Aaron Rodgers spent the first 18 seasons of his career in Green Bay and during that time, the Packers didn’t use a single first-round pick on a wide receiver. As a matter of fact, the Packers went 23 years without taking a receiver in the opening round before finally ending that drought in April when they selected Matthew Golden with the 23rd overall pick.
The Packers were a Super Bowl contender for nearly all of Rodgers’ career in Green Bay, but despite that, they never saw the need to add a receiver in the first round. So how did Rodgers feel when he saw that the Packers finally pulled the trigger and selected a receiver? The four-time MVP was asked that exact question during a recent interview on the YNK podcast with Mike Stud.
“In my 18 years, we picked four offensive players in the first round, counting myself in 2005,” Rodgers said. “In 2010, we picked Bryan Bulaga, who did a great job for us at right tackle. In 2011, we picked Derek Sherrod, who got banged up and never really played, and then in 2020, we picked [Jordan Love]. The other years we spent on defense.”
Rodgers then pointed out that he didn’t throw a scoring pass to a former first-round pick until he had been in the league for more than a decade.
“I didn’t throw a touchdown to a first-round pick until big dog, Marcedes Lewis, who obviously wasn’t drafted by us,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers threw a touchdown pass to Lewis, a tight end, in 2018. Rodgers didn’t throw a touchdown pass to a former first-round receiver until he connected with Garrett Wilson while playing for the New York Jets in 2024.
It took 20 seasons for that to happen.
At first, it seemed like Rodgers was going to complain about the Packers’ front office inability to take any pass catchers in the first round, but instead, he essentially complimented them by pointing out that the Packers were able to find a lot of receiving talent outside the first round.
“People maybe forget how many second- and third-round receivers we had,” Rodgers said, before naming some of his former receivers like Greg Jennings (second round), Jordy Nelson (second round), Davante Adams (second round) and James Jones (third round). “So we picked a lot of great players in the second round that I would say really panned out.”
The fact that the Packers never took a receiver in the opening round of the draft was certainly a huge talking point while Rodgers was in Green Bay, but the QB clearly isn’t bitter. Rodgers has found a lot of success in his career throwing to second-round picks and if he goes to Pittsburgh, that tradition will likely continue with Rodgers throwing to two former second-round picks in DK Metcalf and Robert Woods.
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