How many of the eleven draftees will make it to the 53?

[packlaw]

It is rare that all draftees make to the 53 man roster; but this year I feel there is a good chance.  Obviously, the first four picks should be a given.  The next two have a real good chance.  After that, it is up in the air.  I have to hand it to our GM, he was looking at current needs and the future.
The future was addressed with the obtaining of New Orlean's first round pick next year.  The addition of Looney and Dennerson was done for the future as our DL is fairly set this year and Looney will be given a full year to develop and our edge rushers are set with Clay, Perry and Beigle so Dennnerson also can develop.  For those reasons, both will make the 53.
On special times there exists a real need for a long snapper and the job is Bradley's to lose.  As for punter, hang time, direction and distance is important and Scott is the best of the draft.  Vogel was good; but it is Scott's job to lose. 
The Pack needs a rt. guard and it is clear Madison has the tools.
The choice of three wide receivers took most by surprise.  However, the GM was looking to the future with maybe some help now.  I don't know about how Packer fans feel, but I am not impressed with any of our current wide receivers after Adams and Cobb. I think all three will make the roster for each has the size and speed the Packer's need.
At best, this should be an interesting camp as the alum battle the newbies for a roster spot...one vote for all the newbies...

[craig]

I'd guess 7 make it, and the others go to practice squad. 
1.  Think first five picks, including WR Moore and OL Madison, are all pretty safe. 
2.  Think the two ST guys both make it, the punter with the big leg, and we saw what a bother it is last year to live without a snapper or a good holder. 
3.  Of the other four, the two straight-line WR, the 7th round D-lineman, and the 7th-round small-school OLB, I'd expect most of them to go practice squad, if they can. 

WR is pretty wide open, obviously.  So the tall straight-line-speed guys can compete with Clark and Yancey and Davis for end of roster.  (I'm figuring Allison and Moore for spots 3 and 4; then the two new guys can compete with four other old guys plus any new UDFA's for spots 5 and maybe 6.)

[ThatGuy284]

I don't think I'd feel comfortable if I were Allison.   He's one of the "vets" on the roster right now but he's had only 35 catches the last two seasons and ran a 4.67.   All three of the new picks are his size and run significantly faster.   I like the guy but I liked LaDarius Gunter and Jarrett Boykin in previous seasons and they quickly moved on from them.

Not sure Madison is that safe if Bulaga, Spriggs and Murphy all come back healthy?    Bakhtiari, Taylor, Linsley, Bulaga, Spriggs, Murphy, McCray are the locks imo with Pankey, Patrick, Amichia and Madison fighting for 2-3 spots.   Obviously it's way to early to say this - but Madison doesn't seem to me someone we'd risk losing by placing on the PS.

[craig]

Good points.  Whatever Allison's limitations, he can change directions, he's got hands, he knows the playbook, and he's the default starter until somebody proves otherwise.  It kinda stinks having Allison as a starting wideout, I know.  But Yancey hadn't passed him last year, DAvis is bad, it seems unlikely that Moore is going to be starting on Day 1, and even less so that straight-speed guys like the 6th rounders will. 

I hope somebody more talented beats out Allison ASAP; but I think that would need to be a year out.  I do actually like the sound of MOore better, though, for sure.  And if they came through camp telling us that suddenly Yancey has leaped big-time and looks like a good NFL starter, that would be happy news. 

On paper Madison seems vulnerable.  But as their 5.1 pick, do they ever waive those guys?  And my guess is that between spriggs, Murphy, and BB, at least one will not be on the active roster on opening day? 

[WTX_Cheese]

Probably 8-9 picks stick this year. I could see one to two of the receivers (MVS and/or ESB) and Donnerson being stashed on the PS. Maybe put Looney there as well. Unless Scott or Bradley tanks, then I think they stick.

