Green Bay Packers Last 10 Drafts Ranked: No. 2 Class of 2019
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 second-ranked class, 2019.
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 – Elgton Jenkins, Rashan Gary, Darnell Savage
So far, this draft class only has one Pro Bowl appearance in Elgton Jenkins, but they have the potential for many, many more. Jenkins has already established himself as one of the best and most dependable plug-and-play linemen in the league. He’s played everywhere along the offensive line and played every single offensive snap the Green Bay Packers had last season. He was on the All-Rookie team in 2019, and his career trajectory just keeps shooting upward. He’s on pace to make plenty more Pro Bowls and probably be a 1st Team All-Pro player a few times as well.
Rashan Gary was taken 12th in the 2019 draft for all of his physical gifts and potential. He made a year two jump from two to five sacks, three to five tackles for loss, and from three to eleven QB hits and did enough to earn himself four starts. As he continues to hone and refine his skills, he will continue to see improvements in his numbers every year. He could easily see some Pro Bowls when he hits his prime in a few years.
Darnell Savage saw some big improvements in his second season as well, intercepting four passes and breaking up twelve after two interceptions and five passes defended in his rookie campaign. This year, he could even see some time in the slot with his speed and coverage ability. He’s very versatile, with the ability to play deep high, in the box, or the slot. That makes him a definite weapon in this defense, and hopefully, he continues to use those skills to his advantage in year three.