I've given up on waiting for the Packers to draft Aaron Rodgers a receiver

ESPN had an interesting stat that doesn't mean anything:

In 15 seasons, Aaron Rodgers has thrown only ONE touchdown pass to a first-round pick.

It was to tight end Marcedes Lewis. pic.twitter.com/kQYMXqcSnz

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 28, 2020

Except it does show how different teams approach roster construction. The Colts selected Marvin Harrison in the first round before they had Peyton Manning and then added Reggie Wayne with a 1st round pick during Manning's career. The Packers never use a 1st round pick on a wide receiver. Both approaches work.

But the ESPN's stat did remind me how the Packers have avoided the wide receiver position over the past five drafts. Here's a list of players who have caught more than 10 TD passes from Rodgers:

Nelson 65, Jones 41, Cobb 39, Adams 39, Jennings 38, Driver 22, Finley 19, Other Rodgers 13.

The top five are wide receivers drafted in the 2nd or 3rd rounds. The last time that happened the Packers drafted "wide receiver" Ty Montgomery in the 3rd round in 2015. Adams was a 2nd round pick in 2014.

There are also two tight ends, but they are always secondary for Rodgers. His favorite targets have always been his wide receivers. Those are the quality players he needs to succeed and the Packers have failed him over the past few years in that regard.

Instead the Packers have drafted a quantity of wide receivers in recent years and none higher than the immortal J'Mon Moore in the 4th round in 2018. I'll skip the 2020 draft class because we don't know how good they are yet. Looking back in the 2nd and 3rd rounds from 2016 through 2019 there have been 35 wide receivers drafted. I'm cherry picking but here are the big names and imagine them filling out a fantasy team roster:

Sterling Shepard, Michael Thomas, Tyler Boyd, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, Kenny Golladay, Courtland Sutton, Michael Gallup, Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, Mecole Hardman, D.K. Metcalf, Terry McLaurin.

That's 14 out of 35 players who would be the clear No. 2 next to Adams. Not great odds but if they had drafted one per year they would have had at least one of them. And it's also a high ceiling with a list that includes some of the best receivers in the NFL and some who are better than Adams. And the Packers are historically really good at finding 2nd round receivers.

Instead of looking back and seeing that Rodgers needs quality receivers they've decided that they need to draft a power running back and three offensive lineman. The organization has gotten it wrong.