Green Bay Packers: 3 recent Draft booms and busts
By Kenny Jilek
Honorable Mentions
Booms
Jones and Linsley are both fifth-round picks that have been reliable starters in their time in Green Bay. They’ve done it in different ways, obviously, Linsley blocking for Jones to find a hole and explode through it.
Aaron Jones has played two seasons with the Green Bay Packers, and has established a formidable tandem with Jamaal Williams. Last season Jones lead all running backs in yards per carry at 5.5. In his two years here he has scored 12 rushing touchdowns. His contributions to the running game should hopefully be magnified with new head coach Matt Lafleur. If all goes well, he could be the new James Starks in a Super Bowl run soon for the Packers.
Linsley burst onto the scene as much as an offensive lineman can for a team. He started at center his rookie year, no easy feat for a fifth-rounder, and has held the position for all five years he’s been in the league. His rookie season was his best, as he made the Pro Football Reference All-Rookie Team. He signed a three-year extension after the 2017 season that has him locked in here for two more years. In that 2017 season, he showed extreme durability and reliability being the only player on offense to play every snap of the season. Getting that kind of value from a late pick was a huge win for the Packers in the 2014 draft.
Busts
Montravius Adams and Khyri Thornton
Adams and Jones were both promising interior defensive lineman that never quite lived up to the hype. They are fairly similar, having both been third-round picks that floundered in their first few years in the league.
Montravius Adams has only been in the NFL for two years, but has not shown any signs that he will be a highly productive player in this league. Hopefully, going into his third NFL season he can turn things around and revive his career, but his 1.5 total career sacks, two tackles for loss, and six quarterback hits have not cut it so far.
Thornton has had even more underwhelming stats since being drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 2014. He did not appear in a game for the Packers that season after being put on the Injured Reserve List for a hamstring injury sustained in a preseason game. The Packers then waived him in September of 2015. He did play three seasons with the Detroit Lions, but only recorded 28 total tackles and one sack in that time. He did not play for any team last year and the only thing keeping him off of the top three list is that it was an injury that derailed his career.