We all remember the Aaron Rodgers draft. He was a projected to go very high in the first round of the 2005 draft but instead fell all the way to 24 and the Green Bay Packers. He played sparingly his first three years before finally taking the reins from Brett Favre.
Fast forward 15 years later to the 2020 NFL Draft. The 26th pick belongs to the Miami Dolphins, or it did when the pick began. The Dolphins would trade the pick to the Packers, moving back to the 30th pick and picking up a fourth-round selection in the process. The Packers would then choose...Jordan Love.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised. The last time the Packers took a receiver in the first-round was 2002 when they selected Javon Walker. The team also hasn't selected a receiver in the first three rounds since selecting Ty Montgomery in 2015. Instead of surrounding Rodgers with another weapon, the team drafts his successor in Love, running back A.J. Dillon, and tight end Josiah Deguara.
Last year, the No. 1 receiver for the Packers was Davante Adams. He missed four games due to turf toe. While the team went 4-0 in his absense, there wasn't much thanks to his backups. Running back Aaron Jones led the team in receiving in two of those games and the only game that saw another receiver break 100 yards, Marques Valdes-Scantling only had two catches.
The top pass catchers last year were Adams, Jones (running back), Jamaal Williams (running back), and Jimmy Graham who is no longer with the team.
Understandably, Rodgers is not happy with the Packers. A team on the cusp of the Super Bowl last season does nothing to help their franchise quarterback. The argument is being made that there was nothing there for the Packers when they came up to pick with Henry Ruggs, Jerry Jeudy, and CeeDee Lamb going earlier on in the first-round. Fine, but instead of giving up one of your picks to draft a project quarterback in the first-round, why not trade back and acquire an extra pick? Tee Higgins was right there and was the first pick of the second-round. Why not stay at pick 30 and draft him?
Aaron Rodgers is not the friendliest of guys to be around but he's an elite quarterback who has won a Super Bowl and has dealt with an organization that has not always given him the best of talent to work with.
I'm sure Rodgers will have fun grooming Love to take over.
PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES