General manger Ted Thompson has had 12 first-round draft picks in his tenure with the Green Bay Packers. Nine of those picks have been defensive players.
Let’s go down the list.
- 2006: A.J. Hawk (5)
- 2007: Justin Harrell (16)
- 2009: B.J. Raji (9)
- 2009: Clay Matthews (26)
- 2012: Nick Perry (28)
- 2013: Datone Jones (26)
- 2014: Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (21)
- 2015: Damarious Randall (30)
- 2016: Kenny Clark (27)
Of the three years Thompson didn’t take a defender in the first round, he went for Brett Favre’s successor, Aaron Rodgers, after the quarterback inexplicably fell in his lap in 2005, and tackle twice — Bryan Bulaga in 2010 and Derek Sherrod in 2011.
In 2008, the Packers traded back and out of the first round. That was the year they took receiver Jordy Nelson with their first pick, a second-rounder, at No. 36.
What does this mean?
It means Thompson has been trying to build a championship defense through the draft for quite a while. If you look at that on the surface, he’s obviously only been able to build a championship defense for one season.
The Packers’ defense was ranked fifth in the NFL in 2010 (and second in points allowed), the year they last won a Super Bowl.
They actually ranked second and seventh in those categories the year before, in 2009. Of course, they ran into the offensive juggernaut that was Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals in the playoffs that year, losing a 51-45 overtime thriller in the Wild Card round.
In 2011, when the Packers went 15-1, they were 32nd in total defense. Their best mark since then was 11th in 2012. The Packers were 22nd in total defense and 21st in scoring defense last season. That was marred by being 31st in passing defense.
This says a lot about personnel, scheme and Thompson’s high draft picks.
First, we know defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ scheme is predicated on pressuring the quarterback and creating turnovers. That’s why the Packers were still successful in the 2011 season, despite giving up a ton of yards — they were able to create turnovers.
It helps when you have guys like Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and Nick Collins patrolling the secondary. None of those guys were first-round picks by the Packers.
Woodson was the rare free agent signing, Williams was an undrafted free agent picked up after the Houston Texans cut him and Collins was a second-round draft pick in 2005.
That tells us something else — if Thompson can’t pair a quality secondary with the pass rushers he has, the defense doesn’t work.
Clay Matthews, one of Thompson’s rare first-round defensive hits, has given the Packers 72.5 sacks in eight seasons. Julius Peppers, signed as a street free agent, gave the Packers 25 sacks in three seasons.
Thompson probably gets that. Twice in the past three years, he’s drafted a defensive back in the first round.
The book is still out on Damarious Randall at this point, but he was terrible in 2016 after a strong rookie season. Not only did Randall regress in coverage, it became apparent that he wasn’t physical enough to be a No. 1 cornerback.
As for Clinton-Dix, he made the Pro Bowl and was a second-team All Pro. However, I don’t think there’s anyone here who believes he deserved either of those honors. His 2016 campaign was plagued by missed assignments and terrible decisions, which always reminds me of possibly the biggest boneheaded, idiot, unaware play of all time.
Love or hate him, Troy Aikman is right. “I have no idea how Clinton-Dix does not make a play on this ball. He’s right there in position. That ball is in the air for what seems like eight seconds.”
I mean, no offense, but all of this suggests that Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is a dummy. If you gave him a box cutter, he very well might not be able to find his way out of a box…
We all expect the Packers — Thompson — to go defense again in the first round when the draft commences on Thursday. As one scout said — if they don’t go defense here, everyone in that scouting department should be fired.
That player could be a pass rusher, it could be a cornerback.
If you look at the list above, it’s likely he won’t have a huge impact, however. In fact, mediocrity might be his ceiling and he might be an out-and-out bust.
With the exception of Matthews, the best defenders acquired by Ted Thompson have not come from the first round of the draft.