The Packer Pundit

ARTICLE JACKED FROM MJS

GM SIDES WITH DEFENSE
Packers Offense Largely Ignored
If general manager Ted Thompson is wrong and the Green Bay Packers don't have the players to field a competitive offense, then he will have put first-year coach Mike McCarthy in a difficult position. Thompson, a former National Football League linebacker, faced a choice with his first pick in the draft and chose linebacker A.J. Hawk over Maryland tight end Vernon Davis. After trading disgruntled wide receiver Javon Walker to the Denver Broncos, he had a chance to fill the void with Florida's Chad Jackson, perhaps the second-best receiver in the draft. He passed in favor of a trade with the New England Patriots that netted him two picks, both of which he used on offensive linemen.

Both moves imply that Thompson has more than enough confidence that the skill players McCarthy has on offense are good enough to help him win right away. It means he thinks Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport will return to form next season and that Robert Ferguson, Rod Gardner or Marc Boerigter will take pressure off wide receiver Donald Driver in the passing game.

It means he thinks he can win on offense with less than what he had at the start of last season. The Packers hit a major road bump last season, in part because of injuries, but with Walker gone, quarterback Brett Favre another year older, Green still rehabilitating a torn thigh tendon and not a single impact free agent or draft pick added to the mix, a lot of things are going to have to go right for the offense to improve. (Read More Here)

The Green Bay Packers’ baton now is in Mike McCarthy’s hands. Though there’s still three months until the start of training camp, the major moves for the Packers’ 2006 roster probably are finished with Sunday’s conclusion of the NFL draft.

As for the immediate future, Thompson has put his most valuable assets this offseason into a defense that has been mediocre or worse for nearly a decade. He spent his premium No. 5 draft pick overall on Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk, who will be one of at least four new starters on that rebuilt defense, along with free-agent cornerback Charles Woodson, free-agent defensive tackle Ryan Pickett and free-agent safety Marquand Manuel.

Thompson also hands McCarthy, his rookie head coach, a team that’s potentially offensively challenged after the seemingly unavoidable trade of receiver Javon Walker to Denver for a second-round draft pick Saturday. In all, Thompson drafted six players each on offense and defense. History suggests all but Hawk and perhaps one of the three offensive linemen selected probably won’t play significant roles in 2006, and now it’s up to McCarthy and his staff to develop this team that’s made a slow but significant turn from offense to defense this offseason.

“I think we’re starting to come around,” Thompson said Sunday afternoon in his press conference to wrap up the draft. “I think our defense is better today than it was at the start of free agency. I think adding the guys we added and keeping the guys we kept, I think we have the chance to have a pretty good defense. I think these young guys are going to infuse a little something into it.”

McCarthy takes control of his new team for his first minicamp as a head coach this weekend. He undoubtedly is relieved he has quarterback Brett Favre to fall back on, though scoring points could be a problem for an offense that:
• Probably will have three new starters in the middle of its offensive line.
• Lacks a proven dynamic weapon opposite dependable Donald Driver at receiver;
• Has its fingers crossed that halfback Ahman Green can come back to good form from a serious injury (torn quadriceps tendon) that has hastened the end of a several NFL players’ careers. (Read More Here)