What? Was Marvin Harrison involved in a shooting?

Did anyone do a double/triple take upon stumbling across any number of sources (like this ESPN article), indicating Harrison may have been involved in a shooting. The reports note that Harrison had been in an argument with someone who came to his bar and shortly after that, that person was shot. Harrison’s agent denies the story, but the gun/bullets used were apparently traced back to Harrison. Nothing has been substantiated yet and it is presently under investigation, but…what???

I just don’t get this. Maybe I had him cast in the wrong kind of light for all these years, but I thought he was one of the NFL’s good guys. I really admired him as a player. He played hard and never seemed to harbor any sort of an attitude while playing. If there is indeed any truth to this - I’m totally shocked.

That said, I do plan to wait this one out for the real facts on the case before casting judgment on Harrison.

Jason Taylor may be on his way out

This morning on Mike and Mike in the morning, ESPN radio, they were discussing how Bill Parcells apparently handled a recent meeting with Jason Taylor. Taylor had taken a break from Dancing with the Stars (a questionable pursuit at best) to stop by Dolphin headquarters, say hi to teammates and wanted to stop in and say hi to Parcells as well. When he showed up at the threshold of Parcells office, Parcells looked up, saw Taylor, didn’t say anything and then went back to watching film. Taylor then left and was understandably pissed about this. Parcells apparently has been mad at Taylor for not showing up to the voluntary camp thing even though Taylor had said a while ago he couldn’t because of his, again, admittedly questionable, commitment to…dancing. Mike and Mike were criticizing Parcells for handling this so poorly considering Taylor is still one of their best players.

I agree. I think Parcells is an idiot. It really got me thinking about the social license we seem to give jerks, as long as they are successful. Many argue that football is just a tough sport and his toughness and cold demeanor are part of what have made him successful. I don’t buy that. I think Tom Coughlin only won a Super Bowl AFTER he softened some and remembered he’s dealing with humans. Think of all of the people in general society and some of the people you know personally, who are total jackasses but who have become successful somehow. Like the previous discussion re Peyton Manning, it is hard to get behind people who whine, complain, treat people disrespectfully, or just plain have no tact, like Parcells. Packerbelle makes a great point in the previous Peyton Manning post comments section when she indicates that part of what hurts about seeing Favre go is how much he respected the game, his teammates, his coaches. He very very rarely whined (he did publicly snap at James Jones last year, but that was uncharacteristic). It is a marvel to me to this day that Favre could classfully (if you will, nice new word) absorb yet another predictable draw play call from Tom Rossley on 3rd and 16 without screaming at him on the sidelines.

I feel lucky that in my lifetime, two of my greatest sports heroes also happen to be two of the classiest guys to play on the biggest sports stages - Sidney Moncrief and Brett Favre. Sorry, tangenting.

Anyway, getting back to my point. I do think we should keep Taylor on our radar. I know the draft is done and some of our ammo for making a trade has been eliminated, but still, I think TT should keep an eye on this because Taylor would be a great veteran addition to our team and it’s possible if this war between Taylor and Parcells isn’t resolved soon, the stubborn Parcells could dump Taylor for less than he was originally seeking.

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.”

Response to 2008 Packers Draft

Check Brother Steve’s pre-draft analysis below. Very well done and I have to say, despite disagreeing somewhat on what the Packers’ needs are, I think you’re pretty much dead on assessing these players.

I agree very much on Rashard Mendenhall. See this February post saying the same. I know he’s become a reach at this point which is a shame because he would have been a steal. I’m confident he’ll become a fairly dominant runner in the NFL. I also agree on Keith Rivers, Harvey, Otah, Mayo and Felix Jones. I would be excited to have any of these players on our roster. Brother Steve made a good point about possibly picking up another back later in the draft. I think Steve Slaton could be a better back than is presently projected. He is a game-changer and I think he’ll be pumped to try to prove people wrong (because he’s been chewed up in pre-draft speculation).

I do still disagree on tight ends. Sure, there have been some later round picks who have succeeded at tight end (go Wisconsin, Owen Daniels), but that’s true of QBs, RBs, and every position (see Donald Driver). I guess I just believe that with the right guy, the right fit, there’s a better chance that a quality tight end can be had toward the front of the draft and that he’d be more likely to have an impact on our offense and game-planning. I think it’s worth a first round pick.

But perhaps the most interesting part of Steve’s pre-draft analysis was this line referring to Philip Merling:  “He sounds like a character from Masterpiece Theater.”

Would it be absurd for me to conclude from this reference that Brother Steve does indeed watch Masterpiece theater, the very same program that a recent Jane Austen series was played on? 

