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Nine Green Bay Packers made Ben Solak’s cut, but Aaron Rodgers wasn’t one of them.
ESPN’s Ben Solak took on the tough task of attempting to correctly rank the best draft choice in modern (1967 and on) NFL history for every slot in the draft. In a project this wide, there’s at least one choice that he’ll make that will piss off every fan base.
For Green Bay Packers fans, it’s probably going to be his selection for the 24th pick in the draft. Instead of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Solak went with former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, an eight-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler who was named to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Here’s what Solak had to say about his decision:
I picked Reed over Aaron Rodgers here, which is likely my most controversial selection. Safety is an impossible position to rack up counting stats — the whole point is that you’re away from the ball — yet Reed accumulated 64 picks in only 174 games. That’s second all-time and easily the best of the modern era.
Listen to guys like Bill Belichick and Peyton Manning talk about Reed, and it becomes easy to call him the best safety of all time; I’m pretty confident he is, even over Ronnie Lott. And I think the best safety ever clears a quarterback who wasn’t ever the best of his era, despite his four MVPs.
Ultimately, Solak did nominate nine Packers draft choices for the best selections ever in their draft slots. This included three other quarterbacks, but not Aaron Rodgers. Most of these nine selections came in the range of what we now consider Day 3 of the NFL Draft.
There were three Hall of Famers to choose from here, including Howie Long and Dwight Stephenson. However, neither Long nor Stephenson invented a touchdown celebration (the Lambeau Leap), and that sort of thing matters to me when I’m splitting hairs in the second round. A Super Bowl ring and four first-team All-Pro nods help, too.
Mark No. 109 down as a legendary pick for offensive linemen, as Jon Runyan was taken by the Oilers with pick No. 109 in 1996 and T.J. Lang joined the Packers with this pick in 2009.
Did Rodgers get snubbed? Who else got a raw deal here? Join the comment section to voice your opinion.
