The Green Bay Packers have released 28-year old linebacker Brandon Chillar.  Chillar played in 8 games for the Packers last year and he had 16 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception and he defensed 1 pass.  Chillar played in 34 games in his three years with the Packers and he had 104 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and he defensed 10 passes.  Chillar will be replaced by the younger linebackers who stepped up for the Packers last year.

The Packers have released 31-year old linebacker Brady Poppinga.  Poppinga played in 6 games for the Packers last year and he had 14 tackles and 1 sack.  He played in 81 games in his six years with the Packers and he had 244 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions and he defensed 7 passes.  Poppinga will lose out to the younger linebacker that stepped up while he was injured last year.

The Packers have released 27-year old DT Justin Harrell.  Harrell played in 1 game for the Packers last year and he didn’t make any tackles.  Harrell played in 14 games in his four years with the Packers and he had 28 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  Harrell was a first round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, proving that even a GM as good as Ted Thompson makes mistakes.

The Green Bay Packers took 21-year old DT Lawrence Guy out of Arizona State with the 233rd overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Guy is 6’5″, 300 pounds.  Guy will need to toughen up if he’s going to make it in the NFL as he got pushed around a lot by double teams in college.  He played in 12 games (all starts) last year at Arizona State and he had 41 tackles, 6 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and he batted down two balls.  Guy played in 35 games (31 starts) in his three years with the Sun Devils and he had 122 tackles, 23 tackles for a loss, 8 sacks, batted down 2 balls, forced 1 fumble and he recovered 2 fumbles.  Guy was projected to get drafted much higher than where the Packers got him, so maybe they have found a diamond in the rough.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Packers have placed Lawrence Guy on the Injured Reserve List due to a nasty concussion.

The Green Bay Packers have selected TE Ryan Taylor out of North Carolina with the 218th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Taylor is 6’3″, 254 pounds.  He caught 36 passes for 330 yards (9.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs for the Tar Heels last year.  That was the only season Taylor caught any passes.  He also had 37 tackles in his four years at North Carolina.  The Packers might use him as more of an H-Back than a TE going forward.  Taylor might also be able to help the Packers on special teams.  Not many draft “experts” had Taylor getting drafted.

 The Green Bay Packers picked 23-year old DE Ricky Elmore out of Arizona with the 197th overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Elmore is 6’4″, 255 pounds and he runs a 4.8 40.  Elmore is a guy who makes plays in the opposing backfield quite often.  He is not a big hitter, as  he’s more of a wrap tackler but he’s very good in pursuit.  It’s isn’t particularly athletic though so he future likely lies at DE instead of linebacker.  Elmore played in 13 games (12 starts) for Arizona last year and he had 49 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks, be batted down 1 ball and he forced 1 fumble.  He played in 51 games (34 starts) in his four years at Arizona and he had 128 tackles, 33 tackles for a loss, 25.5 sacks, he batted down 4 balls, forced 3 fumbles and he had 1 fumble recovery.  Elmore has the heart to succeed but time will tell if he has the talent to succeed in the NFL.

The Green Bay Packers selected OLB D.J. Smith  out of Appalachian State with the 186th overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  He is 5’11″, 239 pounds and he runs a 4.79 40.  Smith leaves everything on the field and he is a vocal leader who always seems to be around the football.  But, he was playing against small time competition, so who knows if he will be able to handle the jump to the NFL.  Smith played in 13 games (all starts) last year for Appalachian State and he had 144 tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, he broke up 3 passes and he had 1 interception.  He played in 56 games (50 starts) in his four years at Appalachian State and he totaled up 525 tackles, 32 tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks, he broke up 27 passes, had 4 interceptions (1 returned for a TD) and he also forced 2 fumbles.  At the very least, Smith will help out on special teams.  But, if he can handle the jump in competition he might really be able to help out the Packers’ D down the line.

The Packers took OG Caleb Schlauderaff out of Utah with the 179th overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Schlauderaff is 6’4″, 302 pounds but he plays upright.  He is a positional blocker who plays too small and he doesn’t get much power into his run blocks.  The Packers’ coaching staff is going to have to really work with Schlauderaff before they trust him on the field.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for Utah last year.  He played in 52 games (49 starts) in his four years with the Utes.  Schlauderaff is a project but the Packers will have the luxury of bringing him along slowly.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Packers have dealt Caleb Schlauderaff to the Jets for an undisclosed draft pick.

The Green Bay Packers picked 22-year old TE D.J. Williams out of Arkansas with the 141th overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  He is 6’1″, 236 pounds and he runs a 4.63 40.  Williams has a good set of hands and he’s a good route runner.  He is also a good run blocker who also excels on special teams.  Williams played in 13 games (all starts) at Arkansas last year and he caught 54 passes for 627 yards (11.6 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He played in 51 games (33 starts) in his four years with the Razorbacks and he had 152 catches for 1,855 yards (12.2 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  Williams is talented enough to play either TE or FB in the NFL, so I really like this pick for the Packers.

The Green Bay Packers have selected 22-year old cornerback Davon House out of New Mexico State with the 131st overall pick (4th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  House is 6’0″, 188 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  House has some things he needs to fix in his game but he will have time to do that because he will be no higher than #4 on the depth chart at corner in 2011 for the Packers.  He played in 12 games (all starts) for New Mexico State last year and he had 57 tackles, 10 passes broken up, he had 2 interceptions and he forced 1 fumble.  House played in 50 games (44 starts) in his four years with New Mexico State and he had 202 tackles, broke up 37 passes, he had 11 interceptions, forced 1 fumble and he recovered 3 fumbles.  This was a good pick for the Packers because House can work as a dime back and on special teams until he’s ready to handle a more important role for the Packers down the road.