Can you feel it in your bones? We’re a month away from live, meaningful NFL games. The preseason officially started this past Sunday during the Hall of Fame Game. Green Bay starts their preseason Friday with a home matchup against the Browns. There’s a lot to talk about before we get to that point, so I won’t belabor you any longer. To the notes!

UNCLASSY DRAFTING

Ted Thompson’s reign as Green Bay’s general manager has been marked primarily by his passive-aggressive pissing competition with former quarterback/Wrangler model Brett Favre. That might be the good news considering his less than stellar track record with top draft picks.

His first year on the job he snared QB Aaron Rodgers, who threw for over 4,000 yards in his first year as starter. Of course, it was sheer luck that Rodgers would fall to Green Bay at 24 (imagine if San Francisco had picked Rodgers instead of Alex Smith first overall) and it didn’t hurt he was given three years to practice and learn without being thrown right into the fire. In 2006, Thompson went with linebacker A.J. Hawk, who might be an afterthought or cap casualty if he underperforms yet again this year.

In 2007, he selected defensive tackle Justin Harrell. Harrell has aggravated his back in training camp this year, making the ratio of years Green Bay has had Harrell on the roster to years Harrell has had a debilitating injury a steady 1:1. Last year, Thompson didn’t even select a first-rounder, electing instead to take three second rounders: wide receiver Jordy Nelson who is a fine talent but not good enough to crack the top three, quarterback Brian Brohm who got outperformed by seventh-rounder Matt Flynn, and cornerback Pat Lee who is, at best, an underseasoned fifth defensive back.

Pictured: Justin Harrell. Not pictured: Harrell’s bulging disc.

This year, he selected another defensive tackle, the hulking B.J. Raji, who has yet to sign his rookie contract. Granted, this isn’t Thompson’s fault – the lack of signings by other first-round picks around the NFL are more or less dictating the inertia – but he needs Raji on the field and he needs him to perform well. His other first round pick this year, Clay Matthews, looked to provide a spark on the edge but has already tweaked his hamstring three times this summer alone. As Ryan Grant can tell you, a tight hammy will definitively hamper your production.

A solid defensive line, particularly the big guys in the middle, is the linchpin to a successful 3-4 defense. Speaking of which…

THE OL’ SWITCHEROO

Making the move to a 3-4 defense might be just what the Packers needed after a year punctuated by fourth-quarter collapses and overtime clunkers. Then again, it could be a knee-jerk response to a couple of blown plays, the injury bug, and poor personnel decisions. We won’t know probably until the end of next year whether or not the shift is a good one. I do know hiring Dom Capers and Kevin Greene were great moves for the coaching staff. They both know and love the scheme, and they’ll get players to know and love it too. Greene, working with the linebackers, will especially bring a high-octane approach to coaching.

One player to watch closely is Aaron Kampman, the Pro Bowl defender that Green Bay is switching from defensive end to outside linebacker. According to those journalists covering training camp, Kampman is excelling in blitz packages and run-stopping schemes but consistently falters in pass coverage. Most of the kinks can probably be worked out through practice, but you have to question the psychology of the move. Kampman’s one of those pieces that doesn’t quite fit, and despite the claims of coach Mike McCarthy that they’d have Kampman lining up with his hand in the dirt, Green Bay is using a relatively conventional 3-4, not a hybrid like some teams. Wait to see how they use Kampman, because he has worked too hard, has shown enough skill, and is being paid too much to become simply a complementary piece of a defensive overhaul.

Aaron Kampman has football skills, but does he have a position on the Packers?

FANTASTIC FANTASY

If you’re like me, you adore fantasy football. It adds another element of intrigue to Sundays, making every game a little more interesting, if only on a superficial level, screaming at Marc Bulger to stop running around like a mongoose and just get the ball to Donnie Avery. For instance. When you draft a Packer for your fantasy team, it’s double-bonus time. Every touchdown, every yard gained, every extra point is a little sweeter. Here’s what I think about the fantasy prospects of this year’s green and yellow.

(Note: I propose to cease using the alliteratively-friendly but inaccurate moniker “Green and Gold.” Gold is what you’ll find on the helmets of Notre Dame and Pitt. Yellow is what you find in Green Bay and Pittsburgh. Let’s take George Orwell’s advice and stop our careless disintegration of the English language, yes?)

Buy High!
This is probably redundant to anyone who follows the Packers, but Aaron Rodgers is a great buy. If I’m picking a quarterback in the first two rounds, it better be Drew Brees or Tom Brady. After that, I say it’s a pretty close call for guys like Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning, and Rodgers. Keep in mind that Rodgers threw for more yardage and touchdowns last year than the elder Manning brother. He threw for twice as many touchdowns as interceptions, an already impressive ratio and one that will probably increase with a season under his belt. If he’s available in your third or fourth round, grab him.

No, he doesn’t have a Dali-inspired Sprint commercial like Peyton. But he can replicate his “laser rocket arm” without the cachet of the Manning name.

Greg Jennings is going to put up 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns and Donald Driver is another decent pickup. But why not take a late-round flyer on a player like James Jones or Jermichael Finley? Jones could have a Steve Breaston-like year, maybe putting up 800 yards and 5 or 6 touchdowns. Not a bad guy to take at the end of your draft for bench purposes. Finley is currently the second tight end, behind the solid if not spectacular Donald Lee, but coaches are raving so much about his athleticism and potential that the Packers may have no choice but to implement more two-tight end schemes simply to get him on the field. As a backup tight end (or bye-week pickup), you could do worse, particularly in auction leagues where I doubt anyone but you will know his name.

If you’re in a league that uses individual defensive players, stay away from Green Bay defensive linemen: the 3-4 scheme uses them more as lane-cloggers than sack-machines. The real stars are going to be the linebackers. Still, I’m not sold on any one LB as a sure thing, so I’ll put my money on Charles Woodson. Can’t go wrong with a guy who will play through any injury and still pick off 6-8 passes a year. As a team defense goes, Green Bay is middle of the pack. Draft them as a solid second option but not as a first.

Stay Away!

I love Ryan Grant. I really do. He has the second best smile on the team behind Greg Jennings. He has an incredible disposition and helped springboard the 2007 run to the NFC Championship, the closest this team has gotten to a Super Bowl this decade. But he is not a strong fantasy option. He has too many games where he can’t get out from behind his own offensive line, and he’s not yet figured out how to consistently break through that second wall of defense. He’s steady and should pick up about 1,100 yards and 8 or so touchdowns, but that’s not a guy you want to spend a fantasy pick on before the eighth round or so. A decent complementary back but by no means someone you want as your star.

Ryan Grant: great dental work, average fantasy back.

Mason Crosby is scaring me. His make percentage dropped below 80% last year and he missed two potential game-winning kicks (just wide right in Minnesota and a blocked kick in Chicago). I doubt his confidence is shot and I assume it truly is a mechanical issue. Trainers have recently gotten him to line up a little shallower on kicks and not quite as wide, and apparently it’s fixed his accuracy. He’s always had the booming leg, but you need more than that to kick in a Green Bay December. Drafting a kicker before the last round makes less sense than having pennies in the U.S. economy, but you still shouldn’t throw the pick away on someone you’re just going to drop in a week anyway. Take a kicker with job security, who preferably kicks in a dome, and on a team whose offense is good enough to get into the red zone but not good enough to score touchdowns.

I’m stoked for the preseason to begin, especially after my beloved Blue Jays tanked this summer, giving me nothing to enjoy but the anticipation of the gridiron. I’ll be back in the next few weeks with more analysis and reports before the real season gets underway.