Gute as GM after four drafts

[Upnorth]

With no DAdams the red zone Offense is what I really worry about. If Dillon becomes Christian Okoye and crushes it in with 2 tries from the 5 consistently he is a draft pick for the ages.

I think you are going to be ecstatic then

[Joemailman]

With no DAdams the red zone Offense is what I really worry about. If Dillon becomes Christian Okoye and crushes it in with 2 tries from the 5 consistently he is a draft pick for the ages.

The key will be the offensive line. In 2020 Packers were the #1 red zone offense in the NFL because they were unusually good at running the ball in the red zone. Forcing teams to respect the run opened up a lot of things in the passing game.

[RashanGary]

The offensive line is the key to the 2022 offense. We know we have two good running backs. We know we have a good QB. We know the receivers and TEs are barely serviceable.

If the OL is good, Rodgers and the running back duo will be able to make hay.

[texaspackerbacker]

You got that backwards, RG.

[Upnorth]

You got that backwards, RG.

Have you ever spoken with a qb or rb that doesn't give credit to the oline????

[texaspackerbacker]

hahahahaha. I give my dogs full credit and a treat every time I come home and they have protected the house from anybody breaking in.

[Upnorth]

hahahahaha. I give my dogs full credit and a treat every time I come home and they have protected the house from anybody breaking in.

I was a below average running back who had a below average qb. Our line was a bunch of farm boys who destroyed the city teams we played against. I was one of the statistically better rb in our league and the qb had time to throw inaccurately almost every passing play.

[Fritz]

Indeed.

But to Gute's credit some of the draft moves and getting huge extra draft capital in deep drafts, as well as the FA signings were not things Ted Thompson did. He gets some credit for at least taking advantage of the opportunities that came his way. What I'm most glad about is that he seems to have corrected and learned from his mistakes: this is also what I like maybe most about MLF. And it was the most frustrating to watch TT and MM stubbornly make the same mistakes year after year: that really seems to be behind us.

Gutekunst

[Fritz]

It's still a little early of course. But I think now we can see Gute's strategy and "philosophy."

He became GM January of 2018. I give him a pass on the first draft and first year though Jaire was definitely a homerun pick, and MVS was a major contributor to Packer success, the only player besides Rodgers who almost pulled off an upset (what it was) against the Bucs.

The Packers were in deep controversy in three of his first four years. After the overdue but necessary firing of MM, cold and heartless as it was executed, Gute & Murphy made an excellent choice in MLF, the most winning coach in his debut since the merger. He took over a team that was depleted with no depth at any positions: only a few stars left and some aging vets.

2019 draft This and the 2022 were deep drafts, and Gute procured extra picks in both drafts. Stellar or lucky, take your pick, but he did know what he had. 2020 & 2021 were weak drafts and they made the best of it, with the sole scar being the not so loved Love pick, which still might turn out well. Gary, Savage, and Jenkins were a huge hall though I had wanted McLaurin in the 3rd: that was likely an MLF pick there.

2020 draft They just got solid players in a weak draft. I am of the camp that the Love pick was a disaster, and the FO mishandled Rodgers who repeatedly stated he wanted to end his career in GB. They have now healed that wound. Hopefully, Gute has learned from this and moved on

2021 draft There's a steady trend with Gute. His early picks are consistently safe and solid with less regard than in the past for positiional value. I did NOT like this at the time, but I am on board now. There were far too many reaches and settling for second bests under TT. Now taking good players in the second or third, whether they be running backs or centers opens up more possibilities on the board. He also doesn't try to fit square pegs into round holes. I think it's safe to say this is a key upgrade over the old strategy. Gute still retains much from the TT / Wolf tradition, but this is a pleasant upgrade.

2022 draft This was the culmination. The Davante Adams trade was an absolute steal. Better a year early than a year late, and to get two extra high picks in the deepest draft that I remember was gold. And they capitalized. Gute made great value picks through round five: all starters or key rotational / back up guys. He completes his four year rebuild of the line. It's my favorite draft since I started following 13 years ago: basically a double draft imo (and per usual took a turn I did not expect).

FA's under Gute. Name another team that did a better job the last three years in free agency. Not only was the haul in 2019 a score, but the FA's he's brought in were theft: Lazard, Tonyan, De'vondre Campbel, Rasul Douglas were players any team could have had. Gute has hugely improved on the most glaring defect in the TT regime.

Both in the FA and moving around in the draft, Gute has outperformed Ted Thompson. His overall draft strategy to my mind is superior to TT's (2011-2017). He emerged shining after folks, several times questioned the future of Titletown (albeit the Rodgers / Love miscue was of his own making -- I did