Ron Robinsons Beard

Here's my best guess at a Packers mock for next week: 1st Round (#12) - Brian Burns, OLB, Florida State - The Packers are going to get crap for this pick from uninformed fans that see Burns as Jamal Reynolds 2.0. Burns is a completely different kind of player, though. He fits the body type Pettine likes for his pass rushers at 6'5" with extremely long arms, and while he played in the 225-230 lb range, he was up to 250 lbs at the combine, and still ran and tested very well. He's got the frame to add an additional 10-15 good pounds. This draft is extremely deep at Edge, and the Packers take advantage by grabbing a guy that would have Top 5 talent in any other draft. Alternatives: T.J. Hockenson, TE, Iowa; Ed Oliver, DT, Houston 1st Round (#30) - Dalton Risner, G/T, Kansas State - I personally love Risner's pedigree and work ethic. I think he's a terrific fit for LaFleur's zone scheme, and will immediately slot in as a starting guard, while eventually taking over for Bulaga at RT. He's a good athlete and known as a terrific locker room guy and leader to boot. Alternatives: Cody Ford, G, Oklahoma; A.J. Brown, WR, Ole Miss 2nd Round (#44) - Juan Thornhill, S, Virginia - I really hope he falls this far, as I think Thornhill is the best safety prospect in the draft, and is the perfect CF-type safety to pair with Amos. Terrific ball skills and awareness, along with CB-like speed and solid tackling ability. Alternatives: Max Scharping, G/T, Northern Illinois; Deebo Samuel, WR, Georgia 3rd Round (#75) - Jace Sternberger, TE, Texas A&M - Sternberger is one of those guys who does everything well. I think this is the year they draft a TE to groom behind Graham, and eventually take over in 2020. Alternatives: David Montgomery, RB, Iowa State; Tre Lamar, ILB, Clemson 4th Round (#114) - Mecole Hardman, WR/KR, Georgia - Speed, speed and more speed. Hardman is a guy they can immediately insert as the #1 kick and punt returner, while working into the slot. Not a big guy, but more well put together than Trevor Davis. 4th Round (#118) - Germaine Pratt, ILB, N.C. State - It would be spectacular if Pratt lasted this long. He's a big, fast ILB who is solid in coverage and would be a nice complement to Martinez. He'd be an instant starter. 5th Round (#150) - Mark Fields, CB, Clemson - Smooth cover corner who is basically a finished product and used to the big stage. Not all the measureables you want, but as solid and dependable as they come. Micah Hyde type. 6th Round (#185) - Will Grier, QB, West Virginia - One of the higher rated QBs is going to fall, and Grier has enough red flags that he might be that guy. Nice developmental prospect with questionable arm strength. 6th Round (#194) - L.J. Scott, RB, Michigan State - Was once a potential high round pick, but battled injury last year. Solid runner and receiver out of the backfield. Big, strong back and probably a little faster and more slippery than Jamal Williams. 7th Round (#226) - Mitch Hyatt, T/G, Clemson - This year's version of the typical Packer pick of a solid college tackle who they intend to move inside to guard. So, this draft gives the team three immediate starters (Risner, Thornhill, Pratt), a potential future Edge stud who will rotate in his rookie year (Burns), a potential game-breaking returner and situational receiver (Hardman), a solid future starter at TE in Sternberger, solid rotational depth in Fields, Scott and Hyatt, and a talented developmental QB in Grier.

JJ is a terrific fit in the community, in the clubhouse and on the field. It was so awesome seeing him come in and have an efficient outing yesterday, bringing all that movement and nice heat, along with his intensity and emotion. Hopefully it will shut up his detractors here, at least for a little while. Given JJ's past and his long history with this organization, he's a really easy guy to root for.

Yeah, if you are watching Arcia play and not seeing an extreme top-end defender, I'm not sure what you are looking at. He regularly makes difficult plays look routine. He's the total package of what you'd look for in a defender at SS. Soft hands, gun for an arm and terrific instincts. I always thought Jean Segura was a solid defensive SS, and Arcia puts him to shame. Once they inserted Arcia as the regular SS as a 21 year old over Villar in 2016, the difference was night and day.

Taylor was added to the 40-man roster during the offseason, so he is Brewer property for the foreseeable future.

Classic! The unsubstantiated hot takes are obviously strong with this one.

Chase has been in bullpen mode for a month now. I think if you start him, he's only going to give you 4 innings/60 pitches max, especially since he pitched yesterday. The only question is who goes down for Houser. I imagine Petricka is sent down Saturday when Wilson returns from paternity leave. Wilkerson would have been the other obvious choice, but with what he did today, he may have earned himself more time.

Yep! Next up, take 3 of 4 from the Dodgers. Also, please put Aguilar on the bench for a couple games.

He's always been streaky. But yeah he's been bad.

Hicks sure does throw hard, but that fastball looks like its coming out of pitching machine.

I just saw 93 with nasty movement. Nice first step for Jeremy. Far from disastrous.

Jeffress hitting 93 with nasty movement. Positive first step.

I am very happy to eat a huge helping of Aaron Wilkerson crow, at least for today. He's been phenomenal. I still don't think he's any more than a back end of the rotation/pen-type arm, but he knows how to hit his spots and get the most out of what he has. Perhaps he's earned himself a longer look.

It may be time to start thinking about a straight Braun/Gamel platoon.

He already has. In AAA. He's been lit up like a Christmas tree. If you want to ignore the evidence go ahead. I'm out of this discussion. That's probably for the best. Your mind is obviously already made up. Solely by looking at stats put up in a few minor league rehab appearances. By a guy who basically had no spring training. All I can say is WOW

Wilkerson HR. This team is weird.

The Brewers offense rarely shows up when there’s a chance to sweep so it’s not surprising to me that Wacha is dominating. Also, I don’t think he’s ever lost to the Brewers. He really does seem like one of those crappy replacement-level pitchers who always looks great against the Brewers. *sigh

That may be a possibility if we continue seeing struggles in the rotation. I think they really like Guerra in the pen, though. He's been one of the very few that can be trusted so far.

Not going to matter how many runs the pitching staff surrenders if the offense decides to take a vacation day. Silver lining - we'll likely see Jeffress today

Nice work by AAAAron Wilkerson to escape that mess.

Well, Wilkerson coming in likely means there is no way he is going to start Saturday. I imagine that means we'll see Adrian Houser make the first start of his MLB career, with the off chance that Chase Anderson makes a spot start. With Anderson going 1 1/3 innings yesterday, though, that may be unlikely.

Another fastball right down the middle hit for a bomb.

I totally understand that pitchers can make a living throwing in the low 90's or high 80's. They are pitchers who have worked for years developing pitches that can be effective at that velocity. They usually have a plus changeup as well. JJ is a velocity dependent pitcher suddenly being forced to work at a much lower velocity. He might well be able to develop pitches that work, but I wouldn't have him try it at the MLB level. None of that can be substantiated until he actually, you know, pitches a game. This is kind of an odd hill to die on.

I expected sporadic starts like this. He's been consistently bad so far, though. The sample is still very small, but there is no doubt reason for concern.

Wieters is the type of hitter 2018 Burnes would have attacked. Instead, this version of Burnes nibbled around the edges before giving Wieters a meatball right down the middle that was scorched. Thankfully Aguilar caught it, or it would have taken his head off. Burnes is in his own head right now. He's trying to be too perfect.

Is the current Chris Hook different than the Chris Hook that worked with these guys for years in the minors, where they saw large degrees of success? Hook isn't the reason Burnes and Peralta are missing their spots.