Packers Public Relations l Lambeau Field Atrium l 1265 Lombardi Avenue l Green Bay, WI 54304 l 920/569-7500 l 920/569-7201 fax Jason Wahlers, Aaron Popkey, Sarah Quick, Tom Fanning, Nate LoCascio, Katie Hermsen VOL. XVIII; NO. 1 2016 NFL DRAFT PREVIEW GREEN BAY ENTERS THE DRAFT WITH NINE SELECTIONS a second-round pick and two third-round choices to New England for This weekend, the Green Bay Packers will welcome another rookie class the opportunity to draft Matthews plus a fifth-round pick, the Southern to their roster through the NFL Draft, held April 28-30 at the Auditorium California linebacker has proven to be well worth it, earning six selec- Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago. tions to the Pro Bowl in his first seven years. u Armed with seven of their own selections – plus two u In 2010, Green Bay selected T Bryan Bulaga in the first round at No. compensatory picks – the Packers will have plenty of 23. He started 33 games from 2010-12 and 27 of 32 over the last two opportunities to add more talent and depth to their seasons after missing 2013 due to injury. Thompson moved up in the roster. All picks are eligible to be traded except for third round to select S Morgan Burnett (No. 71 overall), who has the compensatory choices. started 71 contests over the past five seasons. u Green Bay enters the draft with a pick in every round, u Seven of the 10 players in the 2011 draft class went on to appear in a including three selections in the fourth round. game for Green Bay in their first season, highlighted by WR Randall u For the fourth straight year, the event will begin in prime time on Cobb (second round), who was named to the All-Rookie Team by Pro Thursday night, with Round 1 on April 28 beginning at 7 p.m. CT. Football Weekly/PFWA as a kickoff returner and earned his first trip to u Rounds 2-3 also will be held in prime time, beginning on Friday, April the Pro Bowl in 2014. 29, at 6 p.m. CT. Rounds 4-7 will complete the draft on Saturday, April u The Packers entered the 2012 NFL Draft with 12 picks and traded up 30, starting at 11 a.m. CT. three times. The draft was highlighted by first-round selection LB Nick u Teams will have 10 minutes in between selections in the first round and Perry, who ranks No. 3 in franchise postseason history with six sacks, seven minutes between each choice for Round 2. Rounds 3-6 will allow second-round selection CB Casey Hayward, who led all NFL rookies up to five minutes in between picks and Round 7 will allow four minutes. with six INTs in 2012 and became the first Packers CB to be named to All compensatory selections in Rounds 3-7 will be four minutes each. A the All-Rookie Team by Pro Football Weekly/PFWA since the team was look at where Green Bay currently stands in the draft order: first selected in 1974, and fourth-round pick DT Mike Daniels who has worked his way into becoming a consistent contributor, starting all 32 Round Round # Overall # games over the past two seasons. 1 27 27 u In 2013, Thompson entered the draft with eight choices and turned that 2 26 57 into 11 picks through draft-day trades, highlighted by RB Eddie Lacy 3 25 88 (second round), who was named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year 4 27 125 by The Associated Press, and T David Bakhtiari (fourth round), who 4 33 131 (comp.) became the first Green Bay rookie to start every game at LT since the 4 39 137 (comp.) league went to a 16-game slate in 1978. 5 26 163 u In the 2014 draft, Thompson used four of his first six picks to draft play- 6 25 200 ers who all made starts as rookies: S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (10), WR 7 27 248 Davante Adams (11), TE Richard Rodgers (five) and C Corey Linsley (16). THOMPSON LEADS PACKERS INTO ANOTHER DRAFT u Thompson followed up the 2014 draft with another class that saw rook- GM Ted Thompson enters his 12th draft with the Packers, and he has ies make an immediate impact. Last year’s draft saw each of the first long viewed the draft as the most important aspect of player acquisition. four selections earn starts: CBs Damarious Randall (nine), Quinten u Thompson entered his first draft with Green Bay in 2005 armed with Rollins (four), WR Ty Montgomery (three) and LB Jake Ryan seven picks. Through draft-day trades, he wound up with 11 selections, (five). highlighted by a pair of Pro Bowlers in QB Aaron Rodgers (first u Today’s roster consists of 62 players, with 35 being drafted by round) and S Nick Collins (second). Thompson. Of the 20 players to start 10 or more games for the Packers u In 2006, Thompson began draft day with seven selections, this time in 2015, 19 of them were drafted by Thompson. turning those seven picks into 12. The class included another pair of Pro Bowlers in LB A.J. Hawk (first) and WR Greg Jennings (second). 