I get everyone thought that the Packers should’ve drafted a WR in the first round of the 2020 draft, I would have loved to see that as well. Am I mad about them not getting a WR in the first round? Not really. Do I think they should’ve at least drafted one this year? 100%. The last receiver the Packers drafted in the first round was Javon Walker in 2002. Now getting to the task at hand, it has been getting a lot of run lately that Aaron Rodgers only has two passing TD’s to former first round picks (both to Marcedes Lewis). Nevertheless, he has had some really good pass catchers over the years: Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Jermichael Finley, James Jones and Davante Adams. Jennings, Nelson, Cobb and Adams are all second round picks. Jones and Finley are both third round picks. Donald Driver is the real outlier being a seventh round pick, and Rodgers only had him for the tailend of his career.
Now let’s go through the Packers first round picks since Rodgers was drafted in 2005. We’ll look at the pick, the WRs taken in that round (who were available when they drafted), and make a case if those WRs should’ve been taken by them.
- 2006: AJ Hawk: Santonio Holmes: Packers drafted high this year and took Hawk who was a mainstay for a longtime on defense, I’m sticking with the pick.
- 2007: Justin Harrell: Dwayne Bowe, Craig Davis, Robert Meachum, Anthony Gonzalez. In hindsight, I would take any of these guy over Harrell. He made zero impact and was injured most of the time, probably the worst pick in that draft but doesn’t get enough shit because of Jamarcus Russell.
- 2008: No pick
- 2009: BJ Raji, Clay Matthews: Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Percy Harvin, Hakeem Nicks, Kenny Britt. They traded back into the first round to get Clay, who is now their all-time sack leader. Now Raji was big during the Super Bowl run and made a pretty good impact, but did retire out of nowhere for family reasons. You could make the argument for Crabtree, Maclin and Harvin, but with the receivers on the roster at the time I would stick with the original picks.
- 2010: Bryan Bulaga: Dez Bryant. Here is another case of having good recievers on the roster and needing to draft a tackle with Clifton and Tauscher coming to the end of their career. I am sticking with Bulaga.
- 2011: Derrick Sherrod: Sherrod was the last pick in the round but I would’ve taken someone else in hindsight.
- 2012: Nick Perry: AJ Jenkins. Jenkins did nothing in the league so this is an easy pick.
- 2013: Datone Jones: DeAndre Hopkins, Cordarrelle Patterson. Big miss here, D-Hop was taken right after Jones, and Patterson has shown to be a versatile player.
- 2014: Ha Ha Clinton-Dix: Kelvin Benjamin. I would stick with the pick here, Ha Ha was a good player in the first two years with the team. Benjamin had a good rookie year the ended up tearing his ACL and just wasn’t the same after.
- 2015: Damrious Randall: No reciever taken after in the first.
- 2016: Kenny Clark: No reciever taken after in the first.
- 2017: No pick
- 2018: Jaire Alexander: DJ Moore, Calvin Ridley. Jaire has been one of the top young corners in the league. Would I like a player like Ridley or Moore? Yes, but at the time the CB position was thin. I would stick with the pick.
- 2019: Rashan Gary, Darnell Savage: Marquise Brown, N’Keal Harry. Gary has started to play more this year and is looking good. Savage has started since he’s been drafted and playing well. Brown had a decent rookie year and Harry played very little so far. I am sticking with the picks.
- 2020: Jordan Love: No reciever taken after in the first.
So when we look back at it the Packers missed out on Hopkins and a few other guys. In my opinion, I am keeping the majority of the first round picks that they made. The first round of the draft is such a crap-shoot, guys don’t workout more often than you would think. When you are drafting good receivers in the second and third round, why reach for guys in the first. Hopefully they are done bringing this up, but everytime Lewis catches a TD all the networks will bring back up and drive it into the ground. This just gives a little perspective on the subject.
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