Green Bay Packers Final 2014 Draft Board

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Jared Abbrederis
Wisconsin Badtgers WR Jared Abbrederis was drafted by the Packers in the 5th round of the 2014 NFL draft.

The 2014 NFL Draft finally arrived and is now over, which means the Green Bay Packers have made all of their selections and we know who will be joining the team in training camp and hopefully helping bring another Lombardi Trophy to Titletown.  Our team at ALLGBP.com has done a fantastic job in breaking down each of these players. Be sure to check out each breakdown and get to know the newest Packers.

Let’s take a look at this year’s full slate of draft picks:

Round 1

21st overall – Ha’Sean “Ha Ha” Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama

What the heck would Ted Thompson have done if the Arizona Cardinals stayed put at pick No. 20 and selected Clinton-Dix? That would have meant Ryan Shazier, C.J. Mosely, Calvin Pryor and Clinton-Dix — all targets for the Packers — would have been gone. Good thing Arizona traded back and Clinton-Dix was there for Thompson to take. Safety is the most glaring hole on the Packers roster and Clinton-Dix should be able to step in on day one and provide an upgrade.

Round 2

53rd overall – Davonte Adams, WR, Fresno St.

The Packers needed another big WR after James Jones left for Oakland. Thompson has a good track record of finding WRs in the second round, and if Adams works out, expect to see a receiver who runs precise routes, goes up and gets the ball, and is strong enough to gain leverage and make catches even when covered. Adams won’t wow you with his speed, but he’ll fit right in if he does, in fact, develop into the next James Jones.

Round 3

85th overall – Khyri Thornton, DT, Southern Mississippi

An under-the-radar need for the Packers heading into the drat was defensive line depth. With Thornton, the Packers add another big guy to the rotation who has the potential to develop into more than just a rotation player. Thornton doesn’t appear to be as explosive as Mike Daniels or as athletic as Datone Jones, but he does seem like a player who could anchor the edge of the line in a 3-4 scheme if he improves his conditioning and irons out a few technique quirks.

98th overall – Richard Rodgers, TE, Cal-Berkley

Rodgers probably isn’t strong enough to be a dominant blocker in the NFL, but if he can turn his athleticism into production in the passing game, we won’t complain too much about his blocking. I like Rodgers’ potential to be a red-zone threat, something the Packers desperately needed last season. It’s probably going to take some time for Rodgers to develop, but the tools are there to build a good receiving tight end.

Round 4

121st overall – Carl Bradford, LB, Arizona St.

If you want versatility, Bradford is your guy. He played outside linebacker, inside linebacker and defensive end at Arizona St. and also appears to have the athleticism and attitude to stand out on special teams. Bradford’s got a bit of a mean streak in him, something the Packers defense desperately needs. I want to see what Bradford can do at inside linebacker. He reminds me a lot of Desmond Bishop.

Round 5

161st overall — Corey Linsley, C, Ohio St.

For the first time in forever, Thompson drafts an actual center instead of taking a tackle with the hopes of turning him into a center. Linsley is more of a physical run-blocker than precise pass-protector. His skillset matches up nicely with the bulldozing style of Eddie Lacy. But if Linsley is going to succeed in a Packers uniform, he’ll have to get better as a pass-blocker. Linsley could also play guard, which I suppose means T.J. Lang could move to center. I hope that doesn’t happen because Lang looked awful at center when he was forced to play it a few times in 2013.

176th overall – Jared Abbrederis, WR, Wisconsin

The former walk-on at Wisconsin begins his pro career with the Packers. We’ll be hearing a lot about Abbrederis’ worth ethic and smarts, but I’m most excited about seeing what he can as a kick and/or punt returner. The Packers seem to always be scrambling to find returners so having another option like Abbrederis will be nice.

