Would Green Bay Take Crabtree?

No one doubts the primary draft needs of the Green Bay Packers. After a 6-10 season where the offense performed fairly well and close games were sabotaged by the defense's inability to generate late-game stops or turnovers, the Packers have to get better on that side of the ball.

However, general manager Ted Thompson has always been a "best player available" kind of guy. Examples of this could be found in 2005, when the Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers in the first round, and in 2007, when Justin Harrell was the pick. They weren't areas of need, instead the best players on the board.

Like the philosophy or not, but Thompson believes that you trust your draft board. After all, the Packers' army of scouts and personnel people spend countless hours putting the thing together. You can't trust these folks to help you evaluate the available talent, then doubt the final product on the day of the draft.

With that in mind, the Green Bay Press Gazette's Tom Pelissero brings up an interesting scenario. Just play along for a few seconds.

It's Saturday, around 4 p.m. and you're Packers GM Ted Thompson.

Nose tackle B.J. Raji is off the board. So are the top three offensive tackles.

So, you have a GM who trusts his draft board, and is inclined to take the best player available. The best "need" players in the draft, Raji and the offensive tackles, are gone. That leaves, according to my math, two options for Thompson.

The first is the need player, LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson. You stick him into one of your end positions in the 3-4 defense, and you're set. However, that's not necessarily a glamour position in the 3-4, and does Thompson want to hand a big bag of guaranteed money ($15 million, perhaps) to fill that spot?

(This isn't to say that defensive ends aren't important in the 3-4. Looking at Green Bay's current roster, the only point here is that the outside linebacker and nose tackle positions are probably more significant needs.)

The second option is wide receiver Michael Crabtree. While that's not a position of need for the Packers, it does create some serious competition for catches. Not only that, but it gives the offense a huge compliment to the playmaking ability of Greg Jennings. The one negative is that Crabtree getting big guaranteed money could make Jennings up his demands for a contract extension.

There is no doubt that Crabtree should be drafted before the ninth position. Then again, there was no good reason for Rodgers to fall as far as he did back in 2005. General managers have to be prepared for everything on draft day. Crabtree's availability could throw a monkey wrench into Thompson's plans to beef up the defense.