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.

We're in the money.....

Once again Ted Thompson's vision of how to run a professional franchise is paying off. Not only were we able to sign our best two players (Aaron Rodgers and Clay Mathews, Jr.) to long term contract extensions, we also have plenty of cap money to keep the players on our roster, that we covet the most.

I say players on our own roster because we know Thompson's vision does NOT include signing high price/ high risk free agents... you all remember the Dream Team 2011 Eagles and how well that worked out.

From The Packer Report...

Packers Have Ability To Extend Some Contracts
Aaron Rodgers' new deal didn't take up all the cap space but there's a lengthy list of free agents on the horizon. Plus, the team has set its offseason practices and it released a backup lineman.

Aaron Rodgers’ new contract gives the Green Bay Packers some flexibility.

According to league data published by Pro Football Talk last week, the Packers had the sixth-most cap space in the league at $15.6 million. With Rodgers’ extension increasing his 2013 cap charge from $9.75 million to $12 million, as reported Scout.com’s, the deal only eats up an additional $2.25 million.

That means Green Bay is about $13.35 million of cap space. Of that, somewhere between $4.5 million and $5 million will go toward the Packers’ 11 draft picks and college free agents. At the high end of the spectrum, that would leave Green Bay about $8.35 million, which could be rolled over for 2014 or used to strike extensions with some of their upcoming free agents. Among those playing their last season under contract are Morgan Burnett, Jermichael Finley James, Jones, John Kuhn, Mike Neal, Marshall Newhouse, Ryan Pickett, B.J. Raji and Sam Shields.

FULL STORY

Occupy Lambeau - We are the 99.999%

So just who is America’s Team?

The Cowboys just staked that claim by themselves so it’s braggadocio and validity are rarely questioned. I live in the heart of Pennsylvania and deeply entrenched betwixt Steeler Nation with a sprinkling of Eagle fans. I know for a fact the Steeler fans claim they’re America’s Team and take great pride in how well they travel.

As Packer fans, we certainly have our right to claim, NFL’s favorite team status. I’ve watched many games were the "Green and Gold" dominates whole sections of some away stadiums we’ve played at. I’ve heard the Packer mating call of "Kuuuuuuuuuhn!" whenever a certain fullback gets the ball. But in my 45 years of following the Packers, I have never seen another team’s fans dominate any part of hallowed Lambeau.


Ironically, the Steelers travel to Green Bay this December. My neighbor... let’s call him Tom... cause that is his name... anyway this Tom guy, a die hard terrible towel waving Steeler fan, is taking his son Justin, who... wait for it... is a Packer fan. (You can’t make this stuff up) to Titletown (see paragraph 2) and I can guarantee him two things.

1) Wisconsin winters are a lot colder than Pennyslvania winters so dress warm.

2) When you enter Packer country for a game, leave your weep ass Steeler gear back home cause WE ARE THE 99.999%