Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson (right) stands with first-round draft pick Aaron Rodgers in 2005. Credit: Associated Press

SHARE

By

Eleven drafts — and 104 picks — will undoubtedly yield some strokes of genius. There will certainly be some stinkers along the way, too.

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson has had his share of good and bad selections since 2005.

Here's a look at the best, and worst, picks Thompson has made at each position:

QUARTERBACK

Best: Aaron Rodgers, 1st round, 2005

This will be the easiest question on the test. In 11 seasons, Rodgers has won two MVP awards, one Super Bowl and guided the Packers to the playoffs every year since 2009.

Thompson caught a huge break when Rodgers plummeted down draft boards in 2005. But Thompson also deserves a great deal of credit for being prepared for that exact scenario, then having the courage to take Rodgers when Brett Favre was still playing at a high level.

Worst: Brian Brohm, 2nd round, 2008

Thompson used the 56th-overall pick on Louisville's Brohm. Brohm was the No. 3 quarterback in 2008, spent half of 2009 on the practice squad and never appeared in a game for the Packers. In limited action in Buffalo, Brohm threw five interceptions, no touchdowns and had a quarterback rating of 26.0.

RUNNING BACK

Best: Eddie Lacy, 2nd round, 2013

Thompson traded back six spots in the second round of the 2013 draft and still landed Lacy with the 61st-overall selection. Lacy set franchise records for most total touchdowns (24) and most rushing yards (2,317) by a Packer in his first two seasons.

Lacy's weight ballooned and his play slipped in 2015. But his three-year totals (3,075 rushing yards, 29 total TDs) remain impressive.

Worst: Alex Green, 3rd round, 2011

In the fall of 2010, Thompson could have traded his 2011 third-round pick for then-Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch. Instead, Thompson kept the pick, and six months later, selected Green.

Green played in just 16 games and ran for 475 yards during his two years in Green Bay. His career was hurt by a season-ending knee injury suffered midway through his rookie season.

WIDE RECEIVER

Best: Greg Jennings, 2nd round, 2006

Jennings, the 52nd-overall pick in 2006, gets the nod over Jordy Nelson, who was taken at No. 36 in 2008.

Jennings exceeded 1,000 yards from 2008-'10 and played in a pair of Pro Bowls. Jennings also had 6,537 receiving yards and 53 touchdowns during his seven seasons in Green Bay.

Nelson has 6,109 career yards and 49 touchdowns in eight seasons, and could eventually pass Jennings. At this moment, though, Jennings is the pick.

Worst: Cory Rodgers, 4th round, 2006

Rodgers was expected to help Green Bay's passing game and give the kickoff and punt return units a boost. He did neither.

Rodgers was brutal in his first training camp and was cut before the season began. He's the highest Thompson draft pick to be released during his first training camp.

TIGHT END

Best: Jermichael Finley, 3rd round, 2008

A third-round pick in 2008, Finley added an element to Green Bay's offense that had been missing for years: a tight end with speed.

Finley's explosion opened a new chapter of head coach Mike McCarthy's playbook and made the Packers offense the most dangerous in football. Unfortunately for all parties, Finley's career ended following a spinal cord injury in October 2013.

Finley finished his career with 223 receptions and 20 touchdowns.

Worst: D.J. Williams, 5th round, 2011

Williams was the 2010 Mackey Award winner, given to college football's top tight end. But he was just 6-foot-2 and had short arms — not ideal attributes to survive in the NFL.

Williams caught just nine passes in two seasons in Green Bay, then was released in the summer of 2013.

OFFENSIVE TACKLE

Best: David Bakhtiari, 4th round, 2013

Good left tackles are tough to find in the first round. Thompson found Bakhtiari in the middle of the fourth.

Bakhtiari ranks somewhere in the middle of his positional group league wide. But finding a serviceable left tackle in the fourth round was undoubtedly a coup for Thompson.

Worst: Derek Sherrod, 1st round, 2011

Sherrod broke his right leg late in his rookie season and missed nearly two entire years. When Sherrod returned, he wasn't the same player. He made just one start in Green Bay, played in only 20 games and was released midway through the 2014 season.

OFFENSIVE GUARD

Best: Josh Sitton, 4th round, 2008

Sitton is a three-time Pro Bowler and a three-time All-Pro player. Since moving into the starting lineup his second season, Sitton has missed just two games.

Sitton is a leader who plays with a nastiness. The case could be made he's Green Bay's best guard in a generation.

Worst: Allen Barbre, 4th round, 2007

In three seasons, Barbre was a turnstile at both left guard and right tackle. When presented a chance to start in 2009, he flopped so badly the Packers re-signed Mark Tauscher four games into the season.

To Barbre's credit, though, he salvaged his career and was a 16-game starter in Philadelphia last season.

CENTER

Best: Corey Linsley, 5th round, 2014

Linsley has quickly become one of the top centers in football. Although Linsley's rookie season was better than Year 2, his future is extremely bright.

Worst: Junius Coston, 5th round, 2005

Thompson has only drafted three centers, so there aren't a large number of candidates here. Coston was moved to guard, played in 16 total games over three years, and made seven starts in 2007. But an MCL injury led to Coston's release in September 2008, and he never played in another NFL game.

