Best at building through the draft: Packers

Green Bay has a league-high 36 players on its roster that were drafted by the Packers.

September 8, 2010 at 1:57PM

Every team executive who's ever taken a breath has said "You build your team through the draft" at least 900,012 times, right?

Congratulations, Ted Thompson. You've meant it more than your 31 peers because the Packers have a league-high 36 players on their 53-man roster who were drafted by the Packers. That's 67.9 percent of Green Bay's roster coming through the draft.

The Vikings and Bears are tied for 20th with 26. The Lions are 23rd with 24.

As one of the NFC favorites, the Packers obviously have drafted a sound foundation, led by a franchise QB in Aaron Rodgers. The Vikings also have drafted well, with two NFL Offensive Rookies of the Year over the past three years.

However, being low on this list doesn't guarantee that you stink. The reigning champion Saints are 27th (23), while the Jets are 29th (21) a year after reaching the AFC title game.

This list does not include players on reserved-PUP, so a guy like Sidney Rice was not counted even though he's most likely a big part of his team's future.

The list also could change before the week is over based on each team's transactions.

Last on the list as of today?

In a tie for 31st are the Browns and Redskins with 17 apiece. That's a lot of Tim Couches and Brady Quinns down the drain.

1. Green Bay 36
2. Carolina 35
Pittsburgh 35
4. Indianapolis 34
Tennessee 34
6. New England 32
Oakland 32
San Francisco 32
9. Atlanta 31
Dallas 31
New York Giants 31
12. Baltimore 29
Houston 29
Tampa Bay 29
15. Cincinnati 28
Jacksonville 28
Philadelphia 28
San Diego 28
19. Buffalo 27
20. Minnesota 26
Arizona 26
Chicago 26
23. Detroit 24
Kansas City 24
St. Louis 24
Seattle 24
27. New Orleans 23
28. Denver 22
29. Miami 21
New York Jets 21
31. Cleveland 17
Washington 17

about the writer

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).

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