The Packers should draft the best player available. The best player that will be available when the Packers pick will be A.J. Hawk. A.J. Hawk is an amazing LB with great heart and drive. He has great effort and is always giving his all. He won the Lombardi award in his senior year. In his junior year he had over 140 tackles. That is amazing for a college LB. He actually set a record for the most tackles in a year. He has a 40 time of 4.4. Besides being athletic he is very smart. A.J. Hawk could be the next Ray Nitschke.  He could easily be a pro bowler for 6-8 seasons. The weakest position on our team is our LBs. If you team him up with Nick Barnett you will have a dominant LB corp.

Mario Williams has a lot of upside but is also a big risk. Last time we spent a high pick on a DE we selected Jamal Reynolds. He was a major bust and we paid for it for the next couple of years. With all the money involved in a top 5 pick a mistake could hurt a team for years. Williams potential is not worth the risk. He is known to take plays off and some experts believe he won’t be able to transfer to the pro level as well as most rookies. If we resign Kampman we don’t need another DE. We would have so much money invested in Kampman and KGB we couldn’t afford to pay another DE top dollar.
D’Brickashaw Ferguson is a good OT but it wouldn’t be a good choice for us right now. We already have two good tackles. Last year we didn’t pay Rivera or Whale and if we moved Tauscher to Guard we would be spending just as much money on a Guard as we would have if we kept Wahle or Rivera. If we picked Ferguson we would be spending too much money on the offensive line when we should use more on the defensive side of the ball.
A trade down would be nice but it will be hard to find a trade partner. It is rumored that several of the teams before us wish to trade their picks. Teams would be more willing to trade with them so they could get one of the top quarterbacks. This lowers our chance of getting a trade. Also since this draft is so deep teams will be reluctant to trade away their draft picks.

AJ Hawk is the safe pick and will be a great LB for years to come. Lets hope we see him next year in Green and Gold.

A.J. Hawk is a great player but not what the Packers need. LB's are a dime a dozen in this year's draft and the Pack could easily pick up a starter in the second or third round. Why not spend the pick on a much more needed position (like an offensive or defensive linemen) or trade the pick to fill a few more roster spots? Either D'Brickashaw Ferguson (T) or Mario Williams (DE) should be available at #5. Selecting Ferguson would allow Mark Tauscher to move to guard. This would help improve the weakest spot on the team. Mario Williams could provide a much needed pass rush that could make the Packers defense one of the best in the league. We were already one of the upper teams in defense last year; just think what our defense could do with a pass rush. He would be a risky pick but he could become our best DE since Reggie White.

Perhaps the most intriguing option would be a trade. With a hot upper echelon of players this year, several teams may want to move up to pick one of these players. We could possibly pick up a second rounder, a future first rounder, or a veteran player if we traded down. Since we are far from a playoff team (especially if Brett Favre retires), this could be a good option. It would allow us to get two or three solid players to add to our roster instead of just one. We need help at running back, offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, defensive back, and possibly even WR or QB. Drafting A.J. Hawk could even be considered a risk. Every year, there are more and more busts selected early in the first round. Trading down would give us more chances to find a gem and it would significantly cut down on the risk. If we pick a bust with the fifth pick, we may not recover for a few years.