It's no secret that Packers General Manager Ted Thompson believes the way to build an NFL roster is through the draft. In his four-plus years as GM, Thompson has utilized 14 trades to turn 31 picks into 43.  Of those 43 selections, 29 are on the current roster.

But with the recent departure of former 2nd round pick Brian Brohm to the Buffalo Bills, I was curious to see just how much value the Packers have received from each of their picks. Making the roster is step one. Step two is developing to the point where the draft choice is validated.

I went back an analyzed each of Thompson's drafts and assigned a letter grade to each pick. When grading, I placed heavy emphasis on productivity against the round the player was taken.  For example, as a first round pick (and a top 5) AJ Hawk has been average. Let's say Hawk were a 5th or 6th round pick, he'd liklely grade out as an "A" player.

To reach my final grade for each draft, I simply averaged out all the grades. An "A" and a "C" averages out a "B" in this system. There are some incomplete grades (primarily from this years draft), but if I felt like I've seen enough of a player to grade them, I went ahead and did so.

What was staggering to discover is just how few "A" players the Packers have drafted in Thompson's tenure as GM. I counted five players worthy of such a ranking: Aaron Rodgers, Nick Collins, Greg Jennings, Johnny Jolly, and Clay Matthews. Certainly, this is a fluid process and grades can and will change, but sizing things up today, here's my gradeout for each player that Thompson has drafted. The end result is exactly what can be expected of a team that many consider to be "pretty good". Pretty good can make the playoffs, but rarely advances beyond the first post season game.

Before you read on, please understand that I started doing a similar exercise with Mike Sherman's draft picks but became so infuriated with his mind boggling, franshise compromising picks, that I had to stop before I erupted in a fit of rage. Oh - and as a side note, Thompson doesn't dip into free agent waters too often, but Ryan Pickett, Charles Woodson and Brandon Chillar have all been pretty solid to say the least.

OK - I digress...onward! Feel free to play along at home and grade out your own special way: