Ranking GB 1st rd picks, 1968-2007

[motife]

The year and number of pick in the round is at the left.

by my count 21 of 42 were worth the pick, not counting Bruce Clark, Tim Lewis, Aaron Rodgers and Justin Harrell.

Eddie Lee Ivery should have ranked much higher, as would have Tim Lewis, and possibly Mark Koncar. Injuries. Bruce Clark ruined his career by going to Canada.

5 of Ron Wolf's 10 1st round picks were busts, (other than a couple memorable plays by Teague and Buckley). Terrell Buckley 92 5th, Antwaan Edwards 99 25th, John Michels 96 27th, George Teague 93 29th and ESPECIALLY Jamal Reynolds 01 10th.

Outstanding
1 1978 6 James Lofton WR Stanford
2 1988 7 Sterling Sharpe WR South Carolina
3 1972 7 Willie Buchanon CB San Diego State
4 1971 9 John Brockington RB Ohio State

Very Good
5 1968 5 Fred Carr LB Texas El Paso
6 1985 7 Ken Ruettgers T Southern California
7 1978 26 John Anderson LB Michigan
8 1977 9 Mike Butler DE Kansas
9 1977 28 Ezra Johnson DE Morris Brown
11 2003 29 Nick Barnett LB Oregon State
12 1993 15 Wayne Simmons LB Clemson
13 2002 20 Javon Walker WR Florida State

Good
14 1990 18 Tony Bennett LB Mississippi
15 2006 5 A.J. Hawk LB Ohio State

Moderate
16 1979 15 Eddie Lee Ivery RB Georgia Tech
17 1998 19 Vonnie Holliday DT North Carolina
18 1997 30 Ross Verba T Iowa
19 2000 14 Bubba Franks TE Miami (Fla.)
20 1995 32 Craig Newsome DB Arizona State
21 1994 16 Aaron Taylor G Notre Dame

Not a total loss
22 1982 22 Ron Hallstrom G Iowa
23 1984 12 Alphonso Carreker DE Florida State
24 1980 26 George Cumby LB Oklahoma
25 1976 23 Mark Koncar T Colorado
26 1968 26 Bill Lueck G Arizona

disappointments, but at least played
27 1993 29 George Teague S Alabama
28 1970 16 Rich McGeorge TE Elon
29 1987 4 Brent Fullwood RB Auburn
30 1970 2 Mike McCoy DT Notre Dame
31 1992 5 Terrell Buckley CB Florida State
32 1990 19 Darrell Thompson RB Minnesota
33 1974 12 Barty Smith RB Richmond
34 1991 19 Vinnie Clark CB Ohio State

failures
35 1999 25 Antwan Edwards DB Clemson
36 1969 12 Rich Moore DT Villanova
37 2004 25 Ahmad Carroll CB Arkansas
37 1989 2 Tony Mandarich T Michigan State
38 1972 11 Jerry Tagge QB Nebraska

total busts
39 T 1973 21 Barry Smith WR Florida State
40 T 1981 6 Rich Campbell QB California
41 T 1996 27 John Michels T Southern California
42 2001 10 Jamal Reynolds DE Florida State

Unknown, injury, contract, hasn't played enough yet
inc 1980 4 Bruce Clark DT Penn State
inc 1983 11 Tim Lewis DB Pittsburgh
inc 2005 24 Aaron Rodgers QB California
inc 2007 16 Justin Harrell DT Tennessee

[red]

really javon walker was a very good pick? really?

he had what? 1 good year out of 3 or 4 for us, and hasn't done much since he left, and might not ever be good again.

newsome contributed just as much and was a much later pick

i'd say walker should be a moderate

and how is the name that shall not be written (man taken before bary and dieon sanders) not in the total bust list? he's considered one of the greatest busts of all-time

[motife]

Hi Red,

Injuries, contract disputes make it difficult. But when Javon was on and playing at full health for us, he was spectacular.

Mandarich maybe was the worst lost opportunity, but he did go on to start for the Colts for 3 or 4 years. That tempered my "worst bust of all time" ranking. Don't forget Barry Sanders and Derrick Thomas.

Newsome was very good, but also had injury problems, chronic ones, that screwed things up. I believe he was an older college player when he was drafted, then got slow real fast and couldn't cover.

[motife]

btw, I sent a VERY insistent letter to Tom Braatz DEMANDING that he draft Tony Mandarich and NO ONE ELSE.

and talk about blind leading the blind, before the draft, he wrote me back(!!) to say don't worry, that's who the Packers were going to draft with the 2nd pick.

[b bulldog]

AT and CNew were both hampered by injuries and even with that being said, they should be good picks imo.

[b bulldog]

For harv's sake, I won't post about Hawk

[Lurker64]

For harv's sake, I won't post about Hawk

You wouldn't say that Hawk is on the good/moderate boundary, even with how critical you are of him?

[KYPack]

btw, I sent a VERY insistent letter to Tom Braatz DEMANDING that he draft Tony Mandarich and NO ONE ELSE.

and talk about blind leading the blind, before the draft, he wrote me back(!!) to say don't worry, that's who the Packers were going to draft with the 2nd pick.

That's a cool story. I thought Tom B got his info from strange places!

Craig Newsome was one of the best young corners going until he hurt both knees.
Craig and Doug Evans COULD have been one of GB's all-time corner tandems, but it was not to be. They were brilliant in '96.

[DonHutson]

Cool list. If nothing else it puts in perspective how hard it is to hit a home run in the draft, even in the first round.

I'd move Teague up a tier, and drop Carreker. I'm not sure how you would justify labling Carroll and Mandarich as anything other than total busts. If they gave an annual trophy for most disasterous first round pick it would be called the 'Tony Mandarich Trophy.'

And does Lofton really sign autographs saying Hall of Fame '03? That's pretty lame. Does he wear his goofy yellow blazer over his pajamas when he takes the dog out in the morning too?

[KYPack]

Cool list. If nothing else it puts in perspective how hard it is to hit a home run in the draft, even in the first round.

I'd move Teague up a tier, and drop Carreker. I'm not sure how you would justify labling Carroll and Mandarich as anything other than total busts. If they gave an annual trophy for most disasterous first round pick it would be called the 'Tony Mandarich Trophy.'

And does Lofton really sign autographs saying Hall of Fame '03? That's pretty lame. Does he wear his goofy yellow blazer over his pajamas when he takes the dog out in the morning too?

Yeah, any round is a crapshoot, even #1.

Don, most HOFer's sign with the year. I got a Nitschke auto signed that way. HOFer's get to charge more for the sig.

[DonHutson]

HOFer's get to charge more for the sig.

I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse. Probably worse.

My views on Lofton are probably tainted. When I was a little kid I attended a practice and got to talking with a kid with a bike who said Lofton always rode his bike. Sure enough Lofton came out of practice and walked right up to the kid. So I was in position to beat a dozen other kids to get Lofton's autograph.

Lofton took my pen and paper and painstakingly signed his name and added his little stars until he was safely across the street where he jumped on the bike and rode off. No more autographs.

I was happy I got mine. And I suppose he wasn't obligated to sign any. But seriously, he took a good minute and a half to sign his name. In the same amount of time he could've scribbled his name for most of the kids there. On a return visit I saw him play the same one autograph trick. So I've always regarded Lofton as kind of a prick autograph-wise.

But hey, maybe he was thinking ahead. Now he can charge that much more for his HOF autographs because he wasn't flooding the market by signing for a bunch of little kids in 1983.

[ND72]

no Ahmad Carroll?