Round 6

197th overall – Demetri Goodson, CB, Baylor

This pick was kind of a head scratcher. The Packers are wrecked by injuries every season, and Goodson has had a hard time staying healthy. He’s also 25 years old, which makes you wonder if he’s already hit his ceiling. On the positive side, he’s really fast and could team with, or compete against, Abbrederis for a kick/punt returner role. He switched from basketball to football so he’s got a lot to learn. Maybe his ceiling is higher after all.

Round 7

236th overall — Jeff Janis, WR, Saginaw Valley State

I didn’t even know Saginaw Valley State was an actual school until this pick was announced. Janis sounds like he’s got all the physical tools to be a successful NFL WR, but needs to be polished up and tested against big-time competition. Aaron Rodgers has to be happy with the Packers draft. He already had Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb to throw to, now he has three more new receivers and a tight end.

Undrafted free agents

( check back at 8AM Central for a separate post with a complete list and more details, but for now, here are some early reported signings)

OG John Fullington, Washington State

RB Rajon Neal, Tennessee

LB Jake Doughty, Utah State

QB Chase Rettig, Boston College

CB Ryan White, Auburn

OLB Jayrone Elliot, Toledo

RB James Sims, Kansas

DT Mike Pennel, Colorado St. – Pueblo

OG Jordan McCray, Central Florida

DT Carlos Gray, NC State

TE Justin Perillo, Maine

LB Joe Thomas

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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .

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53 thoughts on “Green Bay Packers Final 2014 Draft Board

  1. Time will tell but I think it was a good haul. If you are a “needs” person, TT hit all of them (expecting Bradford to move to ILB in 3-4). Add these players to what we hope will be a healthier squad and I predict big things in 2014/15 (superbowl homeboy!)GoPack

    1. Ted Thompson doesn’t draft for need, didn’t you hear him say that every year…lol

  2. Overall I am happy with the draft. My disappoint was with the day two picks. I was hoping for at least one more player that could help from day one but they strike me as players who will need a year to develop. Though with how injury plagued we’ve been you never know who will be forced to step up.

  3. Add the UDFA’s and it looks like TT has built a perennial “SB” squad. I expect top 10 in O, D and ST. Looking forward to OTA’s and preseason. Lot of tough competition for the “52” final spots.

    The pipeline is refilled. Go Pack GO!

  4. I am very pleased with this draft except for the 3rd round. Both picks seem like reaches that will take time to develop. Instead if we would have taken Will Clarke DE at 85 and Keith McGill CB with the comp pick we would be stacked! All of the WR’s would make up for not drafting a TE.

    1. I bet TT was aware of who he could have taken. He must have a reason for choosing the players he did in the 3rd round. I dont know what they are, but, not only is he devoting his entire working life to identifying productive players, he has a staff and scouts to review the potential players available. Though every year teams miss.

      1. The two questionable picks in the aforementioned 3rd round, prove to me that picking the “Best Available” is a myth…Both of these players were slotted by all others I’ve read, as 6th or 7th rounders or UDFAs…Sven makes solid points…Round 3 grade?…Please give me your honest opinion and try to be objective…

        1. The TE was the only pick I really didn’t like. It felt like a need pick after higher rated TEs went early and in the wrong place for the Packers.
          If Rogers can barely crack a 4.9 40, and is pretty much a pass catching TE who will not give much in blocking, he is going to struggle to make any kind of mark in the NFL. You want to see 4.6 speed in a (pass catching) TE or at least a high 4.7.

          1. Do you know anything about Rodgers? He was a 275 lb blocking TE before this past year when he dropped 30 lbs and became a receiver. He said he expects to be at 260-265 in the NFL. That along w his receiving ability could make a terrific dual use TE. A little development and we might have a nice all around TE like Niklas and CJ Fed are expected to be.

