Green Bay Packers Last 10 Drafts Ranked: No. 6 Class of 2020
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 sixth-ranked class, the most recent one to play a season, 2020.
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 at 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. Just like in the last article, we’ll split the players into tiers because they haven’t done enough to know yet; the tiers will just be based on draft position.
I understand that putting this class almost in the top half of these rankings will potentially be controversial because none of them have proven much yet. However, this draft is flush with potential. A.J. Dillon will have an expanded role with Jamaal Williams gone this year, Jon Runyan has a chance to be a starter on the offensive line, Kamal Martin could make a big jump if he stays healthy, as could Deguara, who only played in two games before going down with an injury, and Vernon Scott could see plenty of time playing as a box safety this year.
Green Bay Packers Tier 1 – Jordan Love, A.J. Dillon, Josiah Deguara
We’ll start with one of the most, if not the, most controversial picks in Green Bay Packers history. He could be the starter as early as this season, and he’s a true boom or bust prospect. He could singlehandedly vault this class to number one on this list or tank it completely. He was up and down at training camp, having some ugly days and somewhere, he was on fire. No one knows how his career will play out, but one thing is sure, this draft class will be remembered for him one way or another.
Next is A.J. Dillon, who might be the most exciting player for year two in this draft class. He’ll get plenty of touches this season and a big chance to prove he can be a workhorse back. He flashed great potential as a power type back last season, averaging 5.3 yards per carry and scoring two touchdowns. His big game was week 15 against the Titans when he rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns en route to a huge 40-14 win. Hopefully, we can see some more games like that late in the season when nobody will want to tackle him in the cold of Lambeau.
Josiah Deguara is going to be a great piece for this offense. The goal with him is to use him similarly to how the 49ers use Kyle Juszczyk, but he will get more chances to touch the ball and impact the passing game. He can line up basically anywhere in the formation and make any block you want him to and can be an explosive receiver off of play-action. He’ll have no issue getting involved and should see a good amount of touches in year two.