Usually, in the kneejerk day-after draft grades, the Packers wind up somewhere around a C+ or B-, kind of like those girls in school who seem nice, are kinda cute, but don’t really do much for you. Well, that’s all changed now! We’re the hottest thing in the room!
Mel Kiper’s draft grades (to be taken with an ENORMOUS grain of salt, both because of the timing and the source):
Green Bay Packers: GRADE: A
I love what this team did to solidify its shaky defense in the first two picks alone, with the selection of two excellent players in defensive tackle B.J. Raji and outside linebacker Clay Matthews. Tackle T.J. Lang was a good pickup for the offensive line, while Quinn Johnson could be a bruising lead fullback in the league. Sixth-round pick Brandon Underwood could make this team and give the Packers depth as a backup.
For what it’s worth (again, probably not a whole lot, other than the rush that comes from Teddy finally taking a chance), the Packers were the only team that got an A from Kiper. The Jets got an A- for their pick of Mark Sanchez (who I swear is already more annoying than Tom Brady or Peyton Manning), and nobody else was better than a B+. The Bears, Lions and Vikings got a B, B- and C+, respectively.
Got to thinking about this yesterday: Both the Packers’ and Jets’ drafts were shaped immensely by the events of last summer. The Jets needed a quarterback because Brett Favre decided to retire again (speaking of things that should be taken with a grain of salt), which forced them to fork over a bounty to the Browns to get Sanchez, and the Packers had the ammo to move up and get Clay Matthews because of the extra third-rounder they got from trading Favre. As painful as the Favre divorce was for Packers fans, it could turn out to be a great football decision in the end. Effectively, they traded Favre for Matthews, and by all accounts, Aaron Rodgers seems to be set for the next decade at quarterback, unless his injury issues come back.
And the Jets? They saw their third-round pick end up in the hands of their biggest rival, the New England Patriots. Yep, New York fans, you’ve learned a hard lesson: When you go all in with the Riverboat Gambler, sometimes he takes you down.
–Gene Bosling
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