Those of us that grew up in the 90s have only known the Packers as perennial contenders. Three trips to the Super Bowl and countless playoff appearances over the past three decades have been a pretty sweet ride.
Inheriting back-to-back Hall of Fame quarterbacks surely has something to do with the sustained success. But, the Packers organization has gotten more than just the QB position right to remain competitive year in and year out.
They know where to invest on the roster, given the state of the game today.
Plainly stated: it's a passing league. And, to win games where a collective 60 passes are thrown, a franchise's front office must place additional importance on the positions that matter most when architecting its team composition. There are three, to be exact, and the Packers haven't been shy about the weight that they carry, as evidenced by both draft and free agent personnel moves.
1) Teams absolutely need a shutdown cornerback that can be left in man coverage against the opposition's best receiver
2) Similarly, they need an elite rusher that disrupts entire sides of an offensive line
3) Finally, as already mentioned, they simply have to have an elite quarterback in order to win games in January
Quarterback
When Brett Favre found his way out of Green Bay in the 2008 offseason, the Packers quickly added two quarterbacks in the draft, despite plenty of confidence in Aaron Rodgers as QB1. That insurance policy - coming in the form of R2 Brian Brohm and R7 Matt Flynn - ultimately paid few dividends, but it illustrated the importance of having options at the game's most important position. Always aware of the hypotheticals like a career-ending injury, the Packers' front office continued investing at quarterback throughout Rodgers' prime, drafting three and trading for another.
Cornerback
The first move of the Packers' 2005 rebuild was the addition of expensive and reluctant veteran Charles Woodson, designed to be the lynchpin of a secondary missing a No.1 corner. It couldn't have a better investment - and one that later propagated a series of Day 1 and 2 selections at corner shortly after his time in Green Bay. The Packers doubled up at cornerback in the first two rounds of the 2015 and 2018 drafts and kept their foot on the gas last April when landing Georgia's Eric Stokes with 29th overall pick.
Pass Rusher
When moving to a 3-4 defense in 2009, GM-at-the-time Ted Thompson began pouring resources into the area most crucial to its success: the EDGE. He added Clay Matthews in the first round of the 2009 draft, Mike Neal in Round 2 a year later and then Nick Perry in the first round of the 2012 draft. As each of these players moved on from Green Bay, the Packers quickly threw money at EDGE in free agency: Julius Peppers, Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith were all instant difference makers in seasons where the Packers were within close reach of the Super Bowl.
In total, the Packers have sunk ten first and second round picks into quarterback, cornerback and pass rusher over the past 12 drafts. They have unapologetically prioritized the three positions - and it's been working.
Across the NFC North
Looking at the personnel moves of the Packers' NFC North foes, you'll notice a different trend. Early-round draft selections, in particular, emphasize defensive front seven and non-QB offensive skill positions. And it dates back to the year that the Packers' rival Vikings could have nabbed Rodgers.
In the 2005 NFL draft, the Vikings selected both South Carolina's Troy Williamson (WR) and Wisconsin's Erasmus James (DE) before the Packers made their first round selection in Rodgers with pick 24. Since then, it's been a lot of linebackers (Chad Greenway, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks) and running backs (Adrian Peterson, Dalvin Cook) for the Vikes early in the draft.
A similar story in Chicago.
The Bears have prioritized keeping their front seven strong, with recent first-round selections made in Georgia linebackers Leonard Floyd and Roquan Smith. They've also focused on pass catchers in Kevin White (2015-R1) and Cole Kmet (2020-R2), but not as much as the Lions, who have devoured tight ends with R1 picks (Brandon Pettigrew, Eric Ebron, T.J. Hockenson).
Many of these draft picks ended up being solid investments over the long-term. But, most of them don't directly solve for the most important aspect of today's NFL: the passing game. They, instead, were opportunity costs that caused the Vikings to miss out on Rodgers, the Bears to miss out on Xavien Howard and Lions to miss out on Brian Burns.
This is all to say that, the next time you find yourself complaining about the Packers' "Best Player Available" philosophy and adding an extra corner when they're light at inside linebacker, just remember which positions helped keep them winning over the long term.
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