[RT]

This is a good question. I would think all but 3 would really need to screw-up to not make it. The 3 that will need to earn their spots are Kendall  Donnerson, James Looney and Equanimeous St. Brown. Donnerson will be a surprise to me if he is on the 53 on opening day. Looney and Brown are probably around 50/50 chances. Looney will need to show versatility on the front 7 and Brown will need to standout from scrimmage because he brings nothing to special teams. If Equanimeous St. Brown is only average as a WR he will prbably get cut.

[OneTwoSixFive]

I'd guess 7 make it, and the others go to practice squad. 
1.  Think first five picks, including WR Moore and OL Madison, are all pretty safe. 
2.  Think the two ST guys both make it, the punter with the big leg, and we saw what a bother it is last year to live without a snapper or a good holder. 
3.  Of the other four, the two straight-line WR, the 7th round D-lineman, and the 7th-round small-school OLB, I'd expect most of them to go practice squad, if they can. 

WR is pretty wide open, obviously.  So the tall straight-line-speed guys can compete with Clark and Yancey and Davis for end of roster.  (I'm figuring Allison and Moore for spots 3 and 4; then the two new guys can compete with four other old guys plus any new UDFA's for spots 5 and maybe 6.)

That looks vewy close to me (what is this, a Bugs Bunny typo). They may keep one of the 'back-end' receivers on the 53, to stop the scenario where both are poached from the PS. If that is the case, Valdez-Scantling has the best chance to stick as a ST guy this year.

[ricky]

Don't forget that at least one or two UDFA's always seem to emerge and force their way onto the team. This year will probably be the same thing. If one of the OLBers show some pass rushing ability, that would be a very welcome surprise. Or OL, or DB, or RB, or whatever.

[jameslofton]

There's a lot of potential with our new receivers, and that's what's been bothering me about the draft -- all them wide receivers. And it seems to be a problem we've had before. Too many receivers to make the team and the ones who don't will get poached. I expect two of the three drafted receivers to not make the 53 and I bet both of them get picked up by another team. sucks.

[scoremore]

There's a lot of potential with our new receivers, and that's what's been bothering me about the draft -- all them wide receivers. And it seems to be a problem we've had before. Too many receivers to make the team and the ones who don't will get poached. I expect two of the three drafted receivers to not make the 53 and I bet both of them get picked up by another team. sucks.

Hope it doesn't happen yet again. 

Adams
Cobb
Moore

Consider these guys pretty much locks.

Yancey
Brown
Scantling

Hoping these guys emerge but it will be tough.

Clark
Allison
Davis

Lot of competition way I figure it 6 guys competing for 3 spots.  Possible the Pack keep 7.  Maybe one of the young rooks gets a toe nail and we can stash him on IR.  Wondering why at 6'6" they don't have Clark bulk up to play TE.  Could be a nice Joker  much like Graham.

As it stands the young WR's are going to be green as grass.  They won't be able to contribute much this season.  It will be tough to carry all 3 on the 53.  If Davis doesn't take a jump he could be in trouble.  If he does he's in.  Allison would be a tough cut also as at least he has some experience.

This will be the most intriguing competition in camp.  Hope we can keep all three rooks in one form or another.  Whether it's IR or practice squad.  Think if we try to PS any of them then indeed Lofton's fears will happen and the poaching will commence. 

[craig]

Originally I figured Moore for roster, and MVS and ESB for PS, along with Looney and Donnerson.

I now think that somehow or other, they'll keep one of MVS or ESB. 

One unfortunately significant open door for one of them in injury to one of the guys ahead of them.  For big position groups like cornerback, WR, and OL, it seems there's almost always somebody injured.  WR #7, good chance injury will make him WR #6.....

[RT]

There's a lot of potential with our new receivers, and that's what's been bothering me about the draft -- all them wide receivers. And it seems to be a problem we've had before. Too many receivers to make the team and the ones who don't will get poached. I expect two of the three drafted receivers to not make the 53 and I bet both of them get picked up by another team. sucks.

