Sunday, April 30, 2006

#183 and #185: DT and S

With the 183rd and 185th overall picks, the Packers chose DT Johnny Jolly from Texas A&M and S Tyrone Culver from Fresno State.

The summary on Jolly from NFL.com's Prospect Profiles:

"Jolly was a tough player to fairly evaluate because despite his natural tools, he does not finish and make plays that he gets close enough to on a regular basis. He does a good job of bending his knees and playing with leverage, which allows him to hold his ground at the point of attack on runs at him, but he does not shed the blocker quickly enough to make the play and too often he is tied up right as the ball carrier runs right by him. He does a good job of getting off the ball and into the backfield to disrupt plays, but he does not finish and make the play often enough. Overall, Jolly has all the physical tools to be a good starting defensive tackle in the NFL, for a 3-4 or 4-3 defense, but will need to use his hands better to take on and shed blockers. Additionally, he will need to play with that aggressive, attacking style much more in order to produce at the level he is physically capable of. I believe that Jolly will be drafted later than he is evaluated here, but given a season or two as a backup (possibly even on the practice squad), he can become a good backup defensive tackle who can do a solid job of spot starting when needed."


The summary on Culver from Packers.com's bio overview:

"A key contributor while leading the secondary the last two years, the four-time Academic All-Western Athletic Conference has the quickness needed to cover any receiver on deep routes. He called the secondary adjustments for the team and was labeled a "coach on the field" by the staff because of his field smarts and ball anticipation ability...In 51 games at Fresno State, Culver started 26 times. He recorded 178 tackles (101 solos) with four sacks for minus 19 yards and six stops for losses of 22 yards. He recovered three fumbles, returning one 30 yards for a touchdown. He had two forced fumbles and deflected fourteen passes. He also gained 72 yards on five interception returns...Produced 109 of his career 178 tackles during his last two seasons with the Bulldogs...Was a four-time Academic All-Western Athletic Conference choice."