From 2005 through 2017, the were run by Ted Thompson. Widely considered one of the best general managers in football for the majority of that tenure, Thompson became known in and around the league for adhering closely to a few distinct tendencies.First, he almost never made major forays into free agency, preferring instead to replenish Green Bay's talent base through the draft. During Thompson's 13 years at the helm, the Packers signed exactly four players from opposing teams to multi-year free-agent deals worth double-digit million dollars in aggregate. (Ryan Pickett and in 2006, in 2014, and in 2017.)Second, when it came to the draft, Aldrick Rosas Jersey Thompson loved to make trades. More specifically, he loved to trade down in order to acquire extra selections and accumulate value. Thanks to the invaluable , we were able to review every single trade Thompson made involving a draft pick during his tenure as general manager. There were 46 in all. Thompson traded a pick for a player three times. He traded a player for a pick 10 times. He traded up in the draft nine times. And he traded down in the draft 21 times in 13 years.Through all of his wheeling and dealing, Thompson acquired 15 extra draft picks over the years, while also accumulating exce s value in the picks he actually made, generating an additional fourth-round selection out of mid-air. And on the rare occasions where Thompson did trade up, he was right only about half the time. But he was, at least, right in a big way with , , and . That's how you're able to sustain building a team almost entirely through the draft for over a decade. Well, that and using your first-ever draft pick on . (And none of this analysis even accounts for all the compensatory picks the Packers received by letting high-priced free agents walk and almost never Kevin Zeitler Jersey signing any of their own. He added 21 picks that way over the years, yielding the equivalent of an extra No. 33 overall pick.) When Thompson actually used his picks, he loved to take superior athletes, especially in recent years. There are three Thompson drafts for which we have available SPARQ athleticism data, thanks to Three Sigma Athlete. The Packers made 24 picks during those three drafts, and we have SPARQ data on 22 of them; 15 rated as above-average athletes at their position, while nine rated in the 80th percentile or better, including five of 10 during Thompson's final draft in charge.Thompson was removed as general manager in early 2018 and replaced by former director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, who began his tenure with the Packers as their director of college scouting back in 2012. Gutekunst differentiated himself from Thompson in free agency by making a couple of splashy signings ( , ), so ahead of the draft I was very interested to see how the Packers' philosophy would change, if at all. As it turns out, the strategy just underwent a slight shift rather than any dramatic changes. Gutekunst and the Packers made three draft-day trades. They moved down once and up twice, though one of the moves up the board involved a pick they received from the move back. Green Bay picked up the ' No. 27 selection and their first-round pick in next year's draft in exchange for the No. 14 pick, which New Orleans used on pa s-rusher Marcus Davenport. A few picks later, Gutekunst used the No. 27 pick he had just received, as well as Nos. 76 and 186, to move up to No. 18 and draft cornerback , receiving the No. 248 pick Sterling Shepard Jersey in the deal as well. Later, the Packers jumped from the top of the fourth round (No. 101) to the back end of the third (No. 88), sacrificing a fifth-rounder (No. 147) to do so.In all, the Packers traded Nos. 14, 76, 147, and 186 for Nos. 18, 88, and 248, plus the Saints' first-round pick next year. They took a slight lo s in draft value this season (309.8 points on the Jimmy Johnson chart, the equivalent of the No. 59 pick; and 6.6 points on the Chase Stuart chart at Football Perspective, the equivalent of the No. 81 pick) but considering the latest the Saints' first-round pick next year can be is No. 32, it's difficult not to think they came out ahead on draft value overall -- and they still got the guy they would've taken at No. 14 in Alexander. That's pretty good!Also like Thompson, Gutekunst clearly placed a premium on high-value athletes. Of the 11 picks made by the Packers, there is SPARQ data available for eight of them. (Two of the remaining three are punter J.K. Scott and long-snapper Hunter Bradley, for whom athleticism was probably not a priority. The other is seventh-round linebacker Kendall Donnerson.) Of those eight players, SPARQ grades seven of them as above-average NFL athletes. Four of them rank in the percentile or better for players at their position, including each of Green Bay's first three picks. PlayerPosPercentileJaire AlexanderCB91.0Josh JacksonCB93.9LB94.9J'Mon MooreWR78.4Cole MadisonG13.5Marquez Valdez-ScantlingWR56.5Equanimeous St. BrownWR62.6James LooneyDL93.1In Nate Solder Jersey addition to prioritizing elite-level athleticism, Gutekunst borrowed a strategy from last year's version of the . (They were obviously not the first team to employ the strategy I'm about to describe. They're just a recent and notable example. They did win the .) Last offseason, the Eagles had two areas of their team they badly needed to upgrade: their pa s-catching corps and their secondary. Roseman attacked those areas with gusto in both free agency and the draft, adding , , and in free agency, and , Donnel Pumphrey, , , , and Nathan Gerry in the draft. Not all of those guys worked out, but because the Eagles flooded the market with multiple rolls of the dice at each position, they hit on a few of them, and got major contributors to their Super Bowl run out of it.This year, the Packers happened to have the exact same needs coming into the offseason. Green Bay's pa s offense fell apart for much of last season, as Rodgers' absence exposed just how few playmakers the team had outside of . This offseason, Green Bay cut ties with longtime wideout . Next year, they'll likely say goodbye to . They've been working without a top tight end for most of Rodgers' career. Gutekunst clearly made it a priority to add depth and upside to that group. Graham is the best tight end Rodgers has ever had, and figures to replace Nelson as a top option inside the red zone. By adding Moore, Valdez-Scantling and St. Brown, the Packers gave themselves multiple chances to unearth a mid-round receiver that turns into a major part of their core. St. Brown, in particular, represents great value, as it was thought that he might go as high as the second round. The Packers got him near the end of the sixth, after 24 other receivers had already been drafted.The Packers attacked their secondary i sues with similar gusto. Green Bay ranked 23rd in pa sing yards allowed last season, as well as 29th in pa sing touchdowns allowed, 30th in yards per Janoris Jenkins Jersey attempt, 31st in opponent's pa ser rating, and 26th in Foo