Got a great email from a good friend of mine who happens to be, well, a little bit nerdy. The good thing about nerds, is that they always bring the best information. That as it is, I pass along the Packers draft by the numbers.

The Opening Roster – By the numbers

I broke down the opening day roster with every single measurable that I could imagine.  I know, I’m a dork, I’m not cool like Alex, but hey, I can work my Excel spreadsheet.  I know the opening roster is 53 guys, but I’m including the PUP list in the compilation.

The roster has been built mostly through the draft and almost exclusively by acquiring young players.  Thirty-seven of the 56 were acquired through the draft.  Ten were acquired as “street free agents” such as Mastay, Williams, Jenkins, Bigby and Kuhn.[1] Three are unrestricted free agents (Chillar, Pickett and Woodson).  Three were traded for (Harris, Grant, Martin).  Finally, three were acquired as undrafted free agents (Shields, Zombo, McDonald).

Ironically, the players that have made it through the draft are mostly either early picks or later picks.  Of the 37 players that were drafted, 23 come from the end or the beginning.  Seven are from the first round, 8 from the second round and 8 are from the seventh round.  Only 14 are from the middle four rounds.

The roster continues to remain young.  The median age of a Packer player is 26 and the average age is just barely above that.  The youngest player is Bryan Bulaga, who turned 21 last March, and the oldest is Al Harris who will turn 36 during the season.  The average Packer has only been out of college for three and a half years (calculated so that a rookie has 0 years out).

With the departure of Aaron Kampman, the roster continues to become more of Ted Thompson’s baby.  Forty nine of the 56 players were brought in by Ted Thompson.  Four guys remain from the Mike Sherman era (Jenkins, Wells, Barnett, Harris).  Three guys have hung on from the Ron Wolf era (Driver, Tauscher, Clifton).

Mid-majors are well represented on the Packers roster.  The Packers have 34 players from BCS schools, 17 from non-BCS schools, 3 from Division 1AA and 2 players from Division 2 schools.  The SEC has supplied the most players (10), with the Big 10 and the Pac 10 tied for second (7).[2] The MAC (5) is the biggest supplier of mid major players.

That was just the numbers on the 56 young men who represent the team that we all know and love.  Hopefully, you know them a little bit better now.

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[2] Players are counted how the school currently is, or plans to be aligned, so Colorado Alum (Crosby, Jones) count as PAC 10 players.