SPORTSTAT: Will Packers continue to make defensive players a top priority in draft?

By JERRY TAPP

Eleven stats you may not know about the Packers last 10 years in the draft

With the NFL Combine ending last week, the start of the free agency period getting ready to launch into frenzy mode, and the NFL Draft less than two months away, the Packers off season is in full swing.

The draft will take place April 25-27, with the Packers (at this moment) having the 12^th, 30^th and 44^th picks in the draft … among a slew of additional picks in later rounds.

Who, or what type of player, will the Packers select with their picks? It’s anyone’s guess; there’s talk that an edge rusher is a high priority, and another tight end has been talked about with one of the early picks. Help on the offensive line has been discussed, and defensive backs are always a focus for the Packers in the draft.

Let’s take a look at the last 10 years of the NFL draft and 11 interesting stats that you may not know about the Packers draft choices from 2009-18. Will the past draft history of the Packers give us any indication how the team will draft this season?

1. In the last 10 drafts, the Packers selected 89 players. Forty-four were defensive players, 43 played on the offensive side of the ball, two were special team players.
2. Receivers topped the list of the position most drafted over the past decade by the Pack. There were 18 receivers/tight ends chosen over the past 10 years. Defensive linemen were close behind with 17 choices followed by defensive backs/safeties (14), offensive linemen (14), linebackers (13) and offensive backs (QBs and running backs) with 11.
3. The average round where offensive players were selected by the Packers over the past 10 years was 4.53. The average round where defensive players were taken by the Pack over the past 10 years was 3.82.
4. Breaking it down by positions: The average defensive back/safety was taken in the 2.9 round, followed by defensive linemen (3.9), offensive linemen (4.4), linebackers (4.7), offensive backfield (4.9) and receivers/tight ends (5.1)
5. Twenty of the 44 defensive players (45.5%) selected in the past 10 years were chosen in the first three rounds of the draft. Only nine of the 43 offensive players (20.9%) chosen were selected in the first three rounds of the draft.
6. Of the 14 defensive backs/safeties chosen by the Packers in the last 10 years, nine (64.3%) were selected in the first three rounds. Eight of the 17 (47.1%) defensive linemen chosen were picked in the first three rounds of the draft. Twenty-three percent of the 13 linebackers picked were in the first three rounds … 22% of the receivers were chosen in the first three rounds … 21.4% of the offensive linemen were taken in the first three rounds of the draft … 18.2% of the offensive backfield were selected in the first three rounds of the draft.
7. Twenty of the 29 players (69%) chosen in the first three rounds of the draft in the last 10 years were defensive players.
8. Eight of the 10 players picked in the first round by the Packers since 2009 were defensive players.
9. Of the 21 players chosen by the Packers in the first two rounds of the draft in the past 10 years, 15 were defensive players.
10. In the last 10 years, the Packers have chosen three players from one position in a draft four times: 2018-three receivers; 2017-three offensive backs; 2014-three receivers; 2012-three defensive linemen.
11. The only offensive players chosen by the Pack in the first round over the past 10 years were offensive linemen Derek Sherrod in 2011 and Brian Bulaga in 2010.

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