<
        >

          NFL Nation

          Looking for OL help? Packers' Ted Thompson knows how to find it later in draft

          GREEN BAY, Wis. -- No one ever asks who the Green Bay Packers are going to pick in the fourth round ... or the fifth or sixth or seventh.

          Maybe they should.

          While the focus is always on who the Packers will take in the first round, general manager Ted Thompson would appear to rely on -- and hit on -- those third-day picks as much as he does the ones on the first two days of the NFL draft.

          According to a study by ESPN Stats & Information analytics writer Sharon Katz, the Packers have gotten more out of their late-round picks than any team in the NFL over the last 10 years. They opened last season with 19 players on their 53-man roster who were picked in rounds four through seven. That was two more than the next-highest team -- the Minnesota Vikings with 17.

          Part of it could be Thompson’s commitment to his draft-and-develop philosophy. He doesn’t add many free agents, therefore leaving roster spots available for draft picks, some of whom won’t play much (or at all) as rookies.

          However, Thompson has done especially well with offensive linemen in the later rounds. Four of the Packers’ five starters fit into that category. Only right tackle Bryan Bulaga (a first-round pick in 2010) was taken within the first three rounds. Three starters -- left guard Josh Sitton, right guard T.J. Lang and left tackle David Bakhtiari -- were fourth-round picks while center Corey Linsley was a fifth-rounder.

          In Katz’s study, Sitton came out as the Packers’ best late-round selection.

          Offensive line could be a priority this year even if Thompson waits until the second or third day given the contract status of several starters.

          Sitton, Lang and Bakhtiari all would be free agents next offseason unless they reach extensions some time before next March. All three present different, yet equally difficult, decisions for Thompson.

          Bakhtiari, at age 24, is the youngest of the trio and plays the all-important left tackle position. His value was never more evident than late last season, when he missed three games (including the playoff opener against the Washington Redskins), and the Packers tried three different fill-ins (Don Barclay, Sitton and JC Tretter).

          Bakhtiari’s price tag will the highest among the three, so if there’s a thought at all in Thompson’s mind that he won’t re-sign him, then drafting another tackle is paramount unless, of course, Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy believe Tretter could be a future tackle. He showed against the Redskins that he might be able to handle that job.

          But guess what? Tretter, a former fourth-round pick, is also entering the final season of his rookie contract.

          Sitton and Lang present different issues. Both have been ultra-reliable and productive; Sitton has been a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro pick, while Lang isn’t far behind. But Sitton will turn 30 in June and Lang 29 in September. They also have battled through injuries -- Sitton a bad back and Lang a shoulder that was surgically repaired in the offseason -- and there’s reason to wonder if Thompson is worried about how much longer they will hold up.

          Still, Thompson insisted recently that future needs won’t influence his draft decisions.

          “Not at all,” he said. “Again, we feel like it’s best to stay true to form and try to take the best player available. We’re not going to stray off that. Again, that could be temporary. You might have a quote-unquote expiring contract, but you also might be in a position where you’re hopeful to do a reconstruction.”

          Here are the late-round drafts picks (fourth through seventh rounds) on the Packers' opening-day roster last season: