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WOLF, HAVING ADDRESSED NEED FOR DEPTH IN '99, WILL SHARPEN FOCUS IN DRAFT
posted 04/11/00
Ron Wolf, who opted for both need and quantity in the 1999 National Football League draft, will be taking a more focused approach to the NFL's 65th annual selection meeting, now close at hand.
When the 14th pick surfaces during the draft's first round Saturday - probably some time between 1:30 and 2:30 p.m., CDT - the Packers' executive vice president/general manager expects to target the player he and Head Coach Mike Sherman deem the best available at that juncture.
A year ago, Wolf's departure from the customary modus operandi was occasioned by what he termed the need to "put the depth on our team back together with quality players," a large area of which he proceeded to fill by drafting defensive backs (Antuan Edwards, Fred Vinson and Mike McKenzie) with the first three picks.
Asked recently during his annual draft preview if he has "the same sense of urgency about addressing the defensive line" - following the offseason departure of Keith McKenzie and Vaughn Booker in free agency - that he had with regard to the secondary last year, Wolf said, "I don't quite have the urgency that maybe the coaching staff has. But, obviously, we have to get in there. That's a prime concern."
He was quick to add, "I would really hate to pass up a quality player, though, to fill a need. We did that a couple years ago and selected a man in the third round - Jonathan Brown - who, interestingly, was the first player picked in NFL Europe this year (the league's annual draft)."
Wolf facetiously appended, "I guess we did something right."
When the time of decision comes, he assured, "What we'll do is, we're going to try to take the best guy that's there. Hopefully, it will be a defensive lineman...I've heard the same names you have...Hopefully somebody will be there. If they're not, that means that another really good player at another position is going to be there. And, believe me, we're going to take that player.
"Because, where we are at fourteenth is a heck of a lot different than being back where we grew accustomed to being for a while. We've got to be pretty sure that this guy can come in here and fill a vital need for us. We're not necessarily as deep as you would hope but we are not also as decimated as people would have you believe we are.
"And I guess that overall in our depth on our roster, the defensive line needs addressing, linebacker needs addressing. The rest of this I think we can make do with. It would help us to add some speed offensively. It also would maybe behoove us to look very seriously at the tight end position. So we just can't go through this without recognizing our needs. But, by the same token, we can't jump either, and jump to take a guy because he plays a particular position when we pass up something else.
"What I'm trying to say is...we can't afford to overlook any quality player at any position - if he's available to us at fourteen."
In the process of his draft analysis, the Packers' GM made no secret of his overall objective.
"What we're hoping to be able to do - since we have 14 choices in this draft, is to find at least five," he said. "Now, that doesn't mean all five of those are going to walk in here and start right away.
"But, if we're any good at what we do, we should have five people make it. And not just make it - they should be significant contributors to our football team...significant."
On another subject, Wolf discounted the possibility of trading up from the 14th position in the first round, despite having seven extra picks overall (including three acquired in 1999 trades - a fourth from the New York Jets for quarterback Rick Mirer, a fifth from the San Francisco 49ers for defensive back Craig Newsome and a seventh from the Seattle Seahawks for wide receiver Derrick Mayes).
'I'm willing to do that," he acknowledged, "but there isn't any true ammunition in those picks...We might have five 7s. And we had have four compensatory picks. You can't trade those...We don't have enough ammunition to enable us to move up.
"But, like I say, if we do our job, we should come out it in pretty good shape."
Based on what Wolf considers to be the overall quality of the draft, the chances of the Packers emerging with five quality players do appear bright.
Addressing that specific question, he was quick to respond, "I think it's very good...I think, certainly, there are some weak areas. That happens every year. But, as I said earlier, we expect to get five players - not just players, good players - out of this."
THE HISTORY OF NUMBER 14: The Packers have drawn the 14th pick in the draft's first round on four previous occasions.
Their initial pick at that point in the opening round - in 1962 - gleaned running back Earl Gros of LSU. Gros subsequently proved to have a fumbling problem - anathema to then Head Coach/General Manager Vince Lombardi - and Lombardi traded him to Philadelphia for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey following the 1963 season.
One year after selecting Gros, Lombardi struck it rich with the 14th pick in the first round of the 1963 draft, tapping defensive end Dave Robinson of Penn State who became a three-time Pro Bowl selection and helped the Packers win three consecutive NFL championships (1965-66-67) - as well as the first two Super Bowls - during a 10-year career in Titletown.
In 1985, the Packers dealt the 14th choice to Buffalo, packaging it with their own second round selection to move up by acquiring the Bills' choice, the seventh. They then used it to claim offensive tackle Ken Ruettgers of USC, who proceeded to become a 10-year starter for the Green and Gold.
The Packers last owned the 14th pick in 1986, a year they traded it to San Diego - along with a fifth-round choice in 1987 - for defensive back Mossy Cade.
The first three rounds of the seven-round process are expected to conclude by 9 p.m., CDT on Saturday. In 1999, the first three rounds required 9 hours and 31 minutes.
Overall, there will be 254 selections, including 31 compensatory choices that have been awarded to 14 clubs which suffered a net loss of a certain quality free agents last year.
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.
Under the Packers' customary draft day procedures, 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 veteran 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' 2000 draft selections, by round and number, as of April 14, 2000:
Round 1: 14
Round 2: 44
Round 3: 74
Round 4: 108, 114, 126*
Round 5: 132, 149, 151
Round 7: 224, 229, 242*, 249*, 252*
*Compensatory Picks
ROUNDS: Seven rounds - Rounds 1 through 3 on Saturday, April 15, and Rounds 4 through 7 on Sunday, April 16.
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 (1999): (1) 5:04; (2) 2:50; (3) 1:37; (4) 1:35; (5) 1:34; (6) 1:29; (7) 1:47.
TOTAL TIME: 15:56 (253 overall selections).
DRAFT SITE: Head Coach Mike Sherman will be available to the media following the Packers' first round selection and at the end of the day both Saturday and Sunday. Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf will be available for a wrap-up review following Saturday's third round and also following the completion of the draft Sunday. Offensive Coordinator Tom Rossley and Defensive Coordinator Ed Donatell also will be available following subsequent picks, along with Vice President of Personnel Ken Herock, depending upon the selection (for offense or defense) and time constraints.
The Packers will have three selections in the fourth round, two in the fifth and five in the seventh, along with single choices in the first, second, third and sixth rounds.
INTERNET SERVICE: The Packers' website, www.packers.com, will carry up-to-date reports on the team's draft selections, including "live" interviews with Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf, Head Coach Mike Sherman 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, CDT, on Sunday, with ESPN2 carrying the remainder of the draft from 12 noon to its conclusion.
ESPN also will carry, from the Packers' administration building, interviews with Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf and Head Coach Mike Sherman, among others, during both days of the draft via video conference.
PICKS: (by round) (1) 31; (2) 31; (3) 32; (4) 35; (5) 37; (6) 40; (7) 48; Total: 254.
AN 'INSIDE' LOOK: Packers fans, regardless of where they may be, will be able to see, at first-hand, what is transpiring in the team's "war room" throughout next weekend's draft by visiting the club's web site - www.packers.com. A camera mounted in the Packers' draft room will be providing a continuously updated "snap shot" of the day's activities. In the process, fans will be able to watch Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf and new Head Coach Mike Sherman collaborating on their first draft together.
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