FanPost

How statiscally successful is Ted Thompson's drafting strategy?

Please pardon the formatting issues that are in this article (I'm a noob).

In reading through some late night football literature on SI.com, I came across this gem. I was pretty pumped (not surprised) to see how well the Green Bay Packers have drafted since Ted Thompson took the reins.

Here is a little preview from the article breaking down the success of the 2005 draft numerically. Note that the Packers round out the "A" grades echelon (for full list see link above).

Team AP1 PB ST Car AV G Then Now Best Player Score
Dallas 4 7 19 197 467 A A DeMarcus Ware 166
Tennessee 1 1 19 162 566 B- A Michael Roos 108
San Diego 1 3 13 139 330 B A Shawne Merriman/Vincent Jackson 101.5
Philadelphia 0 2 18 157 451 B+ A Trent Cole 95.5
San Francisco 0 1 19 127 490 B A- Frank Gore 93
New England 0 2 18 150 333 B- A- Logan Mankins 92.5
St. Louis 0 0 23 112 472 C A- Alex Barron 87
Atlanta 0 1 15 123 392 B- A- Roddy White 84
Seattle 1 3 13 99 259 C A- Lofa Tatupu 82.5
Green Bay 0 3 12 111 313 B- A- Nick Collins/Aaron Rodgers 81
Miami 0 1 14 98 302 B B+ Ronnie Brown 71

AP1 stands for All Pro 1st Teamers.

PB stands for Pro Bowlers.

ST stands for Seasons Started.

All of those metrics are collective for the group.

Also, it's probably worth mentioning that Brady Poppinga and Michael Montgomery were also members of this draft class.

Anywho, here's the 2006 NFL Draft Breakdown (top teams only, for full list see link above):

Team AP1 PB St Car AV G Then Now Best Player Score
NY Jets 2 4 11 110 394 B A+ Nick Mangold/D'Brickishaw Ferguson 120
Denver 1 4 13 149 326 B A+ Brandon Marshall/Elvis Dumervil 116.5
Houston 0 5 16 135 307 B- A+ Mario Williams/DeMeco Ryans 105
Green Bay 0 0 17 146 425 B A Greg Jennings 95
New Orleans 1 1 12 140 307 B+ A Jahri Evans 90
Indianapolis 0 2 12 123 324 C A- Joseph Addai 89
Baltimore 0 1 14 93 370 B A- Haloti Ngata 86
Buffalo 0 0 15 106 331 C B+ Kyle Williams 84
Tennessee 1 2 9 102 316 B- B+ Cortland Finnegan 84

A.J. Hawk, Daryn Colledge, Will Blackmon, Jason Spitz, Tony Moll, and Johnny Jolly all contribute to the metrics here. I don't know how A.J. Hawk was left off and only Greg Jennings was listed...

At any rate, as you may have noticed, only Green Bay stands in the "A" grade category for these two drafts. Coincidentally, these drafts represent the beginning of the Ted Thompson era in Green Bay. I know that there are a lot of "TT haters" due to the Favre Fiasco and Justin Harrell etc., but I have always had supreme confidence in his (and his staff's) abilities to forge a bright future for the Green and Gold.

I guess it's nice to see the numbers back it up.

FanPosts are designed to be used to start a conversation on a specific topic, not unlike a front page story. They have a 75-word minimum: If you don't have much to say on a topic, consider using a FanShot.