nerdmann;312257This staff doesn't CARE about the run.
They are trying to BAIT other teams into getting away from the passing game.
"The New NFL."

Well that would probably explain why in my post I said address the hole in COVERAGE in the middle which is typically ILB.
Even if we feel Richardson can come in and play the coverage LB role against TEs, he is the only guy we have for that role.
WE had two other slot CB/S type players.

I was surprised for the same reason as anyone else -- I knew Damarious Randall as a safety, and Green Bay has two starting safeties (and a CB/S hybrid in Hyde) so, what the eff, Teddy?

But that dissipated quickly the more I got to learn about Damarious Randall the player. My thoughts, or a few things being left out or underemphasized ...


Preoccupation with position: There's a problem right away when, because of Randall's position at ASU, he's really only being compared to other safeties in this draft. He played a quarter of his snaps at slot corner, an area where Green Bay has an immediate need if Casey Hayward slides outside (a likely scenario). Green Bay plays a ton of sub-package defense, with five and six DBs on the field at a given time. Randall could end up playing inside corner on either side of the line, and -- CRAZY! -- gives the Packers another matchup-based chess piece to move because of his centerfield ranging ability. Some say he's not a great tackler, but he still amassed 106 last season and ASU coaches have said he played FS because of that position's importance to running the defense. As AADP alluded to in an earlier post, the Sun Devils played a ton of zero blitz defense where Randall played man-to-man with no help over the top. Corner cover skills, corner speed -- heck, even a corner's body type. Projecting as a slot corner Day 1 in the NFL won't be as much of a "transition" as many think.

New breed of defensive back: NFL offenses throw the ball 62 percent of the time. Where'd that number come from? I heard it on TV, or the internet, or something. Okay, so I can't verify the veracity of that claim, but it sounds about right so let's assume it is. You need guys who can cover -- guys who are versatile. Green Bay's defensive backfield could be one of the best in that department with the addition of Randall. Is he a corner? Is he a safety? He's a 4.46 speed, incredibly quick change-of-direction tweener that should be able to be both. Most importantly, the teams that coveted him -- as mentioned Philly was tied to him -- did so because of his coverage ability. The tendency to see "safety" and think of an in-the-box thumper is outdated. Defenses constantly face three-and-four WR sets, multiple TE sets, and some combination of both. Anymore, you simply need football players who can matchup more than you do fitting rigid definitions of corner and safety.

Before we all run after Ted with our pitchforks and call this kid a dud, can we wait to see how he is utilized and how he turns out? We lost two corners this off-season and I understand all your mock drafts from the "experts" were telling you Packers were going ILB or DT first round but CB was also a huge need.

Is he a reach because he wasn't on Mel Kiper's 1000 mock drafts leading up to yesterday? He was on Mike Mayock's at 20 to the Eagles. Maybe Ted could have traded out and landed a mid 2nd rounder and took him there...maybe.

Where are these reports coming from that he can't tackle? Stats don't lie.

He was played at safety at ASU because his coach needed a safety and Randall was his best athlete on defense. So, they moved him there. He is totally capable of playing the slot and will be a huge upgrade for the Packers on special teams as he has returner abilities. Randall will allow the shift of Casey Hayward outside and he takes over the inside responsibilities.

There are 6 rounds of selections left and as of last night, one ILB was taken off the board that wasn't considered in the "top 5". Not saying that TT is going to go with an ILB pick but there is a decent chance that someone like Paul Dawson is still there when the Packers pick.

So, looking at the stats of Randall, he seems to be in the same ball park as CBs Trae Waynes and Marcus Peters (both of whom went before the 20th pick).

Randall, when covering in the slot, allowed 53% of passes to be completed source. Waynes and Peters also both allowed over 50% completion (source).

Additionally, stats differentiate between "tackles vs. the run" and "tackles in coverage". As a defensive-back, you care far more about Randall making tackles in coverage, which means he was NOT missing tackles of players who he was covering after they caught the ball.

Fortunately, Randall was really good at making tackles in coverage (based on sheer amount he made). Of all safeties the draft, Randall was second with 52 tackles in coverage. (source)

Overall, it looks like Randall compares similarly to other top CBs in some metrics, and his inability to tackle may be exaggerated. I'd love to see Randall's 'Passer Rating Against' stat, but can't find much more on him (metrics for college football players are pretty scarce).

What I like about the pick is that Randall can play multiple positions. He can play Safety or slot or outside where it looks like they are going to start him at. This is huge when it comes to the aspect of the game where there is no control and that is injuries. The last thing a team needs is to have to move players around to cover for an injury because then it affects multiple positions.