              1. Have to trust that the professional scouts know a little more than the amateur internet scouts.

  5. Add OLB Adrian Hubbard from Alabama to the UDFA’s. Now thats a solid signing and possible roster spot for him.

    1. Hubbard was projected as a 4th rounder…sounds like a “Ted Hendricks” physique…He turned-out to be a helluva an OLB…Let’s hope he (Hubbard) pans out…
      We really needed help at ILB and TE…I don’t see it…But, maybe our 4th rounder will play at ILB…also, maybe R. Rodgers will surprise us all…

  6. If Thornton pans out, this will be an “A” draft. In my mind, the last 3 picks are all possible KR/PR possibilities, which has been a huge need, with Cobb being so integral to the offense. Special teams have not been special lately.

  7. I love the HAHA pick. And the 2nd and 4th round picks too. 5th 6th and 7th round are always crap shoots. At that point it seems scouts just draft on physical potential and shake out who can play in training camp.

    But those 3rd round picks quite frankly tick me off. WHY do we need ANOTHER undersized 5 technique who can rush the passer a little bit??? Don’t we already have that guy in Daniels, Worthy and Neal???

    And the TE pick… eurgh. He’s either a normal sized TE who is slow as molasses or an undersized TE who can’t block. Great.

    We could have had CJF instead of Thornton and our pick of a host of very good ILB or S prospects instead of Rodgers.

    I hope I’m wrong, but I just don’t see either of those guys contributing this year or anytime soon.

    1. BearMeat, my friend, you are ‘Preaching to the choir’…my thoughts, in a nutshell…let’s hope they are not two wasted picks…which, we could have used elsewhere…Best players available?…in the 3rd Round?…This, to me, again, proves that TT is an average drafter, and every year, he makes some absurd picks…these could most likely have been taken the 6th, 7th round or possibly UDFAs…every year, the same thing…I am hoping I am wrong, this time…we could have taken Lynch (TE from Georgia), who at least can block…even Thorton was surprised he was drafted in the 3rd Round, because a number of teams had told him, “6th Round or later”…
      Justin Harrell with a torn bicep, the safety from Maine in the 4th Round…it’s Deja Vu all over, again…

    2. “We could have had CJF instead of Thornton…”

      I assume CJF is Fiedorowicz and he was the first pick in the 3rd round. Thornton was the twenty first pick in the 3rd round.

      1. Don’t think for a second that TT couldn’t have gotten back into the end of the 2nd if he’d wanted to. All it would have taken is both those 3rd round picks – and seeing that both of his 3rd round picks almost surely could have been had at least a round later…. it was within reach.

        1. Don’t think for a second it would have costed more draft picks. Probably the one used on Bradford, who was rated higher (54 to 107) than CJ Fed by CBS. Kinda illustrates that the amateur internet scouts don’t know as much as professionals. Which might also explain why the Packers took Rodgers higher than expected.

          CJ Fed for both Bradford AND Rodgers? Not me…

        2. How do you trade the second 3rd round pick away when it is a compensatory pick that is ***illegal*** to trade away?

          Please keep your speculations within actual reality.

        3. Like it’s been stated, you can’t trade comp picks, so again your statement isn’t making sense.

          But, aside from that, saying he could have had CJF instead of Thornton isn’t a fair statement because he would have had to move up 20 spots to get him. That’s like saying he could have had Clowney instead of HaHa.

            1. Saying this was a good draft or a bad draft is like saying that the crops will be bad the day you plant them. Give it a some time and then we can speak intelligently about it.

  8. IMO, the determining factor as to whether or not this draft was a success will be the development of Thornton, Rodgers, and Bradford. If in two years at least two of those three players become either starters or solid contributors, this draft class will be a success.

    I say that because this draft was supposed to be the deepest draft in years and those three players are our 3rd and 4th round picks. There were other high-quality players projected to be either starters or solid contributors available when TT selected these guys. How well these guys develop will determine whether or not he made the right choices.

    1. I have to agree. The two R3 picks in particular were out of left field. If they prove TT right then this draft will be good enough. If they don’t, it will be a big hole in the roster. To miss out on Niklas by one pick and then parlay that into a reach for a TE in the next round is tough to take. Kind of ruined my day. Of course, had Niklas been available, we don’t know if TT would have scooped him up but it seemed like a no-brainer to me.

      btw – had Dix been taken at pick 20 you have to think TT would have taken the trade offer from CLE. OTOH, the value pick at that point was Darquese Dennard, CB. So maybe we take Dennard, who everybody says is all football player.

