Over the past ten years (2012-2021) the Green Bay Packers have drafted 90 college players. Those picks have come from 58 different schools. Of those 58 colleges, 20 have had multiple players chosen by the Packers over the past decade. Topping the list is Mississippi State and UCLA, each with four players picked by Green Bay in the draft since 2012.

Here is a look at the schools that have had two or more players drafted by the Packers since 2012:

Four players: Mississippi State, UCLA

Three players: Alabama, California, Iowa, Michigan, South Florida, Stanford, Utah State, Wisconsin

Two players: Arizona State, Boston College, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina State, Notre Dame. Ohio State, TCU, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt.

Of the 22 players chosen by the Packers in the last ten years in either round one or two, the only two schools that have had two players chosen by the team in that timespan were Alabama and UCLA.

Looking at only first round choices by the Packers in the last 10 years, only one school, UCLA, had two players chosen. That was Datone Jones in 2013 and Kenny Clark in 2016.

Who are you picking in this year’s NBA playoffs?

From what I have read, the Phoenix Suns are a popular pick for this year’s title. The Suns had the best regular season record this season at 64-18, the only team to win 60 games this year. They have recent NBA Finals experience having lost to the Milwaukee Bucks last season in six games.

The Bucks have also been receiving some love for this year’s title as a few pundits are predicting the Bucks will be the first team to win back-to-back championships since the Golden State Warriors went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.

There are also a handful of dark horse teams that could win the title. In the Eastern Conference, the seventh seed Brooklyn Nets and fourth seed Philadelphia 76ers could make long post-season pushes; the same with Memphis and Golden State in the Western Conference.

Is it possible that last year’s playoffs may help determine who will win the title this year? Can a team’s finish the previous year in the post-season predict what they might do this season?

For example, the Bucks won the title last year, but lost in the Eastern Conference semi-finals the previous season. When the Toronto Raptors won the championship in 2019, they also lost in the Eastern Conference semi-finals in the previous year

To further answer the question about whether a team’s previous year might have predicted their title the following year, I looked at the 22 teams that won titles this century. Of the 22 teams that won titles since 2000, almost half (10 of 22) played in the NBA Finals the year before they won the championship. Five were repeat champions: L.A. Lakers-2001, L.A. Lakers-2002, L.A. Lakers-2010, Miami-2013 and Golden State-2018.

Five teams since 2000 won a title the year after losing in the NBA Finals. The five: L.A. Lakers-2009, Miami-2012, San Antonio-2014, Cleveland-2016 and Golden State-2017.

The most common scenario, however, was six teams won the title the year after losing in a conference semi-final. Here is a breakdown of how each champion in the 2000’s ended their season the year before their title:

Lost in the conference semi-finals the previous year…6 times

Won the title the previous year…5 times

Lost in the NBA Finals the previous year…5 times

Lost in the conference finals the previous year…2 times

Lost in the conference first round the previous year …2 times

Did not make the playoffs the year before they won the title…2 times

If we try to predict the 2022 NBA champion based on the previous 22 years, picking either the Bucks or the Suns is a good bet since 10 of the 22 champs since 2000 played in the NBA Finals the previous year. But losing in the conference semi-finals was also a strong indicator, happening six times in the 22 years. If you are looking for a team that might come out of that scenario, four playoff teams this year lost in the conference semi-finals last season: Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Utah and Denver.

If you are looking for a long shot based on these numbers, the Atlanta Hawks are the only 2022 playoff team that lost in a conference final last year; four 2022 playoff teams lost in the first round of the playoffs last season (Miami, Boston, Memphis, and Dallas).

Only two teams since 2000 have won a title after missing the playoffs the previous season: Boston-2008 and the L.A. Lakers in 2020. Five of the 16 teams remaining in the playoffs this year missed the playoffs last season: Toronto, Chicago, Golden State, Minnesota, and New Orleans. Is it possible one of those five could make a push for this year’s title?

After losing their top receiver via a trade (Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders) and two more members of the receiving corps departing via free agency, the Green Bay Packers will have a chance later this month in the NFL Draft to try to rebuild Aaron Rodgers’ weaponry in the passing game.

There is still the possibility that the Pack may add to the receiver room via trade or free agency, but a more likely scenario is the team using the draft to take multiple receivers. The Packers are loaded up, especially in the front end of the draft, with five picks in the Top 100 and four picks in the first 60 selections. Barring a pre-draft trade, the Pack will have picks #22, #28, #53, #59 and #92, all coming in the first three rounds.

Having these high draft picks is good news. The jury is still out on whether the team will use one or multiple picks on receivers and where they might select them. Based on past history, drafting receivers has been hit-and-miss for Green Bay. First, let’s look at the low point:

• Since Davante Adams was selected in the 2014 draft, the Packers have selected seven receivers (Trevor Davis, Malachi Dupree, DeAngelo Yancey, Equanimeous St. Brown, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, J’Mon Moore and Amari Rodgers). Of those seven, only Rodgers, chosen in the third round (85^th pick) last year is still with the team. The jury is still out on Rodgers (Amari, that is) and whether or not he will be a major contributor, but of the others chosen since 2015, only Valdes-Scantling made a significant impact on the team since he arrived in Green Bay. Part of the reason may be that the team had a veteran-filled receivers’ room over the past 15 years with players like Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Adams, but the fact remains that the draft of receivers since 2015 has not been impressive.

