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posted 04/13/99
Wily Ron Wolf, justly famed for his flexibility and shoot-from-the-hip modus operandi on draft day, finds himself adopting an unusual, broad-spectrum approach to the National Football League's 64th annual selection meeting, which takes center stage on the nation's sports scene this weekend (April 17-18).
Customarily, the Packers' executive vice president/general manager has had the opportunity to focus on a given player - such as was the case in 1998 when he dealt the team's second-round selection in last year's draft to Miami in order to move up 10 places and take defensive end Vonnie Holliday of North Carolina, who promptly justified the investment by becoming an instant starter and a season-long standout.
And, following that kind of initial scenario, there usually has been the opportunity to target "the best player available" and/or positional needs.
This year, Wolf says, the club's current personnel circumstances - seven members of last year's team have departed through free agency - are requiring him to adopt a different stance.
"What we're trying to do is put the depth on our team back together with quality players," he said in a pre-draft assessment over the weekend. "It's a different approach."
Delineating his general strategy, Wolf volunteered, "Our first two picks (number 25 in the first round and number 47 in the second) are going to be the best players that are available, in our opinion."
But, thereafter, he indicated, the approach will change.
"From that point forward, we will start to let the draft board dictate to us who we're going to pick," Wolf noted.
Having said that, he readily concedes that having the luxury of 12 selections in the seven rounds of the draft also affords the ever-intriguing opportunity to make a trade.
Said abundance "certainly does" present that chance, he acknowledged, though he then appended a caveat. "But I think we have to be more careful with how we use those draft choices this year because we have to replenish our football team and add depth to it.
"And with the twelve choices, it gives us the opportunity to maybe be able to pick some people we ordinarily wouldn't pick - just so-called 'shoot the moon'-type selections. Because...with those twelve...you have a great opportunity to...say we need to hit six. If you hit six, that's tremendous. It gives you a lot more flexibility - makes the whole process a lot looser. You can afford to gamble a lot."
Quieting speculation of duplicating last year's first round maneuver, when he traded a second-round pick to Miami and moved up 10 spots to select standout rookie defensive end Vonnie Holliday, Wolf said, "I don't expect us to be moving up in the first round this year.
"I can't envision our moving up because I don't want to give up that second round pick (the 47th selection overall, which comes to the Packers from Seattle in compensation for the departure of then Head Coach Mike Holmgren)," he said. "That's too valuable a pick.
"If we still had our own pick in the second round (exercised in last season's supplemental draft to select offensive lineman Mike Wahle from Navy), I probably would try to move up."
What, he was asked, might be the chances of landing an immediate starter with the initial pick?
"Theoretically, that should be possible," Wolf admitted. "But I think we're that good of a team that it would be tough for that player to be a starter for us this year."
On another aspect of the Packers' pre-draft game plan, he assured that the change in head coaches and coaching staff - effected with the departure of Mike Holmgren for Seattle and the arrival of Ray Rhodes upon the Green Bay scene - will not change what the team will be seeking in the draft, in terms of the size or type of athlete.
"The offense hasn't changed," Wolf pointed out. "It will change a little bit defensively with the overall size of the set of the defensive linemen. I don't think the quality, though, is going to change that dramatically.
"The system we had before, little guys couldn't play. Little guys now can play...And talking about little guys, I'm talking about anybody under 300 pounds."
Summing up his overall approach, Wolf said, "What we're going to try to do is improve our team, and we're going to try to improve our team by working in the secondary...working at wide receiver...but we're not limiting ourselves to those positions."
With the draft is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., Wisconsin time, Wolf is likely to be making the Packers' highly important first selection somewhere in the vicinity of mid-afternoon, when he will be transmitting that initial pick to NFL draft headquarters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Overall, there will be 253 selections, including 31 compensatory choices that have been awarded to 18 teams which suffered a net loss of certain quality free agents last year.
The expansion Cleveland Browns have the most selections in the draft, 13, with the Packers next up with 12, including four compensatory picks (Nos. 33, in the third round, 36 and 38 in the fourth round, and 34 in the sixth round). Compensatory picks, unlike other draft selections, cannot be traded.
The first three rounds of the seven-round process are expected to conclude on Saturday by approximately 9 p.m., CDT. In 1998, the first three rounds required 8 hours and 32 minutes to complete, the first round taking 4 hours and 39 minutes. A year earlier, by contrast, the first three rounds of the 1997 draft required 9 hours and 38 minutes to complete, the first round taking 5 hours and 13 minutes.
The draft will resume at 10 a.m., CDT, on Sunday for the final four rounds. It should end in the vicinity of 4 p.m., CDT.
The Packers' draft day procedures remain unchanged. Selections again will be transmitted from the team's "war room" in the administration building to NFL draft central in New York. Al Treml, the club's longtime video director, will represent the Packers at draft headquarters - The Theater at Madison Square Garden - and relay each choice to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue (or a representative) at the podium for formal announcement.
The Packers' 1999 draft selections, by round and number, as of April 13, 1999:
| Round | Selection |
| 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 47 (from Seattle in compensation for Mike Holmgren) |
| 3 | 87 |
| 3 | 94 (compensatory selection) |
| 4 | 131 (compensatory selection) |
| 4 | 133 (compensatory selection) |
| 5 | 159 |
| 6 | 188 (from Oakland in 1998 draft day trade) |
| 6 | 196 |
| 6 | 203 (compensatory selection) |
| 7 | 212 (from St. Louis in Steve Bono trade) |
| 7 | 213 (from Chicago in Glyn Milburn trade) |
The Packers' own second-round selection, which would have been the 57th, was used in last July's supplemental draft, Green Bay selecting offensive lineman Mike Wahle from Navy. In addition, the Packers' own fourth-round selection, the 122nd, goes to the Buffalo Bills to complete last season's trade for running back Darick Holmes, and their seventh-round pick (232nd) to Detroit for wide receiver/kick returner Glyn Milburn.
ROUNDS: Seven Rounds - Rounds 1 through 3 on Saturday, April 17, and Rounds 4 through 7 on Sunday, April 18.
TIME LIMITS: Round 1, 15 minutes each team; Round 2, 10 minutes each team; Rounds 3 through 7, five minutes each team.
TIME OF ROUNDS (1998): (1) 4:39; (2) 2:34; (3) 1:19; (4) 1:21; (5) 1:22: (6) 1:16; (7) 1:54.
TOTAL TIME: 14:25 (241 overall selections).
INTERNET AND AUDIO SERVICE: The Packers' website, www.packers.com, will carry up-to-date reports on the team's draft selections, including full-length interviews with Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf, Head Coach Ray Rhodes and others - and conference calls with drafted players - throughout the draft.
TELEVISION: ESPN, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., CDT, on Saturday, ESPN2 from 6 p.m., CDT, to conclusion. ESPN, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Sunday, with ESPN2 carrying the remainder of the draft from 12 noon to its conclusion.
PICKS (by round): (1) 31; (2) 29; (3) 34; (4) 38; (5) 36; (6) 37; (7) 47; Total: 253.