It has been, and continues to be, a big month for the Green Bay Packers' player personnel department. This week marks the third of four consecutive weeks of college all-star games where scouts and personnel staffs from all the NFL teams get to talk to many of this year's draft-eligible players, watch them practice, and see them play in a game against other all-star level competition. With the scouting process having gone on all fall at campuses and stadiums around the country, and with the NFL Scouting Combine coming up in late February, the month of all-star games in January isn't the be-all and end-all of the scouting world. But it provides a valuable chunk of information for teams in their ongoing evaluations of draft prospects, and getting a chance to see upwards of 100 or so top talents each of the four weeks makes for a busy time. "Where somebody earns their money is on a daily basis during the season, but this lets you fine-tune and see if you were right about some guys a little bit during the year," said Shaun Herock, the Packers' assistant director of college scouting. "You can see if some of your projections were correct, see how a small-school guy can compete against good players, or see if a guy you saw during the year has continued to play well. "It's all a process, another step to getting to that final decision."
by Mike Spofford, Packers.composted 01/22/2009
