I am all about the stockpiling of picks, not so much for this draft as for future drafts. To start a trend of having extra first, second, or third round picks in the next year's draft would be a huge advantage. I think many of those who feel that having extra picks in a draft where the talent might be thin fail to realize that the picks don't have to be spent. There is always going to be desperate teams in the NFL who need picks or have players that don't work in their system. This happens every year. To have extra picks in the first half of the draft every year would give us not only the option of drafting more players, but those picks could be traded for future picks if the talent is light, or those picks could even be used to trade for a veteran player.
It makes sense both short-term and long term to do this with draft picks. The Patriots have been doing it forever and they are almost always deep into postseason. I think what the Patriots do to some of their vets is a little harsh, and I am not saying that I want the Packers to be just like the Patriots. What I am saying is that the way the Patriots go about the draft is clearly paying dividends, no one can argue this.
I think the Packers are in a unique position with this draft. Depending on how the CBA goes or when for that matter, it is possible that Green Bay could secure an extra first or second round pick next season or the season after that. This makes total sense considering where the Pack picks this year, the fact that we don't have too many holes on the roster, and it is doubtful that any of the real first year starters at any position probably won't fall to Green Bay.
Now a great deal of what can or may happen, depends on the CBA. So the actual possibilities are endless. I am not against trading up in drafts. it is a high risk/high reward type move and clearly we all know what happens when it pays off big. But I keep hearing "We need another Clay Matthews on the other side." News flash, there is only one Clay Matthews. To think that we can magically draft another Clay Matthews by trading up in the draft is almost delusional. How many DE/OLB prospects were there in the draft last year that were touted as bad *** or awesome prospects? Depending on which board or site you look at, there are as many as 6 that are rated as first round talent. 4 went in the first round of last years draft. Pierre-Paul had the only decent year out of the four. 2 ended up on injured reserve and Hughes from TCU had less than half a dozed tackles for the entire year. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but why risk it if it's not needed? There are good OLB rush candidates in the second and third round. Brooks Reed should go in the second but his popularity has him climbing boards.
Most rookies, if they have what it takes to play in the NFL long term, make their big jump in ability in their second year. So how do we know that Zombo doesn't have a breakout year this year? We have a bunch of guys coming back from injury and a bunch of other guys who want to keep their jobs. The competition for roster spots will be nasty even without the guys drafted this April.
I think trading up this year, especially for one of the 3-4 OLB prospects is too much risk with no enough reward. The odds that Green Bay trades up and then selects a player who turns out to be not only a rookie sensation but talked about for defensive player of the year, has got to be absolutely astronomical. The odds have to be rediculous. So why go for it? I'm not against risk, but only if there is real potential for reward.