Is Drafting Datone Jones Deja Vu All Over Again?

Over at Packers.com they have a section called "Ask Vic" where seasoned reporter Vic Ketchman fields questions from the Packer faithful. Now I'm sure Vic has forgotten more about football then I'll ever know. He's been covering the NFL for 41 years, according to his bio. I was reading his Q&A where Vic fielded the following question from a fan...

Vic, do you get the feeling the Packers’ choices were driven by thoughts of playing the 49ers?

Vic replied...

Yes, I do. The game is evolving and the Packers clearly acknowledged as much when they sent their coaching staff to Texas A&M to get a tutorial on the read-option. Spread offense and its concepts are making their way into the NFL and everybody is reacting to them in an aggressive manner. Everybody is looking for players of length, which is to say players that resemble basketball players; those are the kinds of players you need to stop the read-option. Hey, Datone Jones is a former basketball player. Ziggy Ansah, the fifth pick of the draft, went to BYU to play basketball. The 49ers are the team to beat in the NFC. How are you going to beat them if your thoughts aren’t driven by them?

This reminded me of 2003 when the Packers selected Nick Barnett in the first round. An undersized Middle Linebacker who was drafted for his speed and ability to cover from sideline to sideline. Now why is this significant? Let's remember what happened in 2002.

Michael Vick brought his Atlanta Falcons to the frozen tundra of Lambeau for a playoff game. The Pack was heavily favored having never lost a home playoff game in their storied franchise history. Brett Favre was the quarterback and his record in games under 35 degrees was equally impressive. I don't recall the exact temperature but it was well below freezing. In any case. The Packer's lost 27-7 and Michael Vick ran rampant all over and through the Packer's defense.

Sound familiar?
Colin Kaepernick did the same thing to us last year so now we go out and draft players specifically to stop one player... or more precisely... the "Read Offense"?

So how did that work back in 2003?
The Packer's didn't face Michael Vick in any game of significance, let alone a playoff game, until we beat him in the 2010 playoff game in Philly. Ironically, Nick Barnett had a season ending injury that October and didn't even play in the game that launched the Pack on their Super Bowl run. Fortunately, Barnett was still a good draft pick, being the team leader on defense for most of the 2000's. We can only hope to Datone Jones has a similar effect on our defense and become a stand out D-lineman for the next decade or so.

We can only hope.