A MIXED BAG OF NO. 1 PICKS

We're five days away from the 2015 NFL Draft. And even though it is being held in Chicago I am looking forward to it.

 

I have two reasons, or is it three, I'm not a fan of Chicago. First, Bears. Nuff said. Second, I live in Southern Illinois and those denizen's on the North Shore see Illinois as Chicago and the rest of the state. Us who live below the Eisenhower are considered bumpkins. And three, I live in a town with a lot of temporarily transplanted Chicago students and if I go to the local bar to watch the Packers games I have to suffer the slings and arrows - sometimes that is literally - of the Bears fans who love to harass Packer Backers. I think I can state without fear of contradiction (except for those delusional Bear fans who turn everything around - we all know people like that) the Bear fans are the ugliest and meanest in the world. I guess having to defend Jay Cutler can make you testy.

 

But I digress. I will now address General Manager Ted Thompson's track record with No. 1 draft picks. He's had 10 and it's a very mixed bag with high highs and low lows.

 

Thompson had two big hits and another who might turn out to be. His first big hit literally fell into his lap. Two-time MVP and Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers was talked about as possibly being the No. 1 overall pick, but for some reason he was suddenly the red-headed step child of the first round.

 



Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl MVP

 

Future Hall of Famer (I have to LOL on that one) Alex Smith was chosen No. 1 overall by the San Francisco 49ers by first-year General Manager Scot McCloughan, first-year Head Coach Mike Nolan and first-year Offensive Coordinator Mike McCarthy. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

Rodgers was the second quarterback taken with Jason Campbell taken with the next pick by the Redskins. It was not a great year for quarterbacks. The next one taken was another future Hall of Famer (LOL) Charlie Frye from Akron in the third round (3-67) by the Browns followed by Andrew Walter from Arizona State (3-68) by the Raiders, David Greene from Georgia (3-85) by the Seahawks and Kyle Orton from Purdue (4-106) by the Bears. Derek Anderson (6-213), Matt Cassel (7-230) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (7-250) were the last three taken with three more (Stefan LeFors, Dan Orlovsky, Adrian McPherson) in between.

 

After falling from 10-6 and fourth straight playoff berths to 4-12 in Thompson first season at the helm the Packers earned the No. 5 pick in the 2006 draft. Mario Williams, Reggie Bush, Vince Young and D'Brickashaw Ferguson were drafted first, so when it became the Packers turn tight end Vernon Davis, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, outside linebacker Chad Greenway, cornerback Antonio Cromarte, outside linebacker Tamba Hali, running back DeAngelo Williams and center Nick Mangold were on the table as well as the Lombardi Award winner for linebackers A. J. Hawk and another Hall of Fame quarterback (LOL again) Jay Cutler.

 

The Packers were in need of an outside linebacker, a wide receiver, a running back and a safety. The choice was Hawk and while he finished his nine year run with the Packers as the all-time leading tackler he has been a disappointment - never living up to the No. 5 pick.

 

2007 Thompson was needing a running back (could have had Williams), a tight end (could have had Davis), a defensive tackle (could have had Ngata), a wide receiver and a strong safety and was sitting in the 16th spot He chose Justin Harrell, an injured defensive tackle from Tennessee. This was his first round-one bust.

 

Justin Harrell

 

He traded down in 2008 from No. 30 to No. 36 in the second round and picked wide receiver Jordy Nelson - a hugely successful pick, but not a first-rounder.

 

After going 13-3 and losing the conference title game to the Giants in Brett Favre's last game as a Packer Green Bay fell to 6-10 in Rodgers' first year as a starter. The Packers held the No. 9 pick and chose Boston College nose tackle B. J. Raji. I felt he was a good choice, but other feel he is a bust. I think he is victim of circumstance for playing out of position.

 

Thompson then traded up to acquire another first-round pick at 26 and he pulled off a master stroke by drafting to get Clay Matthews. This was his second big hit.

 

Clay Matthews

 

The Packers then started a string - that is still going - of six straight winning seasons. In 2010 Thompson chose tackle Bryan Bulaga at 23, a good, if not great pick. In 2011 he was picking last after winning the Super Bowl and had another bust (by injury) picking tackle Derek Sherrod. 2012 saw him picking 28th and he took defensive end Nick Perry, who has been a bust so far because of injuries. 2013 it was defensive end Datone Jones at 26 and so far lightning hasn't struck twice at that spot because of injuries and lackluster play.

 

Derek Sherrod

 

Last year he was picking at 21 - because of a 8-7-1 record after Rodgers was out for eight games with a broken collar - and got another gift. The top safety in the draft fell into his lap and he seems to have hit it big with the selection of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.

 

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix

 

So going into his 11th draft Thompson's record is: three big hits (Rodgers, Matthews, Clinton-Dix); two big misses (Harrell, Sherrod), two good picks (Hawk, Bulaga), one minor miss (Raji) and two where the jury is still out, but leaning towards a miss (Perry, Jones).

 

So it all boils down to a mixed bag. Three big hits (Rodgers, Matthews, Clinton-Dix), four misses (Harrell, Sherrod, Perry, Jones) and three good picks (Hawk, Bulaga, Raji).

 

Let's break it down even further. When picking in the top 10 he got two just good players (No. 5 Hawk and No. 9 Raji). When picking in the middle 16 he was better with three great players (No. 21 Clinton-Dix, No. 24 Rodgers and No. 26 Matthews), one good player (No. 23 Bulaga), one possible miss (No. 26 Jones) and one definite miss (No. 16 Harrell). But when he was drafting in the bottom six he was terrible (No. 28 Perry and No. 32 Sherrod).

 

So let's hope he let's history repeat itself by trading out of No. 30 and drafting a future All-Pro (no LOL here), but not letting history repeat itself by being a bottom six bust.