The late, great Ted Thompson took over as GM of the Packers in 2005 and his first three picks were:
1.24 Aaron Rodgers
2.51 Nick Collins
2.58 Terrance Murphy
At the time, some "experts" thought this was a bad draft. A backup QB and a small school safety that nobody had heard of with his first two picks. Was this guy in over his head?
In retrospect, Rodgers was pretty good. I mean, I'll take Bart Starr if we're talking best all-time Packers QB, but the guy from Chico will be a first-ballot HOFer.
Nick Collins was developing into an all-time great safety when his career was tragically cut short.
But the guy I often think about? Terrance Murphy. I remember he looked good in the preseason, and then had a fluke neck/spine injury when he attempted to recover a Najeh Davenport fumble. He would never play another down. How good could he have been? The 2005 Packers WRs were so bad/injured that they played a guy named Taco, so it's reasonable to assume he could have had a positive impact. Lawrence "Taco" Lasalle Wallace. I think about Taco often too, because I still find his name hilarious.
Had Murphy worked out, might the 2005 Packers team have looked a little better? There's a butterfly effect here of course - if they did, maybe Mike Sherman doesn't get fired. Maybe the Packers never win a Super Bowl with Rodgers and Mike McCarthy. Or who knows, maybe Rodgers wins 3 or 4 with Sherman? Ok, maybe not...
I don't closely follow other NFL teams but it seems like the Packers suffered a rough patch of luck with Murphy, Finley, Collins, and then Sam Sheilds suffering career-ending or threatening neck/spine injuries. It's said that the Packers are conservative with these types of injuries, and I can't blame them, suffering repeated neck injuries is the type of thing that could cause someone to be paralyzed for the rest of their lives. But it makes me wonder how common these injuries are.
Bringing this back to the current state of affairs in Green Bay... Not that it's a particularly unique take, but I predict that Brain Gutekunst's career will be evaluated primarily on his 2020 draft. If Jordan Love is good, or even great, Gutekunst punches his card with Ted Thompson-like tenure, where only degrading health or his desire to move on to another team will see him give up his responsibilities. If Love is just okay, he'll have some wiggle room. If Love sucks, he'll have a short leash, maybe 1 or 2 years to pick a new QB and sort things out.
2005 was also the year the Packers picked up UDFA Samkon Gado, a Nigerian-American otolaryngologist. I had to look it up - an otolaryngologist is a doctor who specializes in head and heck injuries. If only the Packers had Samkon on their medical staff, maybe instead of gashing the Lions for 171 yards he could have sorted out Terrance Murphy, Jermical Finley, Nick Collins, and Sam Sheilds.