The Packers’ streak of Pac-12 draft picks ended this April, but a new trend is emerging

With 10 selections in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers drafted eight from Power Five college conferences in addition to one from independent powerhouse Notre Dame. But curiously, there was one Power Five conference not represented in Green Bay’s draft choices: the Pac-12.

As the draft concluded, it marked the end of an eight-year streak of the Packers selecting at least one player from the Western-most power conference. In fact, Green Bay did not go west of Fort Worth, Texas with any of its picks in 2019 after drafting Cole Madison (Washington State) and James Looney (California) a year ago. The Packers have turned their attention often to the Pac-12 as seen in the chart below.

Coincidence or not, 2019 marked the first draft since long-time Packers West regional scout Sam Seale was promoted to national scout. Seale had held that area scouting post since 2012 and there is little doubt he held plenty of influence in the war room with the Packers’ string of selections and eventual promotion since that time. Might that move have made a difference this April?

The Packers did, however, draft three players from the Southeastern Conference, a continuation of interest in the conference for Green Bay over the past three years.

When Green Bay picked Montravius Adams and Malachi Dupre in the 2017 NFL Draft, it was the first time the Packers had selected SEC players since Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in 2014. Green Bay had actually only taken nine combined players from the conference since 2012. But since then, the team has selected three players from the SEC in each of the 2018 and 2019 drafts.

With Seale now in a national scouting role, it will be intriguing to see if this emerging SEC drafting trend continues next year. Perhaps the 2019 Pac-12-less draft is just a one-year blip in the radar for a Green Bay franchise that has certainly valued that region. But as one long-standing draft streak ended, has another begun?