Wrong Bedard, Packers do have needs to fill

I disagree with Greg Bedard’s claim in this article that the Packers might look to trade up for an impact player because: “With one of the youngest teams in the league coming off a berth in the NFC Championship Game, the Packers have depth and few, if any, needs to fill”. We do have needs. Despite getting close to the Super Bowl last year, to get to the Super Bowl this year (and in years to come) and win it, there are needs to fill. I recognize that a team can fill needs in the draft, via trades and free agency. But heading into the draft this weekend - this is how I see our present team needs.

Quarterback: C-. Right now we have Rodgers and some bodies (though I admit to knowing zero about Babb and Bell - not interested in keeping Nall). Rodgers definitely could be good and may be able to survive a whole season - that is definitely possible. But Rodgers is injury prone and we have nobody to help when he goes down. This is a need position and my hope would be that we could draft a really solid player and pick up a savvy veteran (Chad Pennington?) to help bring Rodgers along.

Running Back: B-. Grant appears to be a quality back and likely will be solid again this year. And if this were years ago, we’d be fine here as so many teams just had a feature back who did most of the work. Nowadays though, the Pack should have a reliable counter-punch for opposing defenses to deal with. I’d say only one player between Wynn, Morency, Jackson and Herron should make the team (probably Wynn or Jackson) and the Packers should draft or pick up another player (or maybe give Corey White a shot - he’s done nothing but play well when asked). We could also take a look at another FB. FB/RB are need positions.

Tight End: C. This could change to a B- if Tory Humphrey gets back out there and plays well. Krause is not impressive so far. Donald Lee is a good tight end, but he needs a partner out there. This could be a position to fill in the draft (and there are apparently some good options in Keller and Fred Davis).

Wide Receivers: B+/A-. This is a really good group. Driver is aging but still effective, Jennings is really breaking out, I’m pretty sure Jones is ready for a break-out year, Koren Robinson will hopefully be in a bit better shape to play and Ruvell Martin may be the best #5 receiver in the NFL. However, ever since about 1995, I’ve been hoping the Pack would pick up another huge, bruising-type receiver who can bench press the bus (still can’t let go of Sterling Sharpe retiring). I wouldn’t give up much here to add a receiver - not really a need position, but adding a quality option could never hurt. (I thought briefly about writing a post pushing for the Pack to pick-up Boldin because he’s really really good, but I know it would cost too much. But just think of a 4 receiver set of Boldin, Driver, Jennings and Jones. That would be an unstoppable passing game).

Offensive Line: C+. I thought the Packers should have looked harder at Matt Burke, perhaps sign him and then move Wells to guard. There are some new faces at guard the team will be looking at (Ryan Keenan, Cameron Stephenson, also Babre) and this may also be a position to fill in the draft. Colledge and Spitz probably have camp and then 4-6 more games to prove they can play. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or both of them dropped if their collective mediocrity continues. The Packers’ present thoughts on Coston may be the deciding factor in how aggressively we pursue a guard in the draft. Tackle is also a position the team might need to start thinking about more. Tauscher is still awfully good and I think has several more quality years left. But Clifton is someone in whom I am losing confidence. He got some attention last year (even some arguments for the Pro Bowl), but I think he’s on the decline and we need to start thinking about a replacement. I wouldn’t be surprised to see TT go for a quality guard or tackle with our first 3 picks.

Defensive Line - B. I may be in the minority here giving this high of a grade, but I think we’re in pretty good shape along the line. Losing Williams does hurt, but only if Jolly can’t come back to full strength. I think Jolly’s injury was a quiet reason the Packers defense as a whole declined at the end of last year. He is an effective player who can change a game even if he isn’t playing well simply because he makes it really hard for the QB to see with those Paul Pressey-like arms. I feel better about our interior D-Line (Pickett, Jolly, Harrell, Cole, Muir) than I do about the ends. Really Kampman is the only good one. Jenkins was OK last year but Cletidused a bit (or, faltering after getting a big contract - “to Cletidus” is the infinitive verb form). He may actually be more effective platooning at DT. KGB should be cut, Hunter is just too small (though I like his motor), and despite my pulling for him, Montgomery seems quite average. I wouldn’t be surprised to see TT pick up a good DE in the draft. (Or maybe surprise us all and trade a second rounder and 5th rounder or something for Jason Taylor??)

Linebackers: B-. Barnett played very well last year. I finally feel comfortable with him in the middle (prior to last year I thought he was overrated). Hawk is solid, but that’s it. For now, I’m OK with him on the weak-side but I may raise a stink next year if he has a mediocre-poor year this year. He is a #5 overall pick - Urlacher was a #9 overall pick. I expect major contributions from the guy and I don’t buy the “scheme” excuse used to explain Hawk and Poppinga not making big plays. I’m excited that we picked up Chillar because I think we need to replace Poppinga, but I’m not sure Chillar is the guy. I’m not sure why Desmond Bishop isn’t getting more of a chance to dethrone Poppinga from his OLB spot. It is possible we may pick up an OLB in this draft.

Secondary - C+. While there is lots of chatter out there about the Packers needing to draft a CB, I would not put it as our #1 need (though it is a need). Tramon Williams showed flashes of major talent last year, as did Will Blackmon. Our 2 corners, though aging, still play with enough veteran savvy to be above average corners. Bigby created a reputation for himself with some great hits, and if he can develop a better sense in coverage, he could become a monster back there. Collins, early on one of my favorite players, has been a disappointment. He does nicely in general in containing big plays (mostly because of his speed), but frankly, I’m not sure he’s smart enough to be the leader of the secondary. Rouse showed promise and I’m comforted that he could step in should Collins or Bigby get injured or play like crap. Jarrett Bush should be cut and Tyrone Culver should get a shot at playing CB.  I could see TT looking for a CB or safety in later rounds. (As I said before, the only secondary guy I’d be inclined to draft early on (perhaps 2nd round if he’s still there) would be Tom Zbibowksi from Notre Dame.

Special Teams: B. We weren’t too bad on special teams this past year. I think it is part of the reason the team played well overall. Looks like Jon Ryan will have competition by Ryan Dougherty, but outside of that, we should be OK. We may miss the leadership though of Rob Davis (though he’ll be in the locker room still as director of player development). Importantly, we’ve re-signed Tracy White who is simply a star on special teams.

Here is my order of draft need priority:

1. Tight End
2. Offensive guard
3. Quarterback
4. Corner
5. Running back (possibly fullback)
6. Outside linebacker
7. Defensive end
8. Safety
9. Offensive tackle

Jared Allen to Vikings

The Vikes took the plunge yesterday - wow. Read here about how the Vikes gave away their #17, #73 and #82 picks in the draft for Allen. My gut reaction here is that they gave up too much. I had written the other day about how I thought the Packers should make a play for Allen, giving up perhaps our 1st round pick and a third round pick. It would have been a bit easier for us to do that considering we don’t pick until #30, but judging from this trade, the Chiefs wouldn’t have gone for that. Again, I think Allen is a great player and his addition to the Vikes scares me as a Packer fan. But giving up 3 of the 1st 82 picks in the draft is a pretty steep price (not to mention the giant contract).

Allen will join a fairly talented group on the Viking’s D-Line (the Williams duo, Ray Edwards, Erasmus “always hurt” James). This acquisition will make their defense quite a bit scarier. I suppose their thinking was that they already stuff the run well with the Williams duo, why not take the pass away too with one of best pass rushers in the NFL. This trade makes me suddenly fear the Vikes a bit more. Their defense has become more than legit now that they have at least 4-5 players who could easily be pro-bowl players (both Williams, Allen, EJ Henderson, and the toughest short guy in the NFL, Antione Winfield). While brother Steve probably still rests easy because the offense starts with Tarvaris, I happen to think the potential he has coupled with the clear talent that Peterson, Taylor and Rice have, makes them a team to watch. I still think the Packers are better overall, but if the Vikes added a quality tight end somehow, they could really contend for the division title.

Bears sign Jim McMahon, Jim Miller

Ok, just kidding. But it wouldn’t surprise me.

I had a disturbing hypothetical thought the other day: what if I were a Bears fan? Hilarious thought really because it’s so ridiculous and impossible. Anyway, I got to thinking that if I were a Bears fan, I would be so incredibly ticked off at management for simply not acting on a horrendous QB situation. Grossman just can’t do it - he’s not only bad, but in Chicago now, he doesn’t have any fan support so the second he makes a mistake, he’ll get booed out of there. And the fact that Bears management seems to be swayed by Orton’s final few games in pathetic. I know the guy has an incredibly misleading record as a starting QB in the NFL (13-6 or 13-7 I believe) but he’s not starting caliber. It could be that him having that OK game against the Packers at the end of last year, might have been a blessing in the long-run for the Pack.

I think it’s possible that right now, the Bears are trying very hard to trade up for Atlanta’s #3 overall pick. Rumors are that Atlanta has been talking to lots of people about this pick. Perhaps the Bears would give up their first round pick and maybe a third round pick or something to move up to the #3 pick in the hopes of landing Matt Ryan. If they don’t do this, they may hang back and pick up Brian Brohm. While I agree with Peter King that the Bears drafting for OL would be helpful (their shoddy OL play has contributed greatly to their offensive incompetence - as well as horrendous QB play), I still think a QB should be their top priority. If I were a Bears fan (thank God I’m not), I would have spent the entire 2008 off-season, all of last season and even their “Super Bowl” season seething at the QB options. All 3 of those guys simply should have been cut this off-season and they should just start over. Fortunately, the Bears continue to make all the wrong moves. Watch, they’ll probably draft a kick returner and trade Hester for a 5th round pick!

