Packers Picks I Liked

[Deputy Nutz]

Luke Musgrave 2nd Round
Some sites actually had him rated as the number 1 tight end in this draft. His film was ok, he attacks the seams of the defense. The point is the Packers needed a TE and they drafted one. You can debate whether or not it was the right one or the wrong one, but that won't really be determined 2 or 3 years from now. Obviously I was on the Darnell Washington Bandwagon, but I thing Injury concerns might have bumped him down some draft boards.


Jayden Reed 2nd Round
Debate who the best receiver still available on the board was all you want, but it doesn't matter. The Packers need receiver help and their belief is that Reed was the best available for their team. I like his versatility and his hands in traffic. Other than that his size and speed ratios were similar to a lot of the receivers in this draft. Mingo going early to the Raiders in the 2nd round might have altered the Packers board. You never know.

Tucker Kraft 3rd Round
Again the Packers know what they needed and they truly believed that Kraft was the best available tight end. I would have taken Washington, but I don't know what I don't know. I like Kraft and I think SDST plays in a very tough conference, and I don't believe the competition is that much of fall from some of the FBS schools out their. No Power 5 teams really want to play SDST or NDST anymore because they don't want the competition and potential loss in Non-Conference. He can block good, he can run good, he can catch good.

Colby Wooten 4th Round
Offers a lot of flexibility along the defensive front. He was one of the defensive lineman/ Edges that I liked before the draft. He has some great get off at the snap and attacks the line of scrimmage. No question he was a "Best Player" available pick for the Packers.

Karl Brooks 6th Round
Similar to Wooten, offers a lot of flexibility across the front four on the defensive line/Edge. He as great size and athletic ability. He is a tad raw and he played at Bowling Green. Not sure when he could make an impact for the Packers, it would cool if it was as a rookie. Both Brooks and Wooten have played more ball than Van Ness and I wouldn't be surprised if one or the other actually played more snaps than Van Ness in 2023.

My biggest take away on this draft was the fact that they didn't address the safety position. It is in my opinion the weakest part of their defense and they waited till the 7th round to take someone.

[jklowan]

I also liked the Van Ness Pick, I think he is raw and may require a year or 2 to develop but he is a football player and seems like a hard worker. Safety seems like a big miss, I was shocked that they did not bring in UDFA, there were a few safeties that I thought were interesting

Trey Dean S Florida
Ronnie Hickman S Ohio State
Daniel Scott S California
Kaevon Merriweather S Iowa
Brandon Joseph S Notre Dame

Maybe this is the one spot that a FA will be signed, Amos is still out there and Jessie Bates as well

[texaspackerbacker]

There's not much I don't like about this draft except that they didn't get a Safety early on. And according to Rasul Douglas, there's a good chance Amos will be back.

I especially like that they didn't do like some in here and elsewhere wanted, pick O Line early - or at all. Ditto that for Interior D Line and ILB.

I wanted a Edge Rusher, and they got one in the first, apparently Van Ness is really athletic a lot like Gary. Both Wooden and Brooks seem more pass rush specialists - either inside or outside rushers or both. I'm satisfied that we are solid inside with Clark, Wyatt. and Slaton and maybe Ford.

I didn't particularly like Reed or the other two WRs. Reed and one of the others apparently have a history of dropping passes, and small and not so fast isn't as good as big and fast, even for a slot guy. I'm hopeful, though, that Reed may be better than he seems as a WR and that he may be a decent punt returner.

Contrary to what I read from a lot of media pukes and some in here, I like the Clifton pick. If Love got hurt or floundered, I could actually see Clifton stepping in and doing a good job. Neither he nor Love is Aaron Rodgers, of course, and I still can't get over being pessimistic, but the rest of the team IMO is just as loaded as it was during the 13-4 and 14-3 seasons, maybe more so.

I like both TEs, Musgrave better than Kraft simply because he's gonna be both a big play guy and a possession receiver - if Love is any good at getting the ball to him. If Kraft is that big mean type and can block at least a little like Marcedes Lewis, great, and it sounds like he can handle catching passes too. I expect both of these guys to get more use than Deguara, who will probably not do much more than play fullback in some sets.