      1. Yes. This draft was defined by players TT really wanted falling to the picks we had. Clinton-Dix, Adams, Bradford and Linsey for sure. Probably Thornton too — no reason to give Pittsburgh and Baltimore a chance to take the kid early in the 4th when he was who was rocketing up the charts for 3-4 teams.

  9. Most disappointing in this draft is the so called fans reaction. Concussion syndrome seems to happen to fans far more than to players otherwise we’d remember fans reaction that Nick Collins was a reach, TT trades down and then takes Jordy and fans say “who, and we didn’t need a WR”, and even last year fans saying why take Hyde, he’s too slow, TT must have taken him for ST.

    Us fans yes me included and most draftniks know jack shit re the full scope of a player’s resume (medical, criminal, character, football IQ, coachability, drive to succeed, etc. Case in point, I wanted TT to take Dennard instead of Dix and then T-Silv posts on the live blog Dennard had a double hernia surgery. Imagine Packer fan’s outrage if in Sept Dennard would go on IR; they’d accuse TT of drafting injured players.

    What will decide this draft is who is contributing in 3 yrs. If none of the draft picks are on the team but four of the UDFA’s were contributing starters then this draft would be a success.

    1. Well we know TT’s draft picks for the last several years have not been so hot. Take away CMIII and you have to go back to 2005 and Aaron Rodgers to find the last Ted Thompson R1 pick that contributed to this team last year. That is by far the worse R1 drafting record in the NFL. It also is the reason our defense sucks. So it is a little hard to give Thompson the benefit of the doubt on his out of LF R3 picks. The last time he struck it big on such a pick was 2005 – Nick Collins. That is a decade ago. For that one hit there have been 20 or so misses since.

      1. I understand a lot of posters do not really look at the drafts (or anything) before they post, but first the obvious (thompson has not had twenty third round misses, he has had 3 or 4. He has traded out of the third round a few times (i believe three times the pack didn’t not have a pick). His other picks Spitz (played for GB for 5 season, including over 60 starts), Jermicheal finley, Morgan Burnett, and Casey Hayward. What do you expect from the third round, a pro bowler every time??!! News flash that doesn’t happen—anywhere

    2. It doesn’t necessarily take three years. If it’s a really poor draft, a good portion of the players get flushed out of pro ball before that. It doesn’t take that long to figure out guys like Brian Brohm or McMillian don’t have it.

  10. I find myself wondering if TT picked all these WR because he’s worried about whether or not he’ll be able to keep both Cobb and Nelson. I don’t see why he would pick 3 WR AND a TE otherwise.

    I’ve said for awhile that a good FS will make a big difference in this defense, and that’s really all TT added, so we’ll find out. The measure of this draft might be what TT didn’t do…namely find at least one ILB. Bradford might be a flexible play, and come with high intensity, but will be be ready to contribute meaningful snaps at ILB right away? More and more, this team looks like it’s going to play a lot of 4-3 (hence the Thornton pick…who I’m really starting to like), so maybe they don’t need that other LB after all.

    Not that anyone really cares, but I give this draft no higher than a B at this point. As Bubba says, it will be 2-3 years before we really know.

    1. We needed WRs. We often have 3 or more WRs on the field and we were down to 3 total. Plus it was a WR rich draft. The R7 pick was a throw-away pick. The big pick was Adams. Abby is a nice #5. So I don’t see this as a harbinger that Nelson/Cobb are leaving. TT made his decision and Jennings/Jones were let go. Nelson and Cobb are keepers. Boykin has been a nice find too. I’m just disappointed we didn’t land a better TE in the draft. The kid we got is a project with a low ceiling. 4.9 speed and may or may not be able to block. That wasn’t worth a R3 pick in this draft. Neither was a DL with short arms and small hands. But that’s Ted. Even he didn’t have much good to say about his picks other than he liked them. If somebody that worked for me gave me answers like that I’d fire him on the spot. In GB they are called geniuses.

