Packers privilege: Picking last in the NFL Draft
When it comes to the NFL Draft, there is one pick every team wishes they had. One pick teams strive for, one pick they work for all year. This year the team with that pick took a player at an important position that they hope will help shore up their offense for years to come.
And no, that player is not Cam Newton.
The pick every team wants is not the first of the draft, but the last.
Drafting 32nd is the realm of champions, the position from which the defending Super Bowlchampions begin their quest to repeat. The goal of every NFL team is to win the Lombardi Trophy, and to do so puts them at the end of line for draft picksnot that they mind too much.
This year the Green Bay Packers and general manager Ted Thompson worked from the final spot. Thompson is highly regarded around the league for his drafting ability, a reputation that is well-deserved; of the 53 active players on the Packers roster for Super Bowl XLV, 26 were drafted by Thompson, including B.J. Raji, Nick Collins, Greg Jennings, Clay Matthews and Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay’s success in building through the draft even prompted the NFL to run commercials in the run up to this year’s draft, chronicling many of the picks mentioned above with the tagline “Where Champions Are Built.”
Going in to this year’s draft, the Packers seemed in reasonably good shape for a return trip to the Super Bowl. They are one of the youngest teams in the league, and the franchise has never gone to just one Super Bowl at a time. They won Super Bowls I, II, and XXXI, but fell to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII.
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In the face of such high expectations, some would panic and make a splashy trade to grab a big-name player in the draft. That’s not the style of Green Bay or Thompson, however, and the team sat tight in the 32nd spot, where they took offensive tackle Derrek Sherrod out ofMississippi State.
While taking a player like high-profile Clemson defensive end Da’Quan Bowers with that pick would have made headlines, the Sherrod selection is a low-risk selection for the franchise’s future (unlike Bowers, who carried plenty of medical questions). Along with the selection of Iowa offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga last season, the Packers seem to have the tackles in place to protect Aaron Rodgers when 12-year veterans Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton finally hang up their cleats.
This pragmatic approach is something of a trend among successful teams. Following their Super Bowl victory over the Arizona Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected defensive end Evander Hood with the 32nd pick of the 2009 draft. Hood did not start in a single game his rookie season, but started nine this past season and registered three sacks in the final four games of the season. Michael Bean, site founder and editor of the Steelers’ blog Behind the Steel Curtain, said while Hood was never expected to break in to the starting lineup early, his true value was in his development potential.
“Hood was clearly not going to unseat Brett Keisel or Aaron Smith right away, but Steelers GM Kevin Colbert realized (smartly) that Keisel and Smith weren’t getting any younger,” Bean said. “By the time both of them began to slow down in the forthcoming years, Hood would be nicely marinated and ready to step in.”
Other players taken 32nd overall the past few years include pieces that can be seen as largely complementary additions to already solid squads generally coming off Super Bowl wins. Cornerback Patrick Robinson went to the Saints in 2010, while Hood went to the Steelers in 2009. Safety Kenny Phillips and defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka went to the Giants in 2008 and 2006 respectively (the latter thanks to the Steelers trading their first-round pick to New York that year), and wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez went to the Colts in 2007. Of that group, only Gonzalez is an offensive player.
It’s interesting to note that none of those players have made a Pro Bowl appearance. To find the last player taken with the 32nd pick to make the Pro Bowl, you have to go back to the last offensive lineman taken in that position, guard Logan Mankins. Mankins was chosen by the New England Patriots in 2005, and even his stardom comes with a qualifier; many top-tier guards are taken late in the first round, as tackles are generally seen to be more valuable.
While opinions are split on whether Sherrod can ever reach the Pro Bowl level, consensus seems to be that the Packers took the best player available at a position of need. Brian Carriveau, one of the writers for Cheesehead TV and the editor of the Maple Street PressPackers Annual, said that Sherrod represents a valuable addition.
“Sherrod was an ideal selection for the Packers,” Carriveau said. “With current left tackle Chad Clifton entering his 12th year in the NFL, he doesn’t have a lot of time left. Whenever Clifton calls it quits, the Packers should have his replacement ready with Sherrod.”
Thompson’s overall draft strategy had a lot to do with saving the Packers’ season in 2010 after they ran into a rash of injuries. Carriveau said a Thompson hallmark for years has been focusing on drafting the top player available instead of where their roster had specific holes, which has given the Packers more depth than many teams.
“Ted Thompson has done a fantastic job of building the Packers into not only a Super Bowl winning team, but also a team with a stacked roster that should be very competitive for years to come,” Carriveau said. “By drafting the best player available instead of need, he stocks talent and is covered in case of injury.”
Thompson put that same plan into action in rounds two through seven. Kentucky wideoutRandall Cobb is an explosive receiver that should make an immediate impact on the return game and should be given an opportunity to shine once Donald Driver retires, while Hawaii running back Alex Green adds depth to a ground game that struggled once Ryan Grant went down last season. Defensive back Davon House will be given a chance to develop under a pair of Pro Bowl corners in Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams, and last season the Packers took four tight ends into the season; there’s no reason to think they won’t do the same with fifth-round pick D.J. Williams.
For their final five picks, Green Bay took a pair of linebackers, a guard, another tight end, and a defensive end. These picks show the Packers shoring up for an injury situation like the one last season, which forced the Packers to play Erik Waldena man that was signed on Halloweendown the stretch at linebacker. They’ve also addressed concerns regarding free agents on the defensive line such as Cullen Jenkins.
Why change what works? Ted Thompson didn’t do anything drastic in 2011, just like he hadn’t done anything drastic in the six Packer drafts before it. He focused on sticking with his draft selections and generally taking the best player available, regardless of positional need. For fans of the Packers, that’s just fine, as they’d certainly be okay with having a boring draft and picking last again in 2012.
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