Green Bay Packers: Re-grading the 2014 draft class

Round 3: Khyri Thornton, DT, Southern Mississippi

This was seen as a surprise pick at the time by most draft analysts. NFL.com projected Thornton as a fifth or sixth-round pick. So when the Green Bay Packers took the big man from Southern Miss, it was a shock, to say the least.

Thornton would only spend one year with the Packers. His Packers career is as follows: a trip to injured reserve before the 2014 season started and released before the start of the 2015 season. Since then, he has struggled to keep a job in the NFL. He spent three seasons in Detroit but was recently cut. Overall, the Packers hoped he would become a versatile piece along the defensive line, but he was a rare draft bust for Ted Thompson.

Grade: F

Round 3: Richard Rodgers, TE, California

Someone with the last name “Rodgers” who went to Cal. It worked the first time for the Green Bay Packers. What could go wrong here? Unfortunately, more than one would think.

The Packers were desperate for tight end production after they lost Jermichael Finley in 2013. So drafting a tight end wasn’t out of the question. Rodgers was a big play contributor at Cal. That is what the front office drafted him for.

The Packers used Rodgers as a red zone threat and a possession tight end rather than the big play ability. His weight, which was seen as an issue coming into the draft, may have been the reason for the drastic change in how he played tight end in the NFL compared to college.

Rodgers’ best moment with the Packers was easily the night he was on the receiving end of the first of three Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary’s.

It was pretty much downhill from there. A touchdown here and touchdown there wasn’t enough for the Packers to re-sign him in the offseason. He will now spend next season in Philadelphia.

Grade: C+