2016 NFL DRAFT NOTES u In 2007, Thompson again used draft-day trades to acquire more 81st Annual NFL Player Selection Meeting, Chicago selections and increase the competition for roster spots. That class 253 total picks, including 33 compensatory choices awarded to 13 teams included significant contributors such as WR James Jones (third), Thursday, April 28, 7 p.m. CT Time Limits LB Desmond Bishop and K Mason Crosby (consecutive picks in Round 1 (3:09 in 2015) Round 1: 10 minutes the sixth round). Round 2: Seven minutes u That strategy was also implemented in 2008, as Thompson turned eight Friday, April 29, 6 p.m. CT Rounds 3-6: Five minutes* choices into 10 draft picks (nine players and a future pick). Selections Rounds 2 & 3 (4:10 in 2015) Round 7: Four minutes* such as Pro Bowl WR Jordy Nelson (second), TE Jermichael Finley Saturday, April 30, 11 a.m. CT Television coverage (third) and Pro Bowl G Josh Sitton (fourth) made a significant impact. Rounds 4-7 (6:26 in 2015) NFL Network, ESPN/ESPN2 u In 2009, the Packers entered the draft with nine selections but made one of the most dramatic moves over the course of the weekend when Internet coverage they traded back into the first round. After selecting DT B.J. Raji with Packers.com, NFL.com the No. 9 pick, Thompson moved back into the first round to select *all compensatory selections in Rounds 3-7 will be four minutes each LB Clay Matthews at No. 26. Though the Packers surrendered 2016 DRAFT PREVIEW A LOOK INTO THE DRAFT ROOM Defensive Tackle (5): Johnny Jolly (2006-6a), Justin Harrell (2007-1), General Manager Ted Thompson heads up the football operations, and B.J. Raji (2009-1a), Mike Daniels (2012-4a), Christian Ringo (2015-6b) he and Green Bay’s coaches are well known to Packers fans. But working Linebacker (15): Brady Poppinga (2005-4b), Kurt Campbell (2005-7a), with Thompson is a talented and experienced football operations staff. A.J. Hawk (2006-1), Abdul Hodge (2006-3a), Desmond Bishop (2007-6b), u Members of the personnel staff have spent months, if not years with Clay Matthews (2009-1b), Brad Jones (2009-7), D.J. Smith (2011-6b), some prospects, studying for the 2016 NFL Draft. They visit schools Ricky Elmore (2011-6c), Nick Perry (2012-1), Terrell Manning (2012-5), throughout the season, attending practices, dozens of games and pro Nate Palmer (2013-6), Sam Barrington (2013-7c), Carl Bradford (2014-4), days in the spring. In each area, they have formed relationships with Jake Ryan (2015-4) high school and college coaches, trying to get a better idea of who the person is, not just the football prospect. Cornerback (10): Mike Hawkins (2005-5b), Will Blackmon (2006-4b), u Working closely with Thompson year round is Director-Football Pat Lee (2008-2c), Brandon Underwood (2009-6b), Davon House (2011- Operations Eliot Wolf (13th NFL season), Director of Player Personnel 4), Casey Hayward (2012-2b), Micah Hyde (2013-5a), Demetri Goodson Brian Gutekunst (18th NFL season), Senior Personnel Executive (2014-6), Damarious Randall (2015-1), Quinten Rollins (2015-2) Alonzo Highsmith Sam (18th NFL season), West Regional Scout Safety (7): Nick Collins (2005-2a), Marviel Underwood (2005-4a), Tyrone Seale (21st NFL season) and Assistant Director of Pro Personnel Tim Culver (2006-6b), Aaron Rouse (2007-3b), Morgan Burnett (2010-3), Terry (13th NFL season). Jerron McMillian (2012-4b), Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (2014-1) u Members of the scouting department include area scouts Jon-Eric Sullivan (13th NFL season), John Wojciechowski (21st NFL sea- Kicker (1): Mason Crosby (2007-6c) son) and Richmond Williams (ninth NFL season), pro scouts Chad DRAFT PICKS BY SCHOOL Brinker Glenn Cook (seventh NFL season) and (sixth NFL season), Where have the 104 Packers draft picks gone to school? Note: BCS college scouts Mike Owen (fifth NFL season), Alonzo Dotson schools are those in the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. (fourth NFL season) and Charles Walls (fourth NFL season), scout- ing assistant Joe Hueber (second NFL season) and college scouting BCS: 69 coordinator Danny Mock (29th NFL season). Iowa 4, UCLA 4, Arizona State 3, California 3, Colorado 3, Louisville 3, ANALYZING THE PICKS UNDER THOMPSON Texas A&M 3, Alabama 2, Boston College 2, LSU 2, Michigan State 2, Mississippi State 2, Ohio State 2, Oklahoma 2, Southern California 2, Total Picks: Offense Defense: Specialists: 104 : 55 48 1 Virginia Tech 2, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Cincinnati, Florida, POSITION-BY-POSITION Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Kentucky, Maryland, Quarterback (6): Aaron Rodgers (2005-1), Ingle Martin (2006-5a), Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Penn State, Brian Brohm (2008-2b), Matt Flynn (2008-7a), B.J.