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Pack signs Pickett

Fatman

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Fatman Huddler

Fatman

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2369817

 

In perhaps the most competitive negotiation Wednesday, the Green Bay Packers beat out the Bills and the Rams for Rams defensive tackle Ryan Pickett.

 

Terms of the agreement weren't available. Pickett was visiting the Bills but had stayed in touch with the Rams, hoping to get an offer that would bring him back. The Packers talked Pickett into his first visit over the weekend and there was some thought he might not have totally liked his visit.

 

Those thoughts were proved wrong when the Packers stepped up and gave him a deal. Pickett will replace Grady Jackson as the run-stopping defensive tackle in the team's 4-3 scheme.

 

Pickett's signing along with the addition of safety Marquand Manuel and re-signings of halfback Ahman Green and defensive end Aaron Kampman are being used as recruiting tools to help prevent Brett Favre from retiring.

 

Favre is watching the Packers' free-agent acquisitions to see what kind of team they will have. If he likes what he sees, he is expected to postpone thoughts of retiring for another year.

 

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

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Fatman Huddler

Fatman

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Well I'm just taking it one step at a time. The run d needs the most work right now, so if they wait and grab a CB in the draft it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Maybe grab a guy like Minter/Joseph/Jennings in the 3rd.

 

1371588[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

It doesn't have to be one step at a time with $30M in cap space.

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Swiss Cheezhead Huddler

Swiss Cheezhead

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Keep the faith, fellas! TT might know what he's doing. :D

 

Pickett was one of the last remaining free agents I really liked (productive, in his prime, etc.). Thompson stepped up to the plate and took him off the market. :D

 

Brett -- get your ass back in a uniform. :D

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Glabra Huddler

Glabra

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Nice Packer draft article

 

I am Ted Thompson.

 

I am tortured.

 

I have the fifth pick in the draft.

 

I need a defensive end.

 

I need a linebacker.

 

Mario Williams or A.J. Hawk?

 

A.J. Hawk or Mario Williams?

 

I can't go wrong.

 

But how can I go most right?

 

I dim the lights and turn on the N.C. State tape of Williams for the 200th time.I am awed. I see a beast who swats away 320-pound blockers as if they were flies. He can pass rush through offensive tackles or go around them. I see a huge, explosive end who will pose matchup problems for many offensive tackles. I see a powerful tackler-a player who can shed a blocker and make a play against the run. I see rare athleticism for a guy who is 6-7, 295. I see a bigger Julius Peppers.

 

But I don't like everything I see. I don't see the kind of instincts I look for. I see a lineman who doesn't always read the play correctly. I see a player who needs to develop an inside rush and learn to split double-teams. I see a player who doesn't go the same speed on every down. I see a player who performed unevenly last year and subsequently was pulled from the starting lineup for a game.

 

I see the physique of an alien and 14 1/2 sacks last season, but I also see a player who, according to a vote by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association, was the fourth-best defender in the ACC. Williams received four votes for defensive player of the year, compared with 31 for Maryland linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, 17 for Boston College end Mathias Kiwanuka and 14 for Virginia Tech end Darryl Tapp.

 

I see quite a contrast in Hawk. He led Ohio State three seasons in tackles, was named an All-American and the team MVP twice and, as a senior, won the Big Ten defensive player of the year award and the Lombardi Trophy.

 

But back to Williams for a moment. Ultimately, I see a player so gifted that no flaws should dissuade me. I see a freak who plays a critical position. Super Mario is what I see.

 

I should write his name on the card now.

 

But I owe it to myself to look at Hawk again, so I pop in the Ohio State tape. I see a player who is all over the field. I see someone athletic enough, fast enough and stout enough to play any linebacker position. I see a linebacker who has an uncanny feel for the game, who almost always reads plays as if he had designed them for the offense. I see a defender who can take on offensive linemen and disengage about as well as anyone I can remember-and then make tackles surely and violently.

 

I see a blitzer who is so skilled, he had only five fewer sacks than Williams put up last season. I see a linebacker who can make plays from hot dog vendor to beer stand. I see an intimidator, a leader. I see a player who is as safe a pick as any in the draft-and a finished product.

 

I see greatness. I don't think there is any doubt Hawk is the better player. It's the values of the positions that hang me up.

 

I know I should adhere to the old tried-and-true philosophies: You win games with your lines; the player who is closest to the ball is most valuable; you can't find special pass rushers; a great end creates opportunities for everyone else on defense. I know 90 percent of the teams probably would draft Williams.

 

I ask myself this question: Is it easier to neutralize a great end or a great middle linebacker? You can double-team a great end and control him most of the time if you are determined to do so. It's more difficult to account for a linebacker in the middle of the field.

 

I figure you can create a pass rush. The Steelers and Seahawks are proof of that. You can't create a physical force in the middle of the field who gives your defense identity.

 

I think about the great inside linebackers. Dick Butkus. Jack Lambert. Ray Nitschke. Ray Lewis. Mike Singletary. Bill George. Joe Schmidt. Sam Huff. Nick Buoniconti. Harry Carson. What do they have in common? Well, with the exception of Butkus, they've all won championships. It seems like great middle linebackers have that effect on teams.

 

I make up my mind. Hawk is my guy.

 

With the fifth pick in the draft, the Green Bay Packers select A.J. Hawk, linebacker, Ohio State.

 

I wake up.

 

I have been dreaming.

 

I am no longer Ted Thompson.

 

Never was.

 

Of course. Taking A.J. Hawk, it's a dream.

 

 

 

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Fatman Huddler

Fatman

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Ferguson would satisfy me, as much as our defense needs help. Hawk, Mario, D'Brick, or maybe even Davis. It's a deep draft for LBs, so we could still grab solid guys later.

 

1373754[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

Absolutely...Davis would be interesting...

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