Ranking Ted Thompson’s Drafts: #9
By Kenn Korb
Jan 5, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb (18) celebrates a catch during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers during the 2013 NFC wild card playoff football game at Lambeau Field. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Ted Thompson‘s ninth best draft: 2012
Picks (Round Drafted)
Derek Sherrod (1)
Randall Cobb (2)
Alex Green (3)
Davon House (4)
D.J. Williams (5)
D.J. Smith (6)
Caleb Schlauderaff (6)
Ricky Elmore (6)
Ryan Taylor (7)
Lawrence Guy (7)
The second draft we have in my list is the one that followed our most recent Super Bowl win. It also had the ignominy of happening during the still-all-to-recent NFL lockout of that offseason. We sure got lucky that it didn’t boil over into the season; if it had we wouldn’t have seen that awesome 15-1 regular season they produced. But those are thoughts for another day; let’s get back to the point.
When you just won a Super Bowl, the biggest issues usually wind up being keeping all those players who are set to enter free agency; as soon as they get a ring their ambitions — and subsequently their price tag — rise.
Still, Green Bay didn’t have many issues to worry about going into that offseason. Not only were they the champs, but they also had a massive number of guys who had been on injured reserve (15, including those set to be free agents) that would be set to return healthy for the upcoming season.
That, and the usual shrewd moves of Ted Thompson had Green Bay in great position to add to an already terrific team and give them guys who could help a potential repeat and maybe form the newest “dynasty” in the league.
Unfortunately for Green Bay — and Packers fans — Ted Thompson managed to put together one of his more disappointing drafts.
His first pick went towards the always-in-disrepair O-line. Little did he or anyone else realize that Derek Sherrod was going to become about as big an emblem of those problems as possible. Sherrod couldn’t manage to do anything during most of the year, not seeing snaps due to others in front of him being superior (as well as Green Bay continuing to win games at a rapid pace).
Nov 30, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers cornerback Davon House (31) before the game against the New England Patriots at Lambeau Field. Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Some may call it fate — I prefer terrible coincidence — that it was in the only regular season loss where Green Bay lost that Sherrod got to see some decent time on the field. It’s too bad most of it was in direct concert with his leg being shattered. He never truly recovered from that rookie-season injury and had to be dropped.
That’s pretty rueful, but then again, so is most of the rest of this draft. Alex Green was grabbed in the third round to hopefully fix the never-working run game. He tore up his knee pretty early and ended up with the Jets, making no impact for Green Bay.
Davon House was supposed to be a starter multiple times before he walked to Jacksonville this offseason, but it seemed every time he was about to turn a corner he got injured.
Williams did basically nothing at tight end. Schlauderaff did EXACTLY nothing on the interior line. Ricky Elmore has ZERO career stats. D.J. Smith was an attempt at cheap depth, but hit his own health issues that led him off the team. Guy was just a guy (though he did at least do SOMETHING in the league at some point).
Basically the only things keeping this from being a nothing draft were three low guys managing to provide something more than an empty stat book (House, Smith, Taylor)….and Thompson’s 2nd-round choice: Randall Cobb.
Cobb wasn’t the first name I heard at WR (or even the 20th), but after he was picked I looked into him and — along with putting some blind trust in Ted Thompson — figured we had something to work with. I mean, Thompson has always seemed to grab receivers in rounds 2 or 3 that do well (Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones) so it made sense then.
Cobb has completely surpassed any expectations I had.
I saw potential, but what he’s put up is unreal.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb. Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports photograph
80 catches in his 2nd year, then 91 this past year. 8 & 12 TDs in his two healthy seasons as an integral part of the offense (2012 & 2014). Just under 1,300 yards this past year, while leading the league in yardage from the slot. 71 first downs!
And he’s still on 24.
Cobb is a great enough player that he saved this draft from being on the bottom by himself. Even without the other three average guys to add to the points in the grade, it would have still been a tie at worst.
So for the second draft in a row, we have gotten to see two prime examples of just how good Ted Thompson has managed to do with the drafts. Even when he truly only gets one significant contributor, that guy is so good that it makes up for multiple misses on its own.