they drafted him with the hope he could assume a TE role eventually, but I suppose that’s always possible. Read here for more information on him - this write-up on NFL.com is pretty complimentary.

I know TT probably had him ranked a certain way so that’s why they picked him here, but I’m not crazy about the choice (here in the immediate aftermath). I just don’t know as that is a need position, but it is possible McCarthy may have said he wanted a bigger possession-type receiver in there and Nelson may fit that role. I’m going to hold off on slamming the pick for now (likely Steve will do that) because there is something about his first name that makes me think - maybe this guy will be a good Packer.

I’ll leave you with the last line from the analysis part of his write-up on nfl.com:

“You just get the feeling that he is on the verge of being a special player.”

I like the trade

The trade was a good idea. We only dropped back a few spots (#36 overall) and picked up a 4th round pick for doing it. Smart.

DeSean Jackson???

It’s possible- would shore up return game, but other than that, WR not a real need. We’ll see. (It’s more likely TT will pick some rather obscure DE nobody’s heard of who will turn out to be money).

Trade up for Mendenhall

Brother Steve just texted indicating his desire to move up and snag Mendenhall. I couldn’t agree more. I’d give up our 1st round pick and a 3rd round pick or even one of the second round picks. I think he’ll be that good. I’ll say it again, one of the markers of a great team is one that can not only add need players but also make already decent positions into great ones. Picking up Mendenhall would do this.

Sudden Steve Slaton hunch (zero basis for this hunch)

I think the Packers will draft Steve Slaton somewhere. I don’t have any evidence for this. I find it interesting that the draft “experts”, for whatever reason, don’t think he’s worth much. I reviewed some of his profile and can’t quite understand why he’s essentially become villified by the draft community. This is a guy who a few years ago finished 4th in Heisman voting.

Here is my very basic thought on the guy. He’d be worth probably a 3rd rounder (though I wouldn’t even mind if we picked him up with one of the 2nd round picks). Here’s why. Think about the last 2-3 years of watching college football. Every single Sat, in highlight shows, you would hear first that West Virginia probably won, then you’d hear Pat White’s name and Steve Slaton’s name and then they’d show some ridiculous run featuring some ridiculous athleticism. He’s played for a very successful program and his supposedly “down” junior year still had him gaining 1400+ yards on the ground with 18 TDs. One article here, indicates that part of the reason his stats may have declined is simply the presence of Pat White who took plays and carries from Slaton. During his monster season a few years ago, Slaton averaged nearly 7 yards per carry. Last year, it was down to 5, which is still really really good. I would argue he probably hasn’t lost a whole lot of his ability, he was just forced to share the workload a bit more when Pat White came onto the scene.

The main reason I believe I have this hunch is that he seems to be one of those players who very simply just plays football effectively and seems to have a good attitude - both characteristics TT and MM look for. I can’t pretend to know anything more about his character, but I would love to pick up a high quality 3rd down back with game-breaking speed and jukability, as it were (the spell check didn’t underline that - perhaps jukability is actually a word?). Plus, he would add some excitment to our team instantly (and possibly even do some kick returning).

Please help spread the rumor that the Packers are going to pick him until it spreads to TT and MM and they realize “wow, how could we not have thought of taking him - let’s take him”. That’s my delusional goal in writing this post.