How the Packers Have Fared with the 52nd Overall Pick in the NFL Draft

The Green Bay Packers lack a first-round pick this season after the Micah Parsons trade, so GM Brian Gutekunst won’t be picking until the second round where the Packers possess the 52^nd overall selection in the draft. But what is the Packers record with the 52^nd overall pick? The history includes two players who made significant contributions to the team and three others who remain answers to trivia questions. Here is a look at how the Packers have fared with the 52^nd overall pick in the NFL Draft.

How the Packers Have Fared with the 52^nd Pick in the NFL Draft: 2006 WR Greg Jennings

The last time the Packers had the 52^nd overall pick in the draft came two decades ago. The Packers used the pick to select wide receiver Greg Jennings out of Western Michigan.

Jennings became an immediate starter for the Packers, and three times had more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season during his seven seasons in Green Bay. Twice he topped 900 yards and twice he caught 10-or-more touchdowns in a season. He earned Pro Bowl honors after the 2010 and 2011 seasons and caught the touchdown pass that made Brett Favre the NFL’s all-time leader in career touchdown passes.

Jennings spent seven seasons in Green Bay and caught 425 passes for 6,537 yards and 53 touchdowns. He was also an integral part of the Packers 2010 Super Bowl winning team. In Super Bowl XLV, Jennings caught four passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns. He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2022.

1952: DT Dave Hanner

The 52^nd overall pick fell in the fifth round back in 1952 because the NFL had fewer teams. The Packers used the 52^nd overall pick that year to take defensive tackle Dave “Hawg” Hanner.

Hanner played 13 seasons in the NFL, all of them with Green Bay. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 1953 and 1954. The former Arkansas star remained in Green Bay through the 1964 season and was a part of the first two championship teams under Vince Lombardi in 1961 and 1962. He is unofficially credited with 18 sacks and nine fumble recoveries (sacks were an unofficial stat until 1982).

In 1965, Lombardi hired Hanner as the team’s defensive line coach. He served that position under Lombardi during the team’s run of three straight championships from 1965-1967 and remained in that capacity through the 1970 campaign under Phil Bengtson.

In 1972, head coach Dan Devine promoted to defensive coordinator. The team went 10-4 in his first season as DC and had one of the better defenses in the league. Hanner remained the team’s defensive coordinator through the 1979 season.

After a brief stint with the Bears, Hanner returned to Green Bay in 1982 as a quality control assistant and later as a scout. He retired in 1996. Hanner was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1974 and was a part of the Packers organization for longer than anybody except for team founder Curly Lambeau.

How the Packers Have Fared with the 52^nd Pick in the NFL Draft: Other 52^nd Picks

The Packers held the 52^nd overall pick in the draft on three other occasions. In 1965, Lombardi selected Syracuse defensive back Wally Mahle in the fourth round. Mahle spent some time on the Packers taxi squad but never appeared in a regular season game.

In 1951, the Packers selected back Wade Stinson in the fifth round with the 52^nd overall pick. Stinson never played pro football but later became the athletic director at the University of Kansas, his alma mater.

In 1947, the Packers used a seventh-round pick on back Dick Conners. The Northwestern alum never played in the NFL, which was not uncommon back in the day when pro football salaries were much lower than they are today and players could make more money working nine-to-five jobs.

How will the Packers do this year with the 52^nd pick? Or will they make a trade to move up or move back? We’ll find out later this month.