As the Packers prepare for the annual NFL Draft once again, there are now five drafts to look back on during the tenure of current General Manager Ted Thompson.
Of no particular significance other than interesting conversation, here are some of the numbers, facts and figures from Thompson's first five drafts with the Packers.
51: The total number of selections from 2005-09. The number of picks the Packers have possessed entering those drafts was 40. Through trades Thompson has ended up with more draft selections than original picks in all but one draft - last year's, when he entered with nine picks and came away with eight players, two of them first-rounders.
31: The number of those 51 picks currently on Green Bay's offseason roster. The most highly represented draft class is the 2008 group, with eight of nine players still on the roster. The least-represented class is his original 2005 group, with only three of 11, with two of those three being his first two picks as GM - quarterback Aaron Rodgers and safety Nick Collins.
28: Offensive players selected in those 51 picks. Thompson also has selected 22 defensive players and one specialist, kicker Mason Crosby.
18: Selections from non-BCS schools, the most recent being offensive lineman T.J. Lang from Eastern Michigan last year. Thompson has selected 33 players from schools that represent the six major BCS conferences.
12: Players Thompson has drafted who have scored a touchdown for the Packers in a regular-season game. Interestingly, four of those 12 players who have scored a TD are not offensive players - Collins, cornerback/returner Will Blackmon, safety Aaron Rouse and linebacker Clay Matthews. The others who have scored are Rodgers, receivers Greg Jennings, James Jones and Jordy Nelson, running backs Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn, fullback Korey Hall, and tight end Jermichael Finley.
10: Offensive linemen selected, most from any single position group. Next is wide receiver and defensive back with eight apiece (despite no receivers taken last year), followed by linebacker with seven.
9: Sixth-round picks Thompson has made, the most in any round. Six of those nine sixth-rounders are still on the roster in defensive ends Johnny Jolly and Jarius Wynn, linebacker Desmond Bishop, cornerback Brandon Underwood, Hall and Crosby. Thompson has made eight picks each in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh rounds, plus five picks each in the first and third.
More 9: Schools from which Thompson has selected multiple players. Three players apiece have been drafted from Louisville and Texas A&M, while two each have come from Cal, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Colorado, LSU, Boise State and San Diego State.
Still more 9: The number of players drafted from the Big 12, the most from a single conference. Next is the SEC, with seven picks. Six schools from both the Big 12 and SEC are represented in those picks, tied for the largest number from a single league. The least represented among the major conferences is the Big Ten, with just three picks and three schools - offensive lineman William Whitticker from Michigan State and linebackers A.J. Hawk from Ohio State and Abdul Hodge from Iowa.
{sportsad300}8: Players drafted from California schools -- Rodgers and Bishop from Cal, Marviel Underwood and Brett Swain from San Diego State, Craig Bragg from UCLA, Tyrone Culver from Fresno State, James Jones from San Jose State and Matthews from USC. Next are schools from the state of Texas, with five.
5: Draft picks who have played in a BCS National Championship Game - USC's Matthews, Ohio State's Hawk, Florida's DeShawn Wynn, and LSU's Matt Flynn and Quinn Johnson. The only one whose team lost that title game was Matthews, when the Trojans fell to Texas following the 2005 season.
4: The number of free agency compensatory picks made. Compensatory picks cannot be traded and are awarded based on a formula that determines a team's free agency losses and gains each year. The only one of those four compensatory selections still on the roster is also a starter, guard Josh Sitton, taken in the fourth round in 2008. Another was a former part-time starter, offensive lineman Tony Moll, a fifth-round pick in 2006.
More 4: The number of underclassmen drafted, one each year until last season. First it was Rodgers in 2005, followed by Cory Rodgers in '06, Brandon Jackson in '07 and Finley in '08.
3: Pro Bowl players drafted by Thompson - Rodgers, Collins and Matthews. All three went to the Pro Bowl this past season, with Collins going after the 2008 season as well.
1: Of all of Thompson's draft day trades, only one has been made with an NFC North opponent. In 2008, the Packers traded their fifth-round pick, No. 137 overall, for the Minnesota Vikings' fifth-round pick, No. 150, plus a seventh-round pick from the Vikings. Interestingly, two of those picks were used on quarterbacks, as Minnesota chose John David Booty of USC while Green Bay selected Flynn of LSU in the seventh round. Offensive lineman Breno Giacomini of Louisville was Green Bay's fifth-round pick from the trade.
