There is often talk about surrounding QBs with good players. Odell Beckham Jr was recently in the news for ‘clarifying’ his statements while with the Giants, saying he was attempting to reprimand management for not giving Eli the players he needed to end his career successfully. We have seen teams like San Francisco get playmakers and blockers for Jimmy G, drafting Deebo Samuel, Mike McGlinchley, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle, while also acquiring the likes of Tevin Coleman, Jerick McKinnon, Raheem Mostert, Trent Williams, Jordan Reed, Kyle Juszczyk, and Emmanuel Sanders, whether by trade or free agency. Baltimore has surrounded Lamar Jackson with 1st and 2nd round players in Brown, JK Dobbins, Mark Ingram, Ronnie Staley, even Dez Bryant and DJ Fluker are former 1st round picks, though not the guys they were when drafted. Atlanta has every preferred starter on offense as a 1st round pick (Ryan, Gurley, Julio, Ridley, Hurst, Jake Matthews, James Carpenter, Alex Mack, Chris Lindstrom, Kaleb McGary), doing a seemingly good job keeping Ryan supported by highly regarded players.
The question, then, brought up by OBJ is; did New York support Eli?
Following the Giants defeating the Patriots in the Super Bowl for the second time, it can be assumed New York began to look toward Eli as the centerpiece of the offense and chose to support him with well drafted offensive players. He did, after all, captain two teams to victory against the Pats. So, in the first draft following the 2011 season, the Giants picked an RB in the 1st, a WR in the 2nd, a TE and T in the 4th, and a T in the 6th. In 2013, an OL in the 1st and some back up player in later rounds. The 2014 draft, they snagged OBJ in the 1st and grabbed a center in the 2nd with a bruising RB in the 4th. Another 1st round T came in 2015 with some back up WR in the 6th and T in the 7th. 2016 Brought a 2nd round WR, a 5th round RB, and 6th round TE. 2017 a pass catching TE in the 1st, an RB in the 4th, and a T in the 6th. The Giants last off season committed to Eli involved signing Nate Solder, and drafting Barkley and Will Hernandez in the 1st and 2nd.
1st and 2nd picks are what I focus on as players considered starters, guys intended to help the team now. So how many draft picks did the Giants use to “immediately” support Eli? In 7 drafts, they drafted 3 WRs and a TE in the 1st or 2nd round, 2 RBs in the 1st round, and 4 OL in the 1st or second round (plus paid big for Nate Solder). How many of those picks were bad? OBJ is an amazing talent, Justin Pugh was solid, Solder was a proven tackle, Will Hernandez is a league wide starter, Sterling Sharp and Evan Engram are solid starters, Barkley is one of the most talented RBS in the league. David Wilson was dynamic until injury, Rueben Randle was decent, but not a starter, and Weston Richburg signed a $10 million/year deal with SF after New York.
So no bad misses, and only Randle didn’t really live up to standards, Wilson's injury aside. Plus a bevy of late round RBs, WRs, and Ts should have provided spot and support players a plenty instead of being needed regularly, given how good the picks from the first 2 rounds were. In all, 25 of the 45 picks New York had in those 7 drafts were offensive players, and 10 1st or 2nd round picks in 7 years went to offense.
The Plight of Eli, as told by Odell Beckham, inspires me to look into two other Quarterbacks routinely said to be lacking on-field support provided by their front offices; Carson Wentz and Aaron Rodgers.
Wentz is a big bodied and athletic QB with a canon for a right arm. He put the Eagles in position for their Super Bowl run with MVP caliber play, showing his talent. He came into a team with recent 1st round picks at tackle (Lane Johnson) and receiver (Nelson Agholor) as well as seconds at receiver and tight end (Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz) and a 3rd at receiver (Josh Huff). This team also had Kelce, Brooks, and Peters already entrenched on their line, so Wentz came into a pretty good position. But did Philly keep him supported?
After drafting Wentz with their 1st pick, the Eagles grabbed 3 other offensive players in a back up RB and 2 late round OL. A few mid round WRs and RB followed in 2017. 2018 brought a dynamic TE in Dallas Goedert, then back up tackles in the 6th and 7th round. 2019 focused on tackle in the 1st, a talented RB in the 2nd as well as a big target WR in the 2nd, and then 1st round WR in 2020 as well as 2 good OL prospects and some more receivers in the 5th and 6th rounds. Of the 1st and 2nd picks, Johnson and Ertz are still talented starters, Agholor is still playing and has a half dozen TDs in Vegas, Goedert is a starter, as are Dillard and Sanders. Reagor is a rookie still adjusting from preseason injuries. Jordan Matthews had nearly 2,700 yards and 20 TD catches for Philly in 3 years, which is totally solid. Only JJ Arecega-Whiteside appears to be a real miss. In 8 seasons, 10 1st or 2nd round picks went to offense, but that includes 2 QBs in Wentz and Hurts this season.