DEFENSIVE END

Best: Mike Daniels, 4th round, 2012

Fiery, gifted, powerful player has overcome size limitations and become one of football's elite defensive ends and top inside pass rushers. Has 16 sacks in last three seasons and signed a four-year, $41 million extension in December.

Worst: Jerel Worthy, 2nd round, 2012

Thompson traded up eight spots in the second round for Worthy. And in a draft where Thompson used his first six picks on defensive players, Worthy was the most disappointing.

Worthy lasted just two injury-plagued seasons before the Packers shipped him to New England. The Patriots waived him just 18 days later.

His two-year totals in Green Bay: 15 tackles, 21/2 sacks.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

Best: B.J. Raji, 1st round, 2009

Yes, as a first-round pick, Raji was expected to shine. And yes, Raji had some rough years along the way.

But Raji was one of Green Bay's top seven or eight players during its 2010 Super Bowl season and played respectable football after that. Never forget, as defensive linemen fell like bowling pins in 2010, Raji played 85% of the defensive snaps.

Raji's interception and touchdown in the 2010 NFC Championship Game ranks among the Packers' most important plays of the last two decades. Without Raji, there's no guarantee those Packers win Super Bowl XLV.

Worst: Justin Harrell, 1st round, 2007

The 16th-overall pick in 2007 will go down as one of the biggest busts in team history. Thompson knew Harrell had a lengthy injury history dating back to high school but took him anyway.

That callous approach blew up on Thompson when Harrell's injury list only lengthened. In four years on the roster, Harrell played in just 18 games, had only 18 tackles and never registered a sack.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

Best: Clay Matthews, 1st round, 2009

This a no-brainer. Thompson hit a home run by trading three draft picks to move into the first round and select Matthews.

In the seven years since, Matthews has been named to six Pro Bowls. With 671/2 career sacks, Matthews is also just seven sacks shy of the franchise record in that category.

Worst: Jeremy Thompson, 4th round, 2008

Thompson, a converted defensive end, made little impact with just 15 tackles in 15 career games. Then his career was cut short due to a neck injury suffered in practice in 2009.

INSIDE LINEBACKER

Best: Desmond Bishop, 6th round, 2007

Thompson has done a poorer job finding inside linebackers than any position on his team. Bishop was a steal in 2007, but the coaching staff blew it by keeping him on the bench behind A.J. Hawk for three seasons.

When an injury to Nick Barnett opened the door for Bishop in 2010, he was ready and posted 218 tackles and eight sacks over the next two seasons. Bishop brought a nastiness, physicality and toughness Green Bay's defense needed. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury in the summer of 2012 eventually ruined his Green Bay career.

Worst: Abdul Hodge, 3rd round, 2006

Knee injuries and a failure to fully grasp the defense killed Hodge's career. Hodge played in just eight games and had 10 total tackles for the Packers.

CORNERBACK

Best: Casey Hayward, 2nd round, 2012

The best three corners Thompson has procured were unrestricted free agent Charles Woodson, and undrafted Tramon Williams and Sam Shields.

Of the 10 corners Thompson has drafted, Hayward gets a slight nod. Hayward was an elite slot corner for three of his four seasons in Green Bay, then signed a three-year, $15.3 million free agent contract with San Diego this off-season.

Worst: Pat Lee, 2nd round, 2008

Lee, the 60th-overall pick in 2008, was the highest corner Thompson had ever taken before using the 30th pick on Damarious Randall in 2015.

Lee couldn't crack the defensive lineup and never made an impact beyond special teams. GMs are expected to do better with second-round picks.

SAFETY

Best: Nick Collins, 2nd round, 2005

Collins had gone to three straight Pro Bowls, made a game-changing interception in Super Bowl XLV, and was at the peak of his powers in early 2011. Then he suffered a herniated disk in his neck in Week 2 and never played again.

What a shame!

It took the Packers more than three seasons to get their safety play back to a serviceable level. And despite a shortened six-year career, Collins remains Green Bay's best safety since LeRoy Butler.

Worst: Jerron McMillian, 4th round, 2012

McMillian, the 133rd-overall pick in Thompson's brutal 2012 draft, simply couldn't play. He struggled in coverage and wasn't the sure tackler Green Bay believed it was drafting.

Just more than 19 months after he was drafted, McMillian was released.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Best: Mason Crosby, 6th round, 2007

Outside of a rocky 2012 season, Crosby has been a model of consistency. He's the franchise's all-time leading scorer and signed a five-year, $16.1 million contract this off-season.

Worst: Cory Rodgers, 4th round, 2006

Rodgers gets the dubious honor of being named "worst" in two categories on this list. Rodgers joined the team with a reputation as an excellent kickoff and punt returner. Just one problem. He couldn't catch.

Considering Thompson's love for his own draft picks, it had to pain the GM to release Rodgers during his first training camp.

This story appeared in Packer Plus Magazine. To subscribe, call 414-224-2222 or go to www.jsonline.com/subscribe.