Now the high points:

• Of the 11 receivers who have 360 or more career receptions with the Packers, nine were chosen by the Pack as a Top 100 draft selection. Ironically, the Packers career-leader in receptions is Donald Driver who was a seventh-round (213^th pick). The other non-100 pick was Don Hutson, who played with the team prior to the beginning of the NFL Draft. The nine Top 100 draft receivers who had 360 or more career receptions with Green Bay: Davante Adams (second round, 53^rd pick), Shannon Sharpe (first round, 7^th pick), Jordy Nelson (second round (36^th pick), James Lofton (first round, 6^th pick), Randall Cobb (second round, 64^th pick), Boyd Dowler (third round, 25^th pick), Antonio Freeman (third round, 90^th pick), Greg Jennings (second round, 52^nd pick) and James Jones (third round, 78^th pick). So… the best Packers receivers have been players chosen in the first 100 selections of a draft. Good news if the team uses one of its five picks in the first three rounds on a receiver.
• Another good sign is that when the Pack has drafted a receiver with a Top 100 selection, those players have had varying degrees of success with the team. Since 2001, Green Bay has taken a receiver with a Top 100 pick on nine occasions: 2001, Robert Ferguson (41^st pick); 2002, Javon Walker (20^th pick); Terrence Murphy (58^th pick); Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and Amari Rodgers. As stated above, the jury is still out on Rodgers. Murphy played only three games with the Pack before he suffered what amounted to a career-ending injury returning a kickoff. Again, good news (and success) when a receiver has been chosen by the Packers with a Top 100 pick.

The Packers have their work cut out trying to replace Davante Adams 123 receptions and 1,553 receiving yards from last season. Is it possible to replace those numbers with a first round or high draft choice? Last season, 10 receivers were selected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft with nine of them playing 10 or more games for their team. Those nine receivers combined for an average of 51 catches and 610 receiving yards. Certainly not Davante Adams numbers. In fact, the only two receivers drafted last year that even approached Adams numbers were rookies Ja’Marr Chase of Cincinnati (81 catches, 1,455 yards) and Miami’s Jaylen waddle (104 catches, 1,015 yards).

Will the Packers hit it big with a top receiver in the draft, or could they strike gold with another Donald Driver-type selection later in the draft?

If everything works out, Craig Counsell sometime in June will likely become the winningest manager in Milwaukee Brewers history. Entering the 2022 campaign, Counsell has 529 victories as Brewers skipper, 34 wins behind Phil Garner who won 563 games as Brewers manager.

When this does happen, the obvious question will be: Is Craig Counsell the best manager in team history?

There are a lot of ways to go about answering this question. Based strictly on numbers, you can certainly make a case for Counsell as the GOAT. He will become the leader in wins; he has taken the team to four straight post-seasons, something no other manager for the team had ever done (in fact, no Brewers manager ever took the team to the post-season in two consecutive years). Over the last four seasons, the Brewers are one of only eight teams to amass 300 or more wins (they are seventh with 309 victories). And, if he makes it through another full season with the team, he will become only the second manager to skipper the team for eight seasons (Garner is the other).

His 1,008 games as Brewers’ manager is second to Garner’s 1,180, and his winning percentage prior to the start of this season is .525, third in team history behind Harvey Kuenn and Buck Rodgers. And let’s not forget that he has finsihed as runner-up for the NL Manager of the Year Award three times in the last four years.

That’s the stats side of the argument… a pretty compelling case for his being tagged the team’s managerial GOAT. The Brewers team over the seven-year tenure of Counsell for the most part have over-achieved; they have rarely been picked in a pre-season poll to win a division title. His team is the classic case of a squad that takes on the personality of the manager: scrappy teams who fight and claw their way, any way, to victory. On more than a few occasions these last few years, I’ve heard people say, “I don’t know how he (Counsell) does it, but he always finds a way for the Brewers to be competitive.”

This season, however, may be a little different. How, you ask? Expectations. The Brewers enter this season with arguably the best pitching staff in baseball. They have a bullpen led by award-winners Josh Hader and Devin Williams. The Brewers will probably not sneak up on anyone this season; in fact, unlike many season prior, there are expectations, expectations to win and win big… yes, even get to the World Series.

How will the Brewers managerial GOAT-in-waiting Counsell handle it? Yes, four straight trips to the playoffs is impressive, but other than the 2018 trip to the NLCS, the post-season has not ended the way that the team would’ve liked. Part of what made former manager Harvey Kuenn such a beloved figure is that he was the skipped when the Brewers made their only World Series appearance in 1982. That’s not to say that Kuenn is recognized as the Brewers managerial GOAT, but it does beg the question: Does Counsell have to get to the World Series as Brewers manager to be considered the best manager in team history?

So when Counsell gets victory number 564 as Brewers manager, do you call him the best-ever? Or is there more he needs to do?