Green Bay Packers Last 10 Drafts Ranked: #8 Class of 2017
By Kenny Jilek
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be counting down the last ten Green Bay Packers’ draft classes. That continues today with the eighth-ranked class, that of 2011.
The rankings will be based on the contributions of each player, and their play for other teams, if they’ve left, will be factored in as well because if they turned out to be a good player, that means it was a good pick. A few quantifying measures we’ll be using are total years of primary starters and Pro Bowl appearances that each class produced, both provided by Football Reference. The issue with this is those are cumulative stats, and the last few classes are still developing and will very likely become starters and make some Pro Bowl appearances, so rankings won’t be solely based on those things.
We’ll also look at yards, tackles, sacks, and other stats, but it’s hard to compare apples to oranges with different positions, so there will be a subjective element as well. The final ranking criteria will be the headliner of each draft and how they stack up against the others. Each draft has at least one Pro Bowler, so it’s easy to pick out. Just like in the last article, we’ll split the players into tiers based on how their careers played out and their contributions.
Tier 1 – Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, Kevin King
Aaron Jones is the clear headliner of this class with his sole Pro Bowl nod. He has rushed for 3364 yards in four seasons, despite his first two years were played under Mike McCarthy, who did his best to keep Jones’ talents under wraps. Fortunately, Matt Lafleur came and unleashed his talents on the NFL, which helped vault the Packers’ offense to one of the best in the league. His 19 touchdowns from scrimmage led the league in 2019, and his career 5.2 yards per carry is fantastic. Now, he’s on a new contract and will likely be here for at least two more years and hopefully more, as he’s been such a dynamic player rushing and receiving in this offense.
Lightning struck twice for the Green Bay Packers with day three running backs in 2017, with Jamaal Williams in the 4th round and Jones in the 5th.
Williams, like Jones, possesses plenty of talent in the passing game, blocking and catching well. He has also been the change of pace for Jones as more of a power back. He’s had at least 650 yards from scrimmage every season and hasn’t fumbled the ball once in 622 touches as the ultimate Mr. Reliable.
Kevin King has had an up and down career here since being the Green Bay Packers’ first selection in the 2017 draft. He’s been plagued with injuries and has missed 23 games in four seasons. In year three, he only missed one game and had his best year, intercepting five passes and breaking up 15. In 2020, he went back to normal, missing five games, and then we all know what happened in the playoffs. Even with all of that, he’s done enough to be in tier one of this draft.