I'm not thrilled about the Kicker they drafted. The fact that he faded after having an ACL injury is a negative to me. On the other hand, maybe they know something - that if he's fully recovered, he is good.

[call_me_ishmael]

It jumps out to me how fast the Packers went from tons of old contributors to a bunch of yoots running the joint. Other than Bak and Preston do they even have another 30 year old on the roster now? Do they even have a 27 year old? Jaire might be the next oldest guy and he's only entering year 6.

[Joemailman]

It jumps out to me how fast the Packers went from tons of old contributors to a bunch of yoots running the joint. Other than Bak and Preston do they even have another 30 year old on the roster now? Do they even have a 27 year old? Jaire might be the next oldest guy and he's only entering year 6.

They actually have quite a few guys in the 27-28 range. Some are ST guys they brought in last year. Of course, some of them could be replaced by draftees.

[Joemailman]

I like the 1st 4 picks. After that it's a crapshoot. The fact that the Packers took chances on guys who did not have a great 2022 season confirms my belief that this was not a very strong draft. They took some chances they would not have taken with a stronger draft. In the 5th round they took a guy who at best will be a backup QB and a WR who had drops issues in 2022 and ran a 4.62 40. This from a team that in the last decade has drafted Corey Linsley, Aaron Jones, MVS and Enagbare in the 5th round.

[run pMc]

Aaron Jones is 29. There aren't many older players on the team with Lewis, Rodgers, Crosby, & Cobb gone.

I liked most of the picks. As for safety, the depth/talent wasn't really there, so I'm actually ok with them not picking anyone until late. I'd rather they spend a R3 pick on an athletic pass catcher than an undersized safety who is an average-athlete.
The picks for QB and K might be the ones I liked least, but they needed players there and the cost (mid-Day3 picks) was very modest so it's fine.

They didn't take any OL which made sense to me -- once the top guys were gone there just wasn't a lot of good depth, and the way the runs on the board went it didn't make sense to chase one. They have plenty of guys under contract but I'd expect them to drarft a couple next year. I also think they'll look at safety next year, it can't be worse than this year. Probably.

They don't have a lot of cap space after signing these guys, will be interesting to see if they can sign a veteran.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I also liked the Van Ness Pick, I think he is raw and may require a year or 2 to develop but he is a football player and seems like a hard worker. Safety seems like a big miss, I was shocked that they did not bring in UDFA, there were a few safeties that I thought were interesting

Trey Dean S Florida
Ronnie Hickman S Ohio State
Daniel Scott S California
Kaevon Merriweather S Iowa
Brandon Joseph S Notre Dame

Maybe this is the one spot that a FA will be signed, Amos is still out there and Jessie Bates as well

.
Dean ran a 4.75 40 and Torrence ran a 4.72 40--effectively making them undraftable. Scott was drafted. I would have liked Scott. He was my safety #8 and I had a 4th round grade on him. I wanted him in round 5. The other two probably hit the thresholds the Packers look for at safety.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Aaron Jones is 29. There aren't many older players on the team with Lewis, Rodgers, Crosby, & Cobb gone.

I liked most of the picks. As for safety, the depth/talent wasn't really there, so I'm actually ok with them not picking anyone until late. I'd rather they spend a R3 pick on an athletic pass catcher than an undersized safety who is an average-athlete.
The picks for QB and K might be the ones I liked least, but they needed players there and the cost (mid-Day3 picks) was very modest so it's fine.

They didn't take any OL which made sense to me -- once the top guys were gone there just wasn't a lot of good depth, and the way the runs on the board went it didn't make sense to chase one. They have plenty of guys under contract but I'd expect them to drarft a couple next year. I also think they'll look at safety next year, it can't be worse than this year. Probably.

They don't have a lot of cap space after signing these guys, will be interesting to see if they can sign a veteran.

Jones is only 28. He won't turn 29 until the end of the season (December).

[Fritz]

run has a good take - that idea of not wasting a pick on a "need" if what's available is so athletically limited. Also, if Guter is going to go full-bore drafting multiple players at positions of need, then run is also probably correct that next year they'll draft a ton of safeties and offensive linemen.

[jklowan]

There's not much I don't like about this draft except that they didn't get a Safety early on. And according to Rasul Douglas, there's a good chance Amos will be back.

