Green Bay Packers: In Stealth Mode with the Selection of Damarious Randall

When it came time for the Green Bay Packers to make their selection with 30th pick of the first round on Thursday night, there were all sorts of talented options still available.

The top five inside linebackers were all still out there. Eric Kendricks of UCLA, Stephone Anthony of Clemson, Benardrick McKinney of Mississippi State, Paul Dawson of TCU and Denzel Perryman of Miami were all still on the board.

So were defensive linemen Malcom Brown of Texas and Eddie Goldman of Florida State. Cornerback Jalen Collins of LSU was also there for the taking.

So, what did general manager Ted Thompson and the Packers do with their selection? They picked a safety from Arizona State named Damarious Randall.

The safety position was not an area of need for the Packers after the selection of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in the first round of the draft last year.

But with the selection of Randall, Thompson talked about where the 5'11", 196-pound defensive back would play in the Green Bay secondary to the media.

"I don't know how that will work, but I'm looking at him as a corner today," Thompson said. "If next week we decided he's a safety, then it doesn't matter. He's still going to be on the field a lot of the time."

Ah, so the safety Randall is projected to be a corner with the Packers. Talk about a selection in stealth mode. Thompson crossed all of us up when he threw a changeup when were expecting a fastball.

The selection of Randall means he will be joining his former Sun Devil teammate, Carl Bradford, in Green Bay. Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted the Packers are high on the second-year progress of Bradford at inside linebacker.

There is a lot to like about Randall, who put together a very nice workout at the NFL Scouting Combine. Randall ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash, and also excelled in both the 3-cone drill and the 20-yard shuttle.

In terms of production on the field at Arizona State, Randall had 135 solo tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, one sack, six interceptions (including two for touchdowns), 12 passes defended and four forced fumbles in two years with the Sun Devils.

Although Randall played safety for Arizona State, he has the speed and the physique of a cornerback. Thompson explained why Arizona State used Randall as a safety instead of playing him at corner.

“He would’ve been their best corner, which was what was told to me [by people at Arizona State], but in their defense, the safety play is so important and crucial to the production of the defense that they had to play him on the inside,” Thompson said.

Randall also explained why he played safety instead of cornerback when he talked to the media, via a conference call.

“I was coming in as a corner. Coach Graham and the coaching staff sat down and [said], ‘We need you at safety because we have some corners that could hold their own out there, [but] we just do not have a safety.’ So they just asked me to play that role.”

Thompson also explained why he decided to select Randall, instead of the other talent still available in the draft.

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“For some time now, we’ve had him pretty high up on our board. The more you go back and look, he’s a good football player,” Thompson said. “We were talking about amongst our scouts today. You have so long to sit around in angst about everything, you have a tendency [where] if you’re not careful, you start worrying about things. And I’m adamant that’s the wrong thing to do. Never worry about stuff.

“So we looked back at it and said, ‘At the end of the day, if we get just a good football player, it doesn’t matter where we have to take him. If we have to take a guy higher than you want to take him, it doesn’t matter.’ We just wanted a football player. In this case, we took a good football player in our opinion, and we took him at a place where it was very reasonable in terms of cost.”

Besides bolstering the depth in the Green Bay secondary, Randall can also help the Packers on special teams, as he has experience as a return man and is solid on the coverage units.

Two of the players who could have helped the Packers in the first round, Anthony and Brown, were immediately chosen by the Saints and Patriots, respectively, after the Packers picked.

Still, there is a lot of talent available tonight when the Packers will have their choices in both the second and third round.

Inside linebacker is an obvious area where the Packers could be adding some depth. Kendricks, McKinney, Dawson and Perryman are still available.

But the Packers will have to wait until the 62nd pick of the draft to make their selection. There is also the chance Thompson will trade up to get a player he truly wants.

But if tonight is anything like Thursday night, regarding who the Packers might select, expect a changeup instead of the fastball.

Still, I'm staying on the fastball, and I expect the Packers to get one of the top remaining inside linebackers with one of their picks tonight.