Let’s get it started - some Packer draft thoughts

Read here to learn about the Packers possible interest in a particular TE and LB. I find both of these realistic possibilities. Purdue’s TE Keller seems to make sense and there’s something about his name that makes me believe he will be a big-time NFL contributor. Even though he seems to have moved up draft boards, one guy I liked watching was Keith Rivers, LB from USC. He will be quality in the NFL. I’ll say it again, one player I think the Packers ought to consider trading up in the draft for (or just trading for outright) is Rashard Mendenhall. I think he is destined to be the Adrian Peterson of this draft. While I’m pleased with Grant, once again, sometimes to get to the highest level, going from very solid to great at any position can be the difference maker.

However, there is one player I really want to see in a Packer uniform someday: Notre Dame’s Tom Zbikowski. He is rated as the #2 SS available, so he may not be around for the Packers at #30, but he would be an exciting player to pick up. He apparently ran a 4.47 40, he’s an amateur boxer in his spare time (and quite successful at it) and he was a 3rd team All-American SS AND punt returner. While it would be positively terrifying to be an offense and have to face hitters like Zbikowski and Bigby at the same time, it would be especially nice to have a kamikaze-like punt returner who no doubt doesn’t give a crap about his body. It seems that the trend in the NFL over the last 10 years or so is toward jukey, fast, elusive returners. Some of these types (Deion, Hester, Hall) have proven to be very good at their trade. But many others end up being average or get injured easily. I think their main problem collectively is that they give a crap about their bodies. I remember part of why I thought DeMond Parker was going to be tremendous was because he was so quick and agile - impossible to zero in on for a tackle. But instead of being a great return guy, he was really inadequate mostly because he said at one point that punt returning is “crazy” - referring to how dangerous it is.

I must admit, it’s rather difficult to write speculative pieces about the Packers draft when TT is at the helm. With him, there seems to be such a great range of possibilities. He could go with a really solid guy some are projecting the Packers to take (like Keller) or he could go with an intramural flag football player like John Johnny Boubla from Northeastern Alabama Polytechnic State College. In a way, I’m comforted by this though - that he’s willing to just take the best player. It’s a very no-nonsense approach. (Though I’m only giving Harrell this year to prove that TT’s first round pick last year was NOT a nonsensical pick).

Jared Allen and Aaron Kampman?

Read here for more on how Jared Allen will apparently visit the Vikings and the TB Bucs due to continued frustration with the Chiefs for franchising him. This is suddenly a serious option.

I know he’s a great pass rusher who plays defensive end and I think he plays on the right side. Imagine the Packers having Kampman and Allen on the ends. That would be absolutely disastrous to try to contain for the opposition. I could play nose tackle between those two and the line would still dominate.

While I’ll stop short of posting this with the sole intent of spreading a rumor, this seems like the kind of sneaky splash TT might make in free agency (kind of like he did with Woodson a couple years ago). I know how TT is with draft picks and giving up 2 first rounders is probably something he’d struggle with big-time. But we have the money, TT likes to build defenses and Harris and Woodson are getting older so bolstering our pass rush might actually help those two prolong their careers. Also, Jenkins was mediocre last year, after Cletidusing on us, as it were, so moving him inside or to the bench wouldn’t be catastrophic.

Really, a great GM looks for ways to make a solid team into a dominant team and I think picking up Allen would get us there in a hurry. OK, I’ve talked myself into making this an official rumor spreading effort - the Packers ought to pick up Jared Allen.

NFL rule-makers are bored, very bored

I don’t mind the NFL cracking down on wild behavior and making sure that the NFL is not disgraced by a few poor behaving individuals. It makes sense to have tough consequences for unacceptable behavior and my hope is that it would serve as a deterrent.

However, making players cut their hair to a certain length is positively ridiculous. It is an unnecessary rule - there is no reason I can think of that this would be needed. In fact, I think a solid argument could be made that some of the longest haired players are the very same ones who best embody what the NFL likely wants to stand for: hard-working, committed, rule-abiding atheletes (Al Harris, Atari Bigby, Troy Polamalu, Mark Gastineau).

Bigby was quoted yesterday saying this is ridiculous and frankly, I’m not sure what he’d do if he were told he had to cut it. As many know, he is a rastafarian who grew up in Jamaica and contended last night on TMJ 4 news that it would be against his religion to cut his dreads. There are others too who I’m sure would rather not cut their hair. It just doesn’t make a difference at all and I can’t think of any reason to enforce such a rule. In a sense, this may be a case of Goodell getting power-happy - kind of like the retail store manager who starts out as a lowly employee at $6 and hour and works her way up to assistant manager, then manager at which time she gets to wear the colorful, circular key chain thing around her arm and make arbitrary decisions based on her belief that her she now can do anything with her newfound position of power.