I especially like that they didn't do like some in here and elsewhere wanted, pick O Line early - or at all. Ditto that for Interior D Line and ILB.

I wanted a Edge Rusher, and they got one in the first, apparently Van Ness is really athletic a lot like Gary. Both Wooden and Brooks seem more pass rush specialists - either inside or outside rushers or both. I'm satisfied that we are solid inside with Clark, Wyatt. and Slaton and maybe Ford.

I didn't particularly like Reed or the other two WRs. Reed and one of the others apparently have a history of dropping passes, and small and not so fast isn't as good as big and fast, even for a slot guy. I'm hopeful, though, that Reed may be better than he seems as a WR and that he may be a decent punt returner.

Contrary to what I read from a lot of media pukes and some in here, I like the Clifton pick. If Love got hurt or floundered, I could actually see Clifton stepping in and doing a good job. Neither he nor Love is Aaron Rodgers, of course, and I still can't get over being pessimistic, but the rest of the team IMO is just as loaded as it was during the 13-4 and 14-3 seasons, maybe more so.

I like both TEs, Musgrave better than Kraft simply because he's gonna be both a big play guy and a possession receiver - if Love is any good at getting the ball to him. If Kraft is that big mean type and can block at least a little like Marcedes Lewis, great, and it sounds like he can handle catching passes too. I expect both of these guys to get more use than Deguara, who will probably not do much more than play fullback in some sets.

I'm not thrilled about the Kicker they drafted. The fact that he faded after having an ACL injury is a negative to me. On the other hand, maybe they know something - that if he's fully recovered, he is good.

People not liking this pick should do side by side film on him and antonio brown. Same size, speed and toughness.

[run pMc]

The Kraft and Colby picks were cheesy

like that pun

[HarveyWallbangers]

For what it's worth, Rich Eisen asked Daniel Jeremiah who had the best draft and the only team he talked about was Green Bay. He really liked their draft.

[Bretsky]

For what it's worth, Rich Eisen asked Daniel Jeremiah who had the best draft and the only team he talked about was Green Bay. He really liked their draft.

Nearly every publication/sites have given the Packers great draft grades that range from the high B to A range

I think a Pro Football Network online writer rated GB as the top draft in the NFL.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Cripes, how many Bears fans did we draft? Van Ness, Reed, and Clifford all Bears fans.

[Deputy Nutz]

Nearly every publication/sites have given the Packers great draft grades that range from the high B to A range

I think a Pro Football Network online writer rated GB as the top draft in the NFL.

Does this give you hope? They drafted where they mostly had holes and Pundits love that shit.

[run pMc]

Some of the pundits are bonkers stupid. Vinnie Iyer downgraded the draft because Gute didn't take an OL. I don't think he even knows who is on the team now that Rodgers is gone -- GB has 13 OL on the roster and the OL depth in the draft was shallow.
I don't pay a lot of attention to draft grades the weekend after it happens, you can't tell anything until you see these guys play in the pros for a while, and after 2-3 years you know if they will pan out and it's a good draft.
It's clickbait for those who need instant gratification.

Better off to go look at some games of the players picked and form your own opinion.

I will say GB had a couple of areas of serious need, and the draft depth lined up nicely with those needs. Gute was shopping where the selection was the best, so that was good. He also did an ok job reading the board and when runs on positions were happening and struck before he felt the talents dropped down a tier. If that gets him a good next-day grade from some national writer who casually tracks the team, I guess that's nice.

[Fritz]

People not liking this pick should do side by side film on him and antonio brown. Same size, speed and toughness.

JK,
I just watched side-by-side film as you suggested in response to TPB's post and his final line of that post, and I can see very little similarity between Antonio Brown and Anders Carlson. Two totally different players.

Run mentioned something that gets under my skin, too - for me, not so much about the draft, as I don't follow it closely, as with announcers of games: how little they know about the teams they're covering. It's frustrating when I know more about the Packers' roster than the announcers doing the game. Do your homework, people.

[texaspackerbacker]

Sounds like some of ya'all are coming around to what I've always been saying about much of the media hahahaha.

[jklowan]

Reed is the same size speed as A Brown, not Carlson He was timed at his pro day at 4.37 in the 40, he is anything but slow