Later picks produced good spot players in Wendall Smallwood and Donnel Pumphrey, OL guys in Vaitai and Mailata, and some great potential OL players for down the road, plus possible contributors at WR. There was also the acquisition of Alshon Jeffery to try and put the offense over the top. In all, I would say Philly did a pretty good job with their passer, keeping guys coming in with high projection.
Rodgers is the Old Guard, bested twice by Eli on his way to titles by the time our investigation kicks off. Rodgers had been considered by many the most talented QB ever (until Mahomes). Rodgers is in the midst of perhaps his best season ever. Given his talent and ability, but the shortcomings of the team, Green Bay is accused of seemingly doing little to surround him with talent. Since his first MVP, and his ascension to possible GOAT status (since put on a way back burner due to Brady’s rings and Mahomes WOW factor), Green Bay has appeared to do little to draft a great supporting cast around Rodgers before drafting his replacement in 2020.
In 2012, the packers drafted an injured tackle and never-to-play QB in the 7th round. In 2013, they picked up a 2nd round RB in Lacy, future All-Pro Bakhtiari in the 4th, utility OL JC Tretter in the 4th, and then non contributors at RB in the 4th and 2 WRs in the 7th. 2014 was year of Adams in the 2nd, Richard Rodgers at TE in the 3rd, Pro Bowl C in Corey Linsley in the 5th, and two back-up, but fan favorites, in Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Janis at receiver. 2015 included a 3rd round WR who became a RB, a backup QB in the 5th, a FB in the 6th, and a TE in the 7th who tallied 11 offensive snaps in his career. 2016 was somehow even less helpful in a 2nd round tackle who never played even 30% of snaps in a season (for a team experiencing injuries all along the line), a 5th round WR who was targeted 15 total times in 3+ seasons, and a 6th round tackle without any stats. 2017 broke from form, with a 4th and 5th round RB who are starters, but the WRs from the 5th and 7th round, a 6th round guard, and a 7th round RB all combined stats for their careers for 4 rushes for 1 yard and 3 catches on 3 targets for 0 yards. 2018 brought in two fifth round picks with no stats (WR Moore and G Madison), and MVS and EQ in the 5th and 6th who are frustrating to GB fans. The 2019 draft snagged Elgton Jenkins as a potential future All Pro type player in the 2nd, and then Jace Sternberger in the 3rd (currently being outplayed by an undrafted free agent and a 36 year old at TE).
In 8 drafts previous to this year, 33 of 72 picks were offensive players. Only 4 were in the first two rounds; none were in the first, and Spriggs was never relied on as a contributor. Of the 3rd round and later picks, expected to either contribute eventually as starters or be good backups, Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams, MVS, Corey Linsley, and David Bakhtiari are all that remain, really, and maybe EQ. Recently, Jared Cook was brought in for a year, as was Marty Bennett at TE, then Jimmy Graham was made the highest paid TE in the league for his brief service. But I would say only Cook was a good signing of those three.
The rest of the players currently fleshing out the offense around Rodgers are undrafted players or those who were considered has-beens by the time they got to the Packers. Allen Lazard, undrafted WR, missed half the season and still has the fourth most receiving yards on the team. Robert Tonyan is 3rd, 22 yards from being second, and is a top TE for TDs with 8. Lucas Patrick is undrafted and starting at RG. Marcedes Lewis has only 15 targets this season, and is the lone 1st rounder, constantly playing on 1 year deals. The Packers average slot when drafting their 11 WRs in the last 9 years is middle of the 5th round. The average TE is late 3rd. The RB average slot is mid 4th. The average draft slot for a lineman is 5th round. Meanwhile, 8 DBs were taken in the 1st or 2nd, and 5 defensive linemen. This imbalance is extraordinary.
This isn’t to say Rodgers doesn’t have good players; some develop later. Lazard has shown to be a great matchup problem, MVS has speed to burn (and hands of lead at times), Adams is one of the best in the business at creating separation and makes circus catches, Tonyan has grown so much as a pass catcher and blocker, and Jones and Williams are a great thunder and lighting pair in the backfield.
But when looking at draft equity alone, it appears the Packers have frequently done much less for their QB than the Giants and Eagles did for theirs. The disparity in capital used to pick players for a dynamic offense is evidenced so much in the gap of 1st and 2nd rounders alone (10 for each New York and Philly vs 4 for GB) and continues in total picks used on offensive players (55+% for each New York and Philly the 2012-2018 draft and 2016-2020 draft, respectively, vs 46% for Green Bay from 2012-2019 drafts).
Make what you will of it, but I don’t think Odell was right, I think Philly fans who say Wentz doesn’t have enough to work with aren’t right, and I think the Green Bay front office will have a lot of explaining to do if Rodgers leaves them for New Orleans or New England and wins two rings in 2 seasons.
