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While we await the start of the Green Bay Packers' rookie minicamp later this week, there are a few bits of information that have been released about the team's draft picks. In the case of four of the Packers' top five draft picks, we now know their jersey numbers for the start of their NFL careers.
All four of these numbers have been confirmed and posted to the roster on the Packers' website, while we expect the others to be assigned when the players arrive for camp.
First-round pick Damarious Randall has been assigned number 23, a bit of news which we learned on Friday following his selection on Thursday. Randall joins a very short list of notable Packers who have worn that number, which includes running backs Travis Williams and Johnathan Franklin.
While second-round pick Quinten Rollins does not have a number assigned yet, third-rounder Ty Montgomery will wear #88. That number has most often been associated with tight ends in the Packers' long history, starting with All-Pro Ron Kramer (who played from 1957 to 1964) then on to Keith Jackson, Bubba Franks, and Jermichael Finley.
Fourth-round pick Jake Ryan will be taking advantage of a new rule that the NFL passed this year. Starting with the 2015 season, linebackers will be allowed to wear numbers in the 40s at any time, not just when all of the numbers in the 50s are already claimed. Though the Packers have had a few notable linebackers numbered in the 40s (most recently Robert Francois), that was out of necessity. Ryan will wear #47, his college number (and the same number worn by A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews in their college careers). In Packers history, only two players have worn that number in their time as a primary starter for the team - cornerbacks Roland Mitchell (who started 16 games in 1993) and Jesse Whittenton, a two-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro in the early 1960s.
The final number that has been assigned so far belongs to quarterback and fifth-round selection Brett Hundley. With his college number, 17, already hanging in Davante Adams' locker, Hundley will instead wear number 7. Of course, that number is made most famous in Green Bay by Don Majkowski, the team's primary starting quarterback from 1988 through 1991.
Stay tuned, as we will update you with the numbers of the other draftees as they are announced.