      1. WR also play ST’s. They are gunners and wing blockers. The team wants more speed everywhere. GoPack!

  11. After our first pick TT seemed to have reached in the next couple of rounds. We all hope there is a method to his madness. My guess is that he’s trying to win now with Rodgers in his prime so he goes for players who have proven it on the field but underrated due to measurables. Since we pick at 21 every round, you have to find those underrated players. Being 1-10 in each round is easy. I think TT saw enough on film with Adams, Thornton and Rodgers to push them up on the board. Lacy has proven that production against good competition matters.

  12. Like EVERYONE else, I’m very disappointed in our R3 picks. However, I really like the later picks this year (even the center looks promising), and I certainly won’t question TT’s round 2 receiver choice. Meanwhile, let’s all hope for Finley’s speedy recovery!

  13. One thing I don’t quite understand is the feeling that the Packers had a “great need” at TE that wasn’t adequately addressed.

    Regardless of what people may think of Richards, we still have Quarless (who admittedly didn’t have a great first year back from that horrible knee injury), but we also have two young developing players- Stoneburner, who I don’t think is quite ready yet, but more importantly, Brandon Bostick, who has shown glimpses of Finley-esque talent as a receiver and started to get some snaps at the end of the season last year.

    At worst, (IMO), Quarless and Bostick should be plenty at the position to keep the offense stable and moving while Richards is developed and they figure out if he can play or not.

    What I’d love to see is Quarless get his confidence back in his knee and start blocking like he used to, and Bostick flips the switch and we start seeing some production out of the position again with a young athletic TE that can attack the seam vertically.

    Could we use an upgrade at the position? Yes, you always can. But I don’t think TE was as much of a glaring need as many portrayed it to be.

    Either way, hope Richards turns out. Perhaps he could be worked into a Bubba Franks type RZ threat. Don’t need to blaze the 40 to be a threat to score on a shortened field.

  14. Let’s think about this draft strategy: in a class of deep WR and CB; one might say draft WRs late (which yielded 2 good pickups) but in Round 2; draft TE like Fiedorowicz; considering that a strong blocking TE, with the tools as receiver would have been more versatile option than a WR. That would have been an upgrade at TE. Maybe they want to resign Finley. If so, then I understand the 2nd round pass on TE.
    Now why wasn’t ILB higher priority in draft? There were several prospects on the board into later rounds. Maybe all of us fans are simply too dumb, and we’re all terribly mistaken about the current ILB crew and the talent is there. In that case, time to take another round out on the coaching staff on defense side that they or the scheme aren’t sufficient.

  15. Let’s think about this draft strategy: in a class of deep WR and CB; one might say draft WRs late (which yielded 2 good pickups) but in Round 2; draft TE like Fiedorowicz; considering that a strong blocking TE, with the tools as receiver would have been more versatile option than a WR. That would have been an upgrade at TE. Maybe they want to resign Finley. If so, then I understand the 2nd round pass on TE.
    Now why wasn’t ILB higher priority in draft? There were several prospects on the board into later rounds. Maybe all of us fans are simply too dumb, and we’re all terribly mistaken about the current ILB crew and the talent is there. In that case, time to take another round out on the coaching staff on defense side that they or the scheme aren’t sufficient.

  16. I liked the fiedorowicz but he was not a great tight end. He had a late 3rd round grade. Using 53 on him would have been an incredible reach if we are basing it on all the mocks. It’s tough to watch people complain (not singling anyone out) about how we “reached” in the 3rd but then also say we were supposed to trade up for players that would also have been considered reaches in their own right.

