I had some extra time today and was looking back at previous Packer drafts year by year- part of me has practically blocked the 'Mike Sherman the GM' years from my mind, partially because of how long TT has been here now, but also because Sherman was just terrible as the personnel man.

His drafts:

2001:
1 10 Jamal Reynolds DE Florida State
2 41 Robert Ferguson WR Texas A&M
3 71 Bhawoh Jue SS Penn State
3 72 Torrance Marshall LB Oklahoma
4 105 Bill Ferrario G Wisconsin
6 198 David Martin TE Tennessee

Yech. We all know and abide by Ron Wolf's goal of 3 solid starters making for a successful draft, and there isn't one in this bunch. Reynolds remains one of the biggest busts in Packers history.

2002:
1 20 Javon Walker WR Florida State
3 92 Marques Anderson SS UCLA
4 135 Najeh Davenport FB Miami (Fla.)
5 156 Aaron Kampman DE Iowa
5 164 Craig Nall QB Northwestern State-Louisiana
6 200 Mike Houghton G San Diego State

Probably the best of Mike's drafts, thanks largely to Kampman's unexpected performance as a 5th. He gets partial credit for Walkers short-term success here, but obviously that was short-lived. Davenport was a contributor.

2003:
1 29 Nick Barnett MLB Oregon State
3 79 Kenny Peterson DE Ohio State
5 147 James Lee DT Oregon State
5 166 Hunter Hillenmeyer LB Vanderbilt
6 212 Brennan Curtin T Notre Dame
7 245 Chris Johnson DB Louisville
7 253 DeAndrew Rubin -- South Florida
7 256 Carl Ford WR Toledo
7 257 Steve Josue LB Carson-Newman

My goodness.... Nick Barnett and a bunch of other guys. Barnett was probably the most successful early-round pick for Sherman; too bad there's not another player who contributed for the Packers in the remaining 8 picks in this draft.

And finally, 2004:
1 25 Ahmad Carroll CB Arkansas
3 70 Joey Thomas CB Montana State
3 72 Donnell Washington DT Clemson
3 87 B.J. Sander P Ohio State
6 179 Corey Williams DT Arkansas State
7 251 Scott Wells C Tennessee

Scott Wells keeps this from being a total train wreck, and Williams was again a short-term contributor, but all four first-day picks were massive busts. And trading up for a punter in the third wipes out any good from this class.

After looking at these, it really is no wonder the Packers struggled so during the middle of the 2000s- Wolf's guys were slowly working their way out of Green Bay or becoming less effective, and holes weren't being plugged and no depth was being built as the talent eroded. And that doesn't mention the disaster the free agency moves were either.

Anyway, just a nice reminder of how good it is to have a legitimately talented evaluator at the helm. I contend that elevating Sherman to GM after just a year as head coach and with no personnel experience was one of Ron Wolf's strangest and potentially most damaging decisions he made for the franchise.