Jason Wilde ranks the 10 worst first-round picks by the Green Bay Packers over the decades.
New Packers head coach Vince Lombardi had the first overall pick and used it on the best quarterback in college football – Duncan (above right), who’d led the Hawkeyes to a pair of Rose Bowl victories. The day the Packers drafted him, Duncan finished as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
The only problem? Duncan never played a snap for the Packers – choosing instead to play in Canada for more money.
He spent two years with Vancouver, then played one season with the Dallas Texans and retired to go to law school, becoming a highly-successful lawyer in Des Moines. Lombardi and the Packers ended up doing OK, too – thanks to a quarterback who was a 17th-round draft pick in 1956: Bart Starr.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Speaking of players who opted to go to Canada rather than play in Green Bay, Clark warned the Packers before the draft that he did not want to play for them because he did not want to play nose tackle in the Packers' 3-4 scheme. Although, when the Packers’ brain trust visited with Clark on the Penn State campus, he might not have been as clear with his intentions as legend may have it.
Nevertheless, the Packers drafted Clark anyway, and Clark made good on that vow − instead of coming to Green Bay, he went instead to the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts. He didn’t come back to the NFL until 1982, joining the New Orleans Saints. He played eight NFL seasons − seven with the Saints and one with the Kansas City Chiefs.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
The Packers, coached by legendary tough-guy Forrest Gregg, wanted was a workhorse back who could carry the offensive load and give the pass-first offense a rugged running game. Tom Braatz, the head of football operations, thought Fullwood was that player – despite scouts on his staff who disagreed with him.
Although Fullwood did have one productive season in 1989 (821 yards) and was selected to the Pro Bowl, his penchant for fumbling was too much to overcome. He ran for just 124 yards in 1990, took himself out of a game because of a tummy ache and was shipped to the Cleveland Browns.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
A one-year starter in college, Michels (above right) was a disappointment, to be sure. Forced into the starting lineup (after veteran left tackle Ken Ruettgers’ retirement) as a rookie on a Super Bowl-bound team, he was so bad that journeyman Bruce Wilkerson took over on the road to Super Bowl XXXI.
Michels lost the starting job again the following year to first-round pick Ross Verba, suffered a knee injury in 1998 and was traded to Philadelphia in 1999.
But it’s the pick the Packers didn’t make that made this such a tough draft failure. A Packers rep was on the phone with a 20-year-old linebacker from Miami (Fla.) during the 26th pick, certain he was about to be the Packers’ choice at No. 27. Instead, the Baltimore Ravens took that linebacker and left GM Ron Wolf scrambling to pick someone else − resulting in Michels being the pick. That linebacker the Packers almost had? Ray Lewis, who’ll go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
After Ron Wolf took Terrell Buckley in 1992 and he flopped, the Packers set a height threshold of 5-foot-11 for drafting a cornerback. Coach/GM Mike Sherman ignored that measurable when he took Carroll, who famously got into a post-meeting fistfight with fellow cornerback Joey Thomas – drafted two rounds later in 2004 – when Thomas (rightfully?) claimed that the only reason Carroll was playing ahead of him was his draft status.
In the ultimate ironic twist, the Packers coaches later tried to curb the handsy Carroll’s incessant grabbing of receivers while in coverage by having him wear – wait for it – boxing gloves during practice.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Buckley (above left) ended up having a more-than-respectable 14-year NFL career that included 50 interceptions. But his three-year stay in Green Bay was a colossal disappointment.
One of the lowest points: When he let Minnesota’s Eric Guilford get behind him for a 45-yard last-minute completion to set up a game-winning field goal in 1993 because he didn’t think Vikings quarterback Jim McMahon could throw the ball that far – which he confessed to thinking afterward.
Worse yet, GM Ron Wolf opted for the 5-foot-9 Buckley over University of Wisconsin cornerback Troy Vincent, who was taken by the Miami Dolphins two picks later, played 16 NFL seasons and was selected to five Pro Bowls. Wolf later traded Buckley to the Dolphins for “past considerations.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
After sending backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to Seattle in a February trade, the Packers moved up from No. 17 to No. 10 in the 2001 draft. Future Pro Football Hall of Fame GM Ron Wolf, not wanting to step on coach/GM-to-be Mike Sherman’s toes, bowed to the coaching staff’s wishes on several picks, including Reynolds.