That's what happened a couple years ago when they moved Burnett over and tried a couple guys at his position. He wasn't very good at the other safety spot and neither were the other guys at his. Opposite of that was how important it was last year for Linsley to come in at center and do the job he did otherwise they would have had to move Lang over and then fill that G spot, again, negatively affecting two positions. That didn't have to happen and by the end of the year the Oline play was very good.


So I kind of look at Randall like Linsley only better because he can be plugged into the back end or slot or outside and hopefully the D won't take a hit. It would be great if none of the DB's or CB's get injured but the reality of it is it's likely to happen sooner or later and having a player with his ability sure is a good backup plan. That's just the insurance policy aspect of what he brings. He may very well turn out to be better than a starter and when they do use 6 backs he will be an upgrade there.

The more I write the more I like the pick.

warhawk;312276What I like about the pick is that Randall can play multiple positions. He can play Safety or slot or outside where it looks like they are going to start him at. This is huge when it comes to the aspect of the game where there is no control and that is injuries. The last thing a team needs is to have to move players around to cover for an injury because then it affects multiple positions.

That's what happened a couple years ago when they moved Burnett over and tried a couple guys at his position. He wasn't very good at the other safety spot and neither were the other guys at his. Opposite of that was how important it was last year for Linsley to come in at center and do the job he did otherwise they would have had to move Lang over and then fill that G spot, again, negatively affecting two positions. That didn't have to happen and by the end of the year the Oline play was very good.


So I kind of look at Randall like Linsley only better because he can be plugged into the back end or slot or outside and hopefully the D won't take a hit. It would be great if none of the DB's or CB's get injured but the reality of it is it's likely to happen sooner or later and having a player with his ability sure is a good backup plan. That's just the insurance policy aspect of what he brings. He may very well turn out to be better than a starter and when they do use 6 backs he will be an upgrade there.

The more I write the more I like the pick.

A while back McCarthy talked about how Bush was negatively impacted by trying to make him a multipurpose DB.
And that he didn't want to do that with future players.

Mucky Tundra;312250Bob McGinn had him going at #20 to the Eagles. Mike Mayock of NFL.com had him at #20 to the Eagles as well.

Yup...as a SAFETY.
That's the disconnect.
He's a fine prospect at...SAFETY.
He's a reach at CB in a draft Silverstein called "deep" for the position.

I refuse to believe he's the BPA if you're moving him PROJECTING him to another position.
If we were taking a S then fine... nice pick.
Now, he becomes a PROJECTION.
Not what you want with your 1st pick.
Projections are nice for later in the draft not R1 when you continually fail to provide difference makers on D.


Of course, the pro TT crowd who was mad last night is going to comeback today and recite the IN TED WE TRUST mantra but how many times are you going to do that when he's used 9 of 11 1st round picks on D and our D sucks? No stellar drafter fails at that kind of a clip.
That's brutal.

Would've preferred we'd taken BPA at 30 and then drafted a pure CB later but I guess that didn't happen because of the PROJECT corner being the BPA.
Right. [mad]

Uffda, you did say you wanted Ted Thompson to take more risks lol.
This seems like a pretty big risk to me.

uffda udfa;312284Yup...as a SAFETY.
That's the disconnect.
He's a fine prospect at...SAFETY.
He's a reach at CB in a draft Silverstein called "deep" for the position.

I refuse to believe he's the BPA if you're moving him PROJECTING him to another position.
If we were taking a S then fine... nice pick.
Now, he becomes a PROJECTION.
Not what you want with your 1st pick.
Projections are nice for later in the draft not R1 when you continually fail to provide difference makers on D.


Of course, the pro Ted Thompson crowd who was mad last night is going to comeback today and recite the IN TED WE TRUST mantra but how many times are you going to do that when he's used 9 of 11 1st round picks on D and our D sucks? No stellar drafter fails at that kind of a clip.
That's brutal.

Would've preferred we'd taken BPA at 30 and then drafted a pure CB later but I guess that didn't happen because of the PROJECT corner being the BPA.
Right. [mad]

I don't think some type of project player at pick 30 rare. Some might be more ready to contribute than others, but a team usually isn't getting a plug-and-play starter that late in the draft. They usually start out as rotational players and hopefully they break the starting line up eventually.

Who knows, maybe Burnett won't be sticking around long. D. Randall could end up starting at safety in 2-3 years. The draft is rarely about the present. It's mostly about the future, for better or worse. Rhetorically, we won't know for a few seasons.

Like I said before, it's easy for fans to watch some videos, read some draft reviews, look at mock drafts, and pretend we know more than the professionals. Doesn't mean I'm a fan of the pick, but I'm not going to act like the sky is falling before we have even seen the player suit up.