Coming off their first Super Bowl win in well over a decade, the Green Bay Packers had momentum, a Hall of Fame quarterback in his prime, and a chance to keep the championship window wide open. Instead, the 2011 draft became a missed opportunity that still stands out — and not in the best way.
With the final pick of the first round, Green Bay selected offensive tackle Derek Sherrod out of Mississippi State. He played in just 20 career games, largely due to injury.
A broken leg derailed Sherrod’s development almost immediately, and he never recovered.
The Packers moved on after four seasons and got no meaningful production from a first-round pick — not exactly a winning formula for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. In a re-draft published by Pro Football Focus, that pick gets flipped to running back Mark Ingram.
Ingram went 28th overall to the New Orleans Saints in real life. In this alternate reality, the New England Patriots never trade down, the Saints don’t jump, and Ingram is sitting there at 32 for the taking. With his power, versatility, and ability to carry a full workload, there’s a real argument that Green Bay would have added another Lombardi Trophy to the shelf had they been able to draft him.
Mark Ingram emerges as ideal re-draft pick for 2011 Packers
Aaron Rodgers followed up the 2010 Super Bowl run with a 15-1 season and his first MVP. The offense was nearly unstoppable through the air but leaned on a backfield led by James Starks and Ryan Grant — a capable rotation, but nothing overly special.
The run game lacked pop, and it showed in the playoffs when the New York Giants turned them one-dimensional in a 37-20 loss at Lambeau Field.
Ingram was a 1,000-yard-from-scrimmage machine in his prime. He posted five seasons with over 1,000 yards and made three Pro Bowls. He would have stepped into Green Bay’s offense as a physical, reliable option who could keep defenses honest and carry late-season workloads when the weather turned and playoff football started.
PFF made the case for the selection saying:
“Ingram racked up more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage in five separate seasons while earning three Pro Bowl selections. All told, he earned at least a 70.0 PFF overall grade in seven of his 12 NFL campaigns.”
Mark Murphy recently said his biggest regret as team president was only winning one Super Bowl. Drafting Ingram in 2011 probably wouldn’t have fixed everything — but it could’ve given Rodgers one more piece in the backfield he never quite had. In a decade full of what-ifs, this might be the one that stings the most.