By: Marques Eversoll
Football Fan thinks about the Packers’ needs. He selects “CB” on the drop-down menu. He reads up on Byron Jones, Jalen Collins, Marcus Peters and Eric Rowe. Packers general manager Ted Thompson picks a “CB” that Football Fan never researched. Why? Because Thompson’s “CB” was listed as an “S.”
Football Fan subsequently labels the pick a “reach.”
Thompson selected Damarious Randall with the No. 30 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. After making the pick, Thompson said they’d line Randall up at cornerback. But despite Thompson’s impressive track record building his team through the draft, the initial reaction to Randall wasn’t overly positive.
“No one has ever heard of this turd!”
“Could have gotten this guy with the 62nd pick.”
“Should have taken a punter.”
“CHOKE is the Packers’ middle name.”
… Those were all actual responses on The Fan’s Facebook or Twitter pages. People don’t like the pick simply because they never saw it coming.
Had Randall been on the same list as Byron Jones, Jalen Collins, Marcus Peters and Eric Rowe, he would have “made sense” as a replacement for Tramon Williams and Davon House. But – since he was on a list with Alabama’s Landon Collins in what’s considered a weak safety class, Thompson made a bad pick. He “reached.”
On a conference call with the local media, Randall revealed that more teams (12) talked to him about playing cornerback than teams that viewed him as a safety (7-8). But your common NFL Draft sites don’t have that information.
Coming out of free agency, it was pretty obvious that the Packers had a couple glaring holes on the defense – inside linebacker and cornerback. The first round of this year’s draft had more value at cornerback than inside linebacker. Including Randall, five defensive backs went in the first 32 picks, while just one inside linebacker (Stephone Anthony 31st to New Orleans) cracked the first round. Round two figures to be see a rush for linebackers. And the Packers still have a second-round pick. And a third-round pick. And a fourth-round pick … You get the point.
Bottom line – the Packers picked Damarious Randall in the first round. Randall played safety in college, but often operated out of the slot. The Packers, from the mouth of Ted Thompson himself, view Randall as a cornerback in the NFL. Therefore, Thompson used his first-round pick on either his first or second biggest need.
For the record – and for what it’s worth – I projected Randall to the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 20. I thought of him as a safety, and the Eagles needed a safety. Had a little bird me told me that the Packers considered Randall to be a cornerback, perhaps I would have given more thought. But Ted Thompson doesn’t care what I think or what you think or what anyone outside 1265 thinks. He thinks Russell will make a good player, and that’s all that matters.
Remember when Thompson took Nick Collins in the second round, and everyone knew that the little-known defensive back from Bethune-Cookman would become one of the best safeties in the NFL? … Me neither. Take a deep breath, and give it time.
Marques Eversoll is on-air on SportsLine every weekday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 PM on The Fan, and he hosts the Saturday Morning Showcase every weekend 8:00-10:00 AM. Follow him on Twitter @MarquesEversoll.
