NFL Draft, We Hardly Knew Thee

No, wait, scratch that. There were countless hours of pre-Draft hoopla and then exhaustive coverage all weekend. I spent most of Saturday afternoon noodling around the house with the tv turned up loud enough to hear what was going on. I flipped between NFL Network and ESPN a few times, but mostly only to confirm that my decision to stick with the NFL programming was the right idea. (Unpopular though it may be, I actually like Mel Kiper, Jr., but Chris Berman can eat the fattest of fat ones.)

As for Day Two, I just periodically checked up on picks on the internet, mostly to see who the Packers were taking and if any Badgers had been selected.

So for the Packers picks:

2/5 - Jordy Nelson, WR, Kansas State - Word is he's athletic with nice hands and speed. Another weapon in Green Bay's already young and talented wide out corps is fine by me. Now, it might be from following Wisconsin football (the Badgers might not be as one dimensional as they used to be, but still), but Nelson caught 122 passes in one season? Cripes.

2/25 - Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville - I wasn't surprised that Green Bay took a quarterback, but maybe a little surprised they took one with their second pick. The only thing I can say about Brohm is that for some reason I thought he was smaller than 6'3", 227.

2/29 - Patrick Lee, DB, Auburn - The secondary was a need and by most accounts Lee's a nice enough prospect.

3/28 - Jermichael Finley, TE, Texas - Here's a kid I'm looking forward to in camp. Word is he's raw, but seems to have great upside. Donald Lee emerged as a quality starting tight end option and if Finely develops, Green Bay could have some nice mismatch packages for red zone plays.

4/3 - Jeremy Thompson, DE, Wake Forest - Seems to have good size and athleticism. While it'd be great if he could pan out into a regular contributor right away, at the very least, his addition should push KGB and Cullen Jenkins in camp.

4/36 - Josh Sitton, OT, Central Florida - Adding o-line depth is good news, and it sounds like he was picked right around where he was rated.

5/15 - Breno Giacomini, OT, Louisville - It sounds like he's a little rough around the edges, but supposedly has great athleticism for his size (6'7", 303). Again, a plus for o-line depth.

7/2 - Matt Flynn, QB, LSU - I'd be pretty shocked if Green Bay keeps more than three quarterbacks on roster (I suppose one or two could show up on the practice squad) and if more than one of those were rookies, so Flynn might be a long shot to make the squad. Still, given his productivity in his brief starting stint at LSU, you can't really argue with the pick.

7/10 - Brett Swain, WR, San Diego State - A receiver with decent but not exceptional speed and size. If I had to guess, I'd peg him for the practice squad.

And now for Wisconsin Badgers selected:

4/32 - Jack Ikegwuounu, DB, Philadelphia Eagles - A lot of question marks surrounding Jake Ike's knee. And interest in stealing electronics.

6/12 - Taylor Mehlhaff, K, New Orleans Saints - First kicker taken.

6/15 - Nick Hayden, DT, Carolina Panthers - I think Hayden will be a good fit in Carolina.

6/25 - Paul Hubbard, WR, Cleveland Browns - While I'm biased, of course, I wouldn't be too surprised if in two or three years, Hubbard is viewed as one of the steals of the draft. Cleveland's got a young, talented offense, and he could end up being a great third or fourth receiving option.

UD - Ken DeBauche, P, Green Bay Packers - Joins Kevin Stemke as undrafted Badgers' punters brought into Packers camp.

UD - Luke Swan, WR, Kansas City Chiefs - I'm crossing my fingers for the Fennimore Flash.