After struggling through a Brett Farve melodrama before the start of the 2008 season, the Green Bay Packers were officially turned over to QB Aaron Rodgers. Then the Packers wound up a disappointing 6-10 record finishing third in the NFC North.
After such a disappoint season it was obvious to all that the Packers had a few holes to fill. Heading into the draft GM Ted Thompson and Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers needed two pieces to make their move to the 3-4 defense complete.
Those needs were a Nose Tackle who can hold down the middle of their new defense for years to come, and a pass rushing line backer who could get around blocks and bull rush offensive tackles. There was also a need for an offensive tackle to anchor either side of the Packers O line. Thanks to a clever draft day trade the Packers were able to fill two of those needs.
Picking ninth most of the top tier offensive lineman had already been selected so the Packers went after BJ Raji from Boston College. Raji was the number one ranked DT in this draft, and The Sporting News had him ranked as the best overall run stopper. At 6’1” and 330 pounds Raji is the man to anchor the middle of the Packers defense for many years to come. With that in mind we have to give this pick an A grade.
To secure another valuable player Thompson traded away the Packers Second Round pick (41st overall) and their third round pick (73rd overall) to the New England Patriots for the 26th overall pick in the first round.
With that pick they drafted OLB Clay Matthews out of USC. While Matthews was the 7th ranked OLB in this draft, and the 4th LB taken in this draft, many publications had him ranked as the most versatile LB coming out in 2009. With that taken into consideration we must also give that pick an A grade.
In the later rounds the Packers addressed their needs at OT by selecting two OT's in the fourth and fifth rounds respectively.
With that let us take a look at the Packers Grades for this year’s draft:
Round One- A
Talent- A-
Need- A
Average- A
And a complete look at the Packers 2009 draft:
Round One- 9th overall BJ Raji DT Boston College
Round One- 26th overall Clay Matthews LB USC
Round Four- 109th overall TJ Lang OT Michigan State
Round Five- 145th overall Quinn Johnson FB LSU
Round Five- 162nd overall Jamon Meredith OT South Carolina
Round Six- 182nd overall Jarius Wynn DE Georgia
Round Six- 187th overall Brandon Underwood CB Cincinnati
Round Seven- 218th overall Brad Jones OLB Colorado
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