WHYYYYYY!!!! TED!!!

I believed him. I looked into Ted Thompson’s beautiful eyes and he captivated me. He took me with his arm around my shoulder and said it is here and we are ready.

Since the Packers made the switch to the 3-4 defense, they claimed to have the pieces in place to begin running their new defensive system.

Well Ted…you lied to me.

With the draft more than a week over, Thompson spent five out of eight picks on defense with four of those picks addressing various areas in the front seven. Interesting. Thompson also traded back into the first round to draft outside linebacker Clay Matthews Jr. Trading up was a bit of a shock but how about everything Thompson gave up to get to the 26 position. One second round pick and two third round picks.

Thompson also ignored his draft board when the Packers selected defensive tackle B.J. Raji with the ninth pick, passing on wide receiver Michael Crabtree. Thompson is notorious for staying true to his board.

Raji and Crabtree are both players with similar skills at their respective positions. But on most people’s boards, such as Scouts Inc. and Kiper’s Big Board, Crabtree was consistently ranked as the second best player with Raji as the fourth or fifth best player.

For Thompson to pass on the second best available player, he must have felt pressing needs at other positions on defense.

Now that the Packer’s first rookie camp concluded Sunday, they have added several undrafted free-agent rookies, the most notable being former Maryland defensive tackle Dean Muhtad, who at 6-3.5 and 288 pounds has the size to play one of the defensive end spots.

The Packers are also bringing in former Oak Creek start Rhyan Anderson, a former defensive end for the University of New Mexico, for a tryout. Anderson played two seasons at the University of Miami before transferring to New Mexico.

They have also brought in several outside linebackers to compete for potential roster spots.

With Thompson making the claim that the Packers are ready, he has spent not only a majority of his draft picks but money, signing players to fit into the front seven of the Packer’s defense.

After the last two weeks, it is clear the Packers were not ready.

Even though Ted Thompson played spin master for a few months. We must get behind him. He did turn our deficiencies into potential strengths.

Ted…I forgive you.

Sincerely,

Mike Haberle