Packers: Day 2 Draft Review

The Packers entered Day 2 of the 2009 NFL Draft with a long wait on their hands. After trading up into the first round to select Clay Matthews, the Packers were left without picks in the second and third rounds. Ted Thompson earned plenty of time to sit and twiddle his thumbs before the picking started again.

Thompson opened up the second day in the fourth round by picking Eastern Michigan tackle T.J. Lang with the 109th pick of the draft, bolstering the depth along the offensive line. Competition was added to the fullback position, as Thompson tabbed Quinn Johnson out of LSU in the fifth round with the 145th overall pick.

Fostering competition seems to be one of Thompson’s goals from this draft, as in the fifth round, with the 162nd pick acquired from the New England Patriots, he drafted Jamon Meredith, an offensive tackle from South Carolina. The picks of Lang and Meredith means the Packers have drafted four offensive linemen in the last two years, after Breno Giacomini and Josh Sitton were drafted last year. This creates a logjam on the offensive line, but Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy feel that it will bring the best players to the forefront, ultimately helping the team.

With their last three picks, Thompson added more pieces to Dom Capers‘ defense, with defensive end Jairus Wynn from Georgia and cornerback Brandon Underwood from Cincinnati in the sixth, and linebacker Brad Jones from Colorado in the seventh. Wynn will be expected to attempt to compete for a spot along the defensive line, for which he will have to bulk up for, while Underwood is projected as a special teams player. However, he does join a crowded stable that is jockeying for position behind the aging Al Harris and Charles Woodson. His versatility also makes playing safety a possibility. Jones, the Packers last pick, has played in a 3-4 before, and joins an almost comically crowded linebacking corps.

Day 2 wasn’t as crazy as Day 1 for Packers fans, but Thompson is good at finding diamonds in the rough, so it will be interesting to see how these guys shake out for the Packers.