I thought this post looked familiar.

I went back to last years WR threads and you were voicing the same concern then as now. Last year people spent much of the summer debating how to hang on to all the depth at WR and in the end the Packers cut all of them. The Packers lost no one they wanted to keep last year and they will lose no one they want to keep this year. Right now everyone has oversold themselves on the draft choices and their measurables, but the reality is that MVS and ESB are a 50/50 chance at best to make the Packers roster this year and a much lower chance that they make another teams roster this year.

It is only natural to want to keep all the draft choices, when one is cut fans feel like the team is failing with the draft process, but it is just a numbers game and some draft choices will get cut. The whole point of the offseason is to construct the deepest 90 man roster they can and create competition at every position and than let the cream rise to the top. The strong competition will make everyone better. The WR group will be bringing it on every play in training camp, in turn it keeps the DB's on their toes every play not to get embarrassed on tape by anyone at any moment. In turn making each one of them better.

In the end the Packers will lose no one they truely want to keep. Kick back and enjoy the process, all is yet to be determined.

[craig]

Re the rookie receivers, I listened to some of the player interviews after the recent OTA's. 

I was surprised by a comment that Rodgers made.  I think he said he'd thrown like one pass to a rookie in the camp.  And made a comment to the effect that he doesn't throw to guys at the back of the depth chart, so it's up to them to work their way up the depth chart first.  So, since he doesn't even work with them at all, he had no impressions.

For all the talk about needing a 3rd receiver, ***if*** the coaching staff doesn't even let rookies practice with #12, they're obviously not going to play in games either. 

I wonder how far up the depth chart you need to be to get practice snaps or throws from the boss?  And I wonder how fluid that is?  Maybe they're daily rotating who the last two guys are who get to practice with 12?  Or maybe they use that as a rewards system.  ("Oops, you dropped a pass or had a dumb answer in classroom, you're getting demoted from the 12-group tomorrow."  "You showed really good concentration and effort in the fumble-recovery drills today.  As an example to the other guys, we're going to reward you by letting you work with Aaron and the starters tomorrow.") 

A partial Q I have is whether the ability to catch soft-toss throws from soft-arm guys like Callahan and Hundley provides good representation of whether a guy's brain has the speed to process Rodgers' fastballs?  In baseball terms, a lot of guys can hit A-ball pitching, but will they get killed in the majors?  Maybe Clark made nice catches on Callahan-velocity last camp, but can he handle Rodgers' rockets?  Valdes-Scantling, is the processing speed quick enough to handle the rockets? 

[RT]

Agree with the general issue that is faced by players down the depth chart and getting meaningful reps with the ones. But if the coaching staff sees the potential and choses to force-feed that player in, they do have that option. I base this on nothing more than a feeling, but I do believe that J'mon Moore will get that treatment and the chance to win starter type playing time.

[craig]

I agree. 

I actually wonder how many practice throws Aaron makes to anybody.  Seems like they try to limit his throws, and keep his arm fresh.  So, maybe practices like exhibition season is 15% Rodgers and 85% the other guys?  Beats me.  I know CBA doesn't allow much practice; and MM doesn't like to practice much either.  He's often cancelling some allowed practices, and using practice-days to do team-building bowling exercises, etc..  And when they do practice, he tries to shorten them anyway....  So I'm not sure how many throws Aaron really makes in the finite number of practice hours, or to how many guys. 

But you'd think he'd do at least a little throwing to anybody who actually has a chance to make the roster, and certainly to anybody who's got a shot to be used from scrimmage during the season.  In any game four guys will probably get snaps, and others are an injury away from getting into that rotation.  So wouldn't seem that hard for Moore to get high enough on the ladder to get some practice snaps with Rodgers and given a chance to pass several or all of Davis, Yancey, and Clark in pursuit of #4 status. 

Heh heh, you've been a consistent anti-Allison guy, RT, in which case #3 status would seem plausibly within reach....