Gary Seymour, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
All I want for draft day is a linebacker like Clay Matthews, with the same football instincts, only faster and immune to injury.
If it fits into the stocking, it would be nice to find a wide receiver in there, too. A burner, with 4.2 speed and good hands, preferably … no, make that great hands, and a 50-inch vertical leap.
Another item on the wish list is a tight end, one who can get more separation than Richard Rodgers but who can go up and get a jump ball in the end zone like Rodgers can if he has to.
The day of the NFL draft to a football fan can feel like Christmas to a kid. You know that you’re about to receive something that you didn’t have before. You just don’t know what it is yet, or how much you’re going to like it. Some of the stuff that looked great in the brochures turned out to be junk.
Having released linebacker Nate Palmer earlier this month, the Green Bay Packers appear set to make a draft selection to address that new roster vacancy as the draft gets under way Thursday in Chicago.
There are plenty of promising names in the lot, although which of them will still be available at No. 27, the position from which the Packers will pick, remains to be seen.
Speaking of names, for sheer outward appeal there is UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, who couldn’t have more of a fitting handle for his job if his name was Reggie Paydirt, or Charles Pancake-Block.
But Jack’s stock has dropped over the past week with revelations of his knee injury, punctuating the uncertainty of any draft, or any individual career in the NFL.
Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland has been projected to still be available for the 27th pick, which would be an excellent “get” for general manager Ted Thompson and the Packers, whose total of nine picks this year include three in the fourth round. Other possible pickups at linebacker include Auburn’s Cassanova McKinzy and Jordan Jenkins of Georgia.
Draft day is always an especially big deal for the Packers because Thompson’s preference to developing draft picks over free agent signings has been his standard operating procedure since coming on board in 2005.
As long as the hope-for light is still on for the Packers’ upcoming season, that list might also include a victory at Lambeau Field over the division rivals – all of them, preferably, but at least one for starters. The Pack, who dropped their three home dates with Chicago, Minnesota and Detroit last season, will finish the 2016 regular season with games against the Bears (away), Vikings (home) and Lions (away).
Nondivision games this season will pit the Packers against Jacksonville, the New York Giants, Dallas, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Tennessee, Washington, Philadelphia, Houston and Seattle.
Regardless of who is selected in which round, the NFL has thankfully undertaken to ensure that you can share in the realism of the draft, wherein each chosen player is presented with a baseball cap featuring the logo of his new employer.
Try to imagine how silly one would look watching the draft while wearing a regular-season cap, and then take heart in the NFL’s breaking out its official draft-day caps – for less than $40.
That’s right – for either 32 or 37 bucks, depending on which official NFL draft day cap style you choose (free shipping on either!) you can live the entire draft day experience, all official-like.
That aside, there is encouraging report from the Packers camp that, regardless of draft day acquisitions, their offense is already better than last season. The healthy return of wide receiver Jordy Nelson, the favorite target of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, signals an instant bump in production.
As for the Packers’ Super Bowl aspirations, getting there won’t be a breeze, but the pieces are in place, the window’s still open, and at long last, here comes the draft.