2012 NFL Draft: Reviewing the Green Bay Packers' Strategy

In many ways, the Packers' plan for any draft, regardless of year, is the same.

Wait for value to fall, take the best pick available, then go back to waiting.

Rinse, repeat.

We all know it's a bit more complex than that, though Ted Thompson would like us to believe otherwise it seems.

The fact is that the Packers have a plan. It's just a little different than that of most other teams.

The Packers, as mentioned in the Thompson piece above, don't draft purely for need, nor do they rank their players that way. They rank their players individually not positionally.

In other words, the Packers will rank a linebacker against only himself—not all linebackers. He will get an individual grade based on multiple criteria and then ranked accordingly.

So the top player on the Packers' board is the best player—not the best quarterback/linebacker/etcetera or the best player at a position they need.

That's not to say they won't draft for need. Rather, they are open to whatever value falls and they weigh overall talent over anything else.

The Packers have been successful in this way for a long time and it's part of the reason their overall depth is so good. They add good players so they have the ammo to reload when things go wrong (for example, the Super Bowl run in 2010).

Now, they do have some issues, but none of them are earth-shattering. So you won't see them desperate for a tackle or pining for a cornerback.

It's what makes them a challenge to mock picks for. They can, quite literally, do anything they want.

And often do.