At the NFL scouting combine that year, Wolf had famously introduced himself to Miami (Fla.) linebacker Dan Morgan in a meeting by saying, “Dan Morgan? Ron Wolf. You’re a hell of a football player. If you’re there at (No. 10), you’re a Green Bay Packer.” On draft day, members of the publicity staff handed out Morgan’s bio, thinking he was the pick. Reynolds, degenerative knee problem and all, turned out to be the actual pick, and he registered just three sacks in three years before the Packers dumped him.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
General manager Ted Thompson was booed for the pick by fans at the team’s annual draft party that year, and while fans aren’t always rational about draft picks, they were right on the money with Harrell, who came to Green Bay as damaged goods – he missed most of his final season at Tennessee with a torn biceps – and was constantly hurt during his short stay in Green Bay.
Ankle, back and knee injuries limited him to just 14 regular-season games, and he had no sacks in four years. Not only that, but the Cleveland Browns called during the draft wanting to trade for the 16th pick to take Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, but the Packers kept the pick – and missed out on adding extra selections – only to waste it on Harrell.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
On other lists of all-time draft busts − not just Packers picks, but in NFL Draft history − Mandarich’s name is at or close to the top of the list. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated before the draft with the moniker “The Incredible Bulk.” By 1992, he was back on the cover of SI as “The Incredible Bust.”
There’s no denying that the 6-foot-5, 311-pound admitted steroid user was a bust, starting 31 games at right tackle in 1990 and ’91 before missing the 1992 season because of post-concussion issues and a thyroid problem. And it didn’t help that the other four players taken in the top 5 − Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas and Atlanta Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders − all went on to Pro Football Hall of Fame careers. But the Packers weren’t the only ones who were high on − and turned out to be wrong about − Mandarich. Had they not taken him, he almost certainly would have still gone in the top 5 − and another team would have suffered the ignominy of missing out on a Hall of Fame player in favor of a hall of fame bust.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
No moment epitomized why the Packers spent so much of the 1970s and ‘80s wandering in the wilderness than what happened in the draft room when Campbell was selected. Campbell, with an unorthodox throwing style and less-than-NFL caliber arm strength, was supposed to be coach Bart Starr’s (above center) quarterback of the future. West coast scout Lloyd Eaton, who personally scouted Campbell, thought it was a terrible idea − but Starr and assistant coach Zeke Bratkowski didn’t listen. They were certain Campbell was the guy.
“So I'm sitting at the back of the room with Lloyd, and Bart makes the pick. And Lloyd, who hasn't said anything to me all day, leans over to me and says, 'That's a bad pick,’” retired Packers president/CEO Bob Harlan, who at the time was an assistant to the team president, recalled. “I say, 'What do you mean, that's a bad pick?' He says, 'That's a bad pick.' I can't believe what I'm hearing. I said, 'Why don't you say something?' And he just shakes his head and says, 'They won't listen to me.' So we took him, and you know the rest.”
The rest: Campbell spent four forgettable seasons in Green Bay, playing in just seven games − starting zero − while backing up Lynn Dickey, David Whitehurst and Randy Wright. And the player Eaton had scouted, liked and recommended that the Packers take? USC defensive back Ronnie Lott, who went two picks later to the San Francisco 49ers − and went on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.
Jason Wilde covers the Packers for ESPN Wisconsin. Listen to him with former Packers and Badgers offensive lineman Mark Tauscher weekdays from 9-11 on "Wilde & Tausch" on 100.5 FM ESPN Madison.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVESWho was the Packers first pick in 1986? How many quarterbacks did they draft in the first round? How many players from Wisconsin schools have the Packers drafted in the modern era?
Search the Packers draft database by round, name, school, position, year or any combination of these variables.
Search Packers draft picks by round, name, school, position, year or any combination of these variables.
Ahead of the NFL Draft this week, Jason Wilde ranks the 10 best first-round picks by the Green Bay Packers over the decades.
© Copyright 2026 Lake Geneva News, 315 Broad St. Lake Geneva, WI 53147
A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
