NFL Draft: 1958, 1995 Were Green Bay's Best Years

A franchise doesn't win 12 National Football League championships without acquiring talented players. Green Bay has earned nine of those titles since the NFL draft was instituted in 1936.

Jack Vainisi's eagle eye for talent during several key drafts in the late 1950s laid the foundation for Vince Lombardi's Packers to claim five crowns in seven seasons during the 1960s. And Ron Wolf's selections from 1992-95 were the major reasons why Green Bay returned to back-to-back Super Bowls in 1996-97.

Here are this author's top 10 Packer drafts. The 2006-07 versions could easily crack into this list in the near future, while several others came darn close to making the cut.

1. 1958: The draft was split, with the first four rounds Dec. 2, 1957, and rounds 5-30 held Jan. 28, 1958. Those whopping final 26 rounds yielded virtually nothing, but Vainisi hit the bull's-eye with four of the five selections Green Bay had on the first day.

Michigan State's Dan Currie was his first pick and third overall. He then warmed up with Louisiana State fullback Jim Taylor in the second round, No. 15 overall. He missed on halfback Dick Christy with his first choice of round three, but then he grabbed Illinois stud Ray Nitschke at No. 36. Three picks later, in the fourth round, he tabbed Idaho lineman Jerry Kramer.

Nitschke and Taylor are in the NFL Hall of Fame, Kramer should have his name among those in the hallowed halls of Canton, Ohio, and Currie received All-Pro recognition from 1961-63.

2. 1995:Wolf brought in starting cornerback Craig Newsome in round one, added special teams phenom Travis Jervey in round five and eventual starting guard Adam Timmerman in round seven.

But Green Bay's fortunes turned with a fantastic round three. He had four selections, and three of them ended up being fullback William Henderson, linebacker Brian Williams and wide receiver Antonio Freeman. Jervey, Freeman and Henderson earned Pro Bowl berths, while Timmerman did so later with the Rams.

3. 1956: Vainisi worked wonders in this draft, too, adding two more Hall of Famers to his credit.

He selected tackle Forrest Gregg in the second round (No. 20 overall) on Nov. 29, 1955, and then Jan. 17, 1956, he added the other offensive bookend in Bob Skoronski in round five, starting defensive back Hank Gremminger in round seven, and the coup de grace, lowly Alabama quarterback Bart Starr with pick No. 200 in the 17th round!

Gregg and Starr, who later coached the Packers back-to-back from 1975-1987, also have statues in Canton, while Skoronski played 11 years and made one Pro Bowl and Gremminger suited up for 10 seasons.

4. 1992:Many people remember Wolf's first ill-fated choice as Packers general manager, brash cornerback Terrell Buckley. However, three starters and a backup signal caller also came aboard.

Green Bay grabbed wide receiver Robert Brooks in the third round, halfback Edgar Bennett in the fourth, tight end Mark Chmura in the sixth and QB Ty Detmer in the ninth.

And although they didn't select a certain gunslinger from Kiln, Miss., the Packers traded their second selection of round one (No. 17 overall) to Atlanta for someone named Brett Favre. They had received the extra pick from Philadelphia the year before.

5. 2000: This maybe wasn't the most glamorous draft, but it played a huge role in Green Bay's playoff runs from 2001-04.

To start with, the Packers plucked Chad Clifton in round two and Mark Tauscher in round seven and they anchored the offensive line from the tackle spots from day one. Throw in starters Bubba Franks at tight end in the first round and Na'il Diggs at linebacker in the fourth and eventual sack master Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila in the fifth and you see why.

As of 2007, Franks, Clifton and KGB had made the Pro Bowl.

6. 1993:Linebacker Wayne Simmons and safety George Teague were OK first-round picks, the Packers added a quality offensive tackle in Earl Dotson in the third and a starting corner in Doug Evans in the sixth. And while he held a clipboard for Favre most of his time in Green Bay, Mark Brunell's trade to Jacksonville two years later were picks the Packers used on Henderson and Jervey.

7. 1990:Linebacker Tony Bennett was often a stud and worth a first-round pick, while running back Darrell Thompson didn't live up to that billing one selection later at No. 19. However, Green Bay proceeded to add Leroy Butler in the second, Jackie Harris in the fourth and Bryce Paup in round six.

Butler and Paup earned All-Pro recognition, and Butler has a slight chance of getting into the league's Hall of Fame at some point.

8. 1970:Defensive tackle Mike McCoy was the No. 2 overall choice and tight end Rich McGeorge came along at No. 16. Green Bay added cornerback Al Matthews in round two, linebacker Jim Carter in the third, CB Ken Ellis in the fourth and backup RB Larry Krause in round 17.

Ellis and Carter made the Pro Bowl, while McGeorge is considered one of the top TEs in team annals.

9. 1952:Vainisi's first draft featured quarterback Babe Parilli with the fourth overall selection, receiver BIlly Howton in round two, defensive back Bobby Dillon in round three and defensive tackle Dave "Hawg" Hanner in round five.

Howton and Dillon were great players during a downtrodden decade. Howton led the team in receptions for six straight years, twice gaining more than 1,000 yards. Dillon was arguably the league's top ballhawk, recording nine interceptions three times and topping the Packers for seven consecutive campaigns. He still leads the Green Bay career charts with 52.

Howton, Dillon and Hanner made Pro Bowl teams.

10. 1985:Ken Ruettgers was the seventh pick overall and became arguably the best left tackle in Green Bay history. The Packers added guard Rich Moran in the third round, receiver/kick returner Walter Stanley in the fourth, middle linebacker Brian Noble in the fifth and safety Ken Stills in the eighth.

Other leading contenders were the drafts of 1963 with Dave Robinson, Tom Brown, Lionel Aldridge and Marv Fleming; 1977 with Mike Butler, Ezra Johnson, Greg Koch and David Whitehurst; and 1978 with James Lofton, John Anderson and Mike Douglass.