  17. Biggest surprise in the draft was all of the defensive players with decent draft grades that went undrafted.

    S. Skov, Christian Jones, K. Quarles, K. Ladler, D. Bailey, J. Jeffcoat, M. Roberson, etc.

    All these guys were thought to be mid round picks by the “experts” and were guys I had my eyes on during the draft. Not sure if all the offensive talent pushed these guys out, or if it just wasn’t a good draft year for defense.

  18. Biggest surprise in the draft was all of the defensive players with decent draft grades that went undrafted.

    S. Skov, Christian Jones, K. Quarles, K. Ladler, D. Bailey, J. Jeffcoat, M. Roberson, etc.

    All these guys were thought to be mid round picks by the “experts” and were guys I had my eyes on during the draft. Not sure if all the offensive talent pushed these guys out, or if it just wasn’t a good draft year for defense.

  19. Hoping they sign problem child Colt Lyerla TE but I know it will never happen.
    Best pick: Davante Adams WR
    Worst pick: Richard Rodgers TE

    Shocked that Hubbard didn’t get picked, I know there is a lot of stuff out there about his personality but he is still 6’6″ 257 and runs sub 4.7 with a 38.5″ vertical, say bye bye Nate Palmer and strap up Mulumba!

    1. What the Packers do with Nate Palmer will be interesting to see, considering it seems like his drafting was base solely on the insistence of Kevin Greene that he could take Palmer’s raw athletic ability and turn him into another Clay Matthews. Palmer was a big time project that was perhaps the biggest reach we’ve ever seen from a TT draft.

      Now that Greene is no longer the OLB coach, will Palmer be given a chance to develop under a new coach?

      Have to wait and see.

      1. “Palmer was a big time project that was perhaps the biggest reach we’ve ever seen from a TT draft.”

        As a 6th rounder? And he stuck, so how much of a reach could that really be?

        1. It’s not too often we see TT use a draft pick on a kid who will almost definitely go undrafted. nd when he does, it’s usually with a 7th round pick.

          Palmer did not show much of anything in training camp last year. He was kept, in my estimation, due to Greene’s strong feelings about him, as opposed to his on field prowess.

          Keep in mind, Mulumba- a UDFA- took snaps last year while Palmer mostly sat.

          I know Palmer is going through the conversion, and I’m not attmepting to be harsh. But he really was kind of a head scratcher, even in the 6th. Again, my question is will a different position coach see the same potential as Greene did, and will the new position coach be as keen to invest the time in Palmer when it looks like we’re to have more ready-now players this year.

          I hope he pans out.

      2. They will move him inside like they have other failed OLB’s like B. Jones and Lattimore.

  20. Nobody talked about Ted’s presser following Clinton-Dix pick. Did you all see that look on his face when a reporter asked him about Dix’s speed and running a 4.59, Ted’s response “not the time we had” with a sly grin, I’ll say this if you watch the tapes on Ha Ha he does look much,much faster on the field when closing on a ball carrier or a ball. I just don’t know why in this day and age if a player and his agent knew he could put down a much faster time, why he wouldn’t run at his pro day?

    1. Right or wrong, if Clinton-Dix puts down a 4.48 40 time at combine, he is a for sure top 12 pick???

  21. Seattle signed two guys we have talked about in here pre draft. Dion Bailey S and Jackson Jeffcoat OLB/DE. It is weird some of the guys that didn’t get picked, that big WR from Rutgers Coleman, Max Bullough LB from MSU and the guys mentioned here. Isn’t there a stat that a few of these guys make GB’s roster every year, wonder who it will end up being.

  22. The main problem with our TE’s is ball dropping. I assume that TT saw enough on film to believe that Rodgers has good hands. As TE you don’t need to run 40 fast. You need to be able to sneak into space and catch a catchable ball or else you kill a drive. From film that I saw, he can definitely catch if the ball was thrown right. He’s not like Ebron where he can reach and catch a badly thrown ball in traffic. Ebron is exceptional. We just need a reliable target to keep linebackers and safeties on their toes so they don’t double up on our receivers or crowd the line to stuff Lacy.

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