What the Packers can do in the draft.

Green Bay Packers– How many writer’s (not in New York) were sitting at home this weekend working on the story of what the Green Bay Packers could do in the draft after losing in the first round of the playoffs? I’ll tell you, not many! All season long Green Bay imposed their will offensively on the teams they played, winning twelve of their fifteen games by a touchdown or more. It’s a good thing too because the Packers defense gave up the most yardage in the NFL this season with 411.6 yards per game. Most of the damage was done through the air on the Pack’s defense where they gave up 299.8 yards a game, good again for last in the league. You do have to factor in the leads Green Bay was playing with forcing most teams to abandon the run and throw a higher percentage of the time. Another major area that the Packers could use an upgrade is their pass rush, they ranked tied for 27th in the NFL with 29 sacks ahead of only two other teams.

Courtesy of their loss to the Giant’s at Lambeau this past weekend Green Bay holds the 28th pick in the draft this year. I already mentioned the need for the Pack to address their pass rush issues as well as their secondary needs, however running back, interior offensive line and quarterback are also positions that will need some shoring up before next season. Here’s a stat for ya, Ryan Grant and James Starks combined to score as many rushing touchdowns this season as Aaron Rodgers, who scored 3 touchdowns this season on the ground. I haven’t been in a lot of NFL teams front offices, actually none, however I know when a coach sees numbers like that they are going to target that area for improvement. The good news for the Pack is that this years draft has relatively deep guard and running back classes, which should afford them the luxury of addressing their pass rush needs in the first round and then filling other needs in the later rounds. I think they address the pass rush and line first and try to strike gold later in the draft on a running back, I like them to look at Tennessee’s Tauren Poole who has scouts talking during this weeks senior bowl practices, maybe in the third or fourth round. I am only doing early rounds until after the scouting combine and some teams boards shore up.

Projected first round pick: Ronnell Lewis, OLB/DE, Oklahoma

Projected second round pick: Brandon Washington, OG, Miami