Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Best and worst of Ted Thompson's drafts: Defensive line

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Ted Thompson has picked 96 players in the 10 drafts he has run as general manager of the Green Bay Packers. Like any personnel man who makes the final call, he has had his share of hits and misses.

Leading up to the start of the draft on April 30, we will examine Thompson's best and worst picks at each position group.

So far, we've covered quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen.

Next up, defensive linemen.

Total players drafted: 15 – Mike Montgomery, Dave Tollefson, Johnny Jolly, Justin Harrell, Jeremy Thompson, Jarius Wynn, B.J. Raji, C.J. Wilson, Mike Neal, Lawrence Guy, Mike Daniels, Jerel Worthy, Josh Boyd, Datone Jones, Khyri Thornton.

Best pick: Daniels

The fourth-round pick in 2012 is only three years into his career so this might be a little bit of a projection, but he appears to be on his way to stardom. He became a full-time starter last season and led all Packers' defensive linemen in tackles and sacks in 2014. His 5.5 sacks ranked third overall on the team. He added 10 more tackles and a half-sack in the two playoff games.

Honorable mention: Jolly, Raji.

Worst pick: Harrell

The 16th-overall pick in the 2007 draft, Harrell played in only 14 career games and had zero sacks over four seasons. He never played after he tore his ACL in the 2010 season opener. That injury ended his career, but it was a back injury early in his career that rendered him ineffective almost from the get-go. What's worse, he was an injury risk coming out of college, yet Thompson picked him so high anyway.

Dishonorable mention: Worthy

Notes: As well as Thompson has done with offensive linemen, his record with defensive linemen is equally poor. In addition to Harrell being a high pick who washed out, Worthy (second round, 2012) played in only 16 games over two seasons before the Packers dumped him last summer. … Jones (first round, 2013) has yet to make a major impact. He has played in only 28.9 percent of the Packers' defensive snaps the last two seasons despite being active for all but three games in his career. … Tollefson (seventh round, 2006) never played for the Packers but appeared in 78 career games for the Giants and Raiders from 2007-12. … Thompson (fourth round, 2008) sustained a career-ending neck injury in 2009.

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