Green Bay Packers Last 10 Drafts Ranked: No. 3 Class of 2013

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be counting down the last ten Green Bay Packers’ draft classes. That continues today with the third-ranked class, the class of 2013.

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.

Green Bay Packers Tier 1 – Eddie Lacy, David Bakhtiari, Micah Hyde, J.C. Tretter

The top three draft classes are pretty tough to rank and could probably be put in any order. This one boasts three Pro Bowl players and probably the top headliner in David Bakhtiari, along with some solid secondary talent.

So let’s talk about their headliner. Bakhtiari is the top one as of now because he’s the only one with multiple AP 1st team All-Pro selections, and he’s second in Pro Bowl appearances with three. He’s also been a full-time starter every season since he came into the league, missing only 10 games in eight seasons. When he was injured for the playoffs in 2020, the difference was clear, and the Buccaneers pass rush did just enough to get to Rodgers and stop the Packers’ passing attack. So many teams have protection issues, and we’ve been spoiled with one of the best in the game for eight years, barely ever having to worry about pressure off the left edge.

Eddie Lacy’s flame burned hot and fast in the NFL. He rushed for over 1000 yards in both of his first two seasons with the Green Bay Packers and won Rookie of the Year in 2013. He was even better in year two, expanding his receiving game with 427 yards and four touchdowns, but he wasn’t a repeat Pro Bowler. Just two years later, he only played five games due to injury, then had a failed season with the Seahawks on his way out of the league in 2017.

Similar to Casey Hayward, Micah Hyde was starting to come into his prime with the Packers but didn’t get a new contract and reached the Pro Bowl with his new team. His first year in Buffalo was his first time starting all 16 games, and he didn’t disappoint, having a career-high five interceptions. Hyde is going into his fifth season with the Bills, and while he hasn’t been that star player in recent seasons, he’s still a solid contributor.

Finally, it might seem like J.C. Tretter might not quite fit with this tier of guys that all have a Pro Bowl appearance under their belt, as he only started 10 games in three years with Green Bay. However, since he went to Cleveland in 2017, he has started all 64 games they’ve had and was an integral part of their playoff team last season. Believe me; he fits much better with this group than any of the guys we’ll talk about next.