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Once again, the Green Bay Packers are going to stock their roster with talent during the NFL Draft – the most unusual version of it ever due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Remember that bust of a first round pick back in 1989?
For every Tony Mandarich, there has been a Tony Canadeo, the 77th selection back in the 1941 NFL Draft.
That ninth round pick became the Packers’ first 1,000-yard rusher and the first of 11 Packers draftees to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The team’s best overall draft class came in the year before the Packers had their worst record, 1958.
They only went 1-10-1 on the field, but that year’s draft was among the best ever in NFL history.
Hall of Fame fullback Jim Taylor was one of scout Jack Vainisi’s picks. He came in the second round.
Then add Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke in the third round…
…and Hall of Fame guard Jerry Kramer in the fourth.
Vince Lombardi’s third round picks in 1961 and 1963 made history beyond the field. He didn’t subscribe to the philosophy most teams had back then, which was to not draft African-Americans in the first round.
In 1961, he chose cornerback Herb Adderley…
…and in 1963, it was linebacker Dave Robinson. Both made the Hall of Fame.
Some of the more recent successes have come from selections like:
1990’s second round pick, LeRoy Butler…
…a steal in the 1999 seventh round, Packers all-time leading receiver Donald Driver…
…and a guy the Packers traded up for in the 2009 first round, six-time Pro Bowler Clay Matthews.
But to pick the greatest draft selection in Packers history…is a really hard pick.
So we’ll say 1 an 1A:
One of them was the 200th pick in the 1956 draft, a steal in the 17th round. He became the quarterback with the highest postseason passer rating in NFL history (until 2020) and the QB with the most championships (until 2019), Bart Starr.
The other was a first-round steal in 2005. He slipped down to the 24th pick. You know him pretty well, the quarterback with the highest career regular-season passer rating in NFL history, Aaron Rodgers.
We’ll see if the 2020 NFL Draft produces similar success.