Pre-Draft Thoughts

I'm not sure if this is conventional wisdom at this point, but I think that this week's draft is going to be a pivotal moment in a turning point season. After a Superbowl championship and a 15-1 season, it's pretty tough not to back-slide. When you're back-sliding consists of winning your division, challenging for the number 2 seed in the playoffs, and winning your first round game against a division rival and their historically amazing, MVP running back, you're sitting in a pretty good spot.

On the other hand, there's nothing about the way the Packers finished the last season that could lead fans to be as confident as they were going into the last two seasons. The running game is a mess. The offensive line is a mess, which impacts the running game as well the ability of Aaron Rodgers to be effective. There were legitimate calls for Dom Capers to be fired after how lackluster the defense performed, especially in the playoff game against the 49ers. The pass rush disappeared for significant portions of the season and the safety play still hasn't recovered from the loss of Nick Collins.

The Packers are at a crossroads. To be sure, with Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers on the team, it will not be difficult for the team to win games. What remains to be seen is whether the team has truly been passed by the likes of the 49ers and the Seahawks. As usual, the Packers have been quiet this offseason, and that has led to a higher than usual amount of criticism of Ted Thompson. I'm not yet sure if i think that criticism is fair, but I do know that if the problem areas aren't addressed, that criticism will continue to grow.

If the Packers aren't going to improve via free-agency, then the draft has to be the mechanism for improvement. Well, the draft is here. It's time to see what the next class will bring to the table. Can the line be improved? Will the running game be revived? Can the defense regain its form? It's tough to tell. I don't think that they will need to fix all of these problems to regain championship form. Plugging one or two of the holes could allow the team to reach its destination, especially when Aaron Rodgers is at the helm.