Green Bay Packers 1942 draft fortifies the line

Photos on this post courtesy of packershistory.net.

Here we are sitting on NFL Combine weekend and just around the corner from the 2015 NFL Draft, a time when each of the 32 teams, including selections by the Green Bay Packers, will be made.

This year’s draft, for the first time in half a century, will be held this year in Chicago, Ill., beginning Thursday, April 30, and continuing through Saturday, May 2.

With that said, we’ve decided to take a look back at the Packers‘ top choices in each of the drafts through the years – the first of which was held in 1936.

Here is our countdown of first round draft choices already published:

1936 – Russ Letlow

1937 – Ed Jankowski

1938 – Cecil Isbell

1939 – Jerry Buhler

1940 – Hal Van Every

1941 – George Peskvan – but Tony Canadeo was seventh-rounder

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We’ve decided to provide you with a full list of the draft picks from each year continuing right up until 2014 … which we will consider just as the draft is kicking off at the end of April and beginning of May.

Sounds like fun, right?

If nothing else it will give us a chance to look at how the draft process has changed over the years and remember the top draft selections made by the Packers and how they impacted the team and the league.

So, let’s keep the ball rolling today with the full list of Packers’ picks of the college players that were brought to Green Bay during the 20 rounds (Yes! 20 rounds!) of the draft in 1942:

										Games		Passing					Rushing			Receiving
Rk	Year	Rnd	Pick		Pos	Tm	From	To	St	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int	Att	Yds	TD	Rec	Yds	TD	Int	Sk	College/Univ
1	1942	1	9	Urban Odson	T	GNB	1946	1949	0	39	0														Minnesota
2	1942	3	24	Ray Frankowski	G	GNB	1945	1948	1	42	13														Washington
3	1942	5	39	Bill Green	B	GNB			0																Iowa
4	1942	6	49	Joe Krivonak	G	GNB	1946	1946	0	4	0														South Carolina
5	1942	7	59	Pres Johnston	HB	GNB	1946	1946	0	11	7	1	1	9	0	0	45	218	2	6	54	1	1		SMU
6	1942	8	69	Joe Rogers	E	GNB			0																Michigan
7	1942	9	79	Noah Langdale	T	GNB			0																Alabama
8	1942	10	89	Gene Flick	C	GNB			0																Minnesota
9	1942	11	99	Tom Farris	QB	GNB	1946	1948	0	33	3	11	32	132	1	5	17	-9	0	1	16	0	5		Wisconsin
10	1942	12	109	Jimmy Richardson	B	GNB			0																Marquette
11	1942	13	119	Bruce Smith	HB	GNB	1945	1948	0	31	11	0	1	0	0	0	108	560	1	8	79	1			Minnesota
12	1942	14	129	Bill Applegate	G	GNB			0																South Carolina
13	1942	15	139	Jim Trimble	T	GNB			0																Indiana
14	1942	16	149	Tom Kinkade	B	GNB			0																Ohio St.
15	1942	17	159	Fred Preston	E	GNB			0																Nebraska
16	1942	18	169	Bob Ingalls	C	GNB	1942	1942	1	10	6												1		Michigan
17	1942	19	179	George Benson	B	GNB	1947	1947	0	1	0						2	5	0						Northwestern
18	1942	20	189	Horace (Deacon) Young	B	GNB			0																SMU
19	1942	21	194	Henry Woronicz	E	GNB			0																Boston Col.
20	1942	22	199	Woody Adams	T	GNB			0																TCU

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/21/2015.

If there’s a more uninteresting draft of the Green Bay Packers, this had to be it. The franchise’s two top draft choices, Urban Odson and Ray Frankowski, both linemen, did spend several years with the team, they certainly wouldn’t be spotted in a lineup by Packers fans of today.

It may have even been difficult for Packers fans of the era to recognize them.

But they did contribute to some successful season.s

Green Bay finished 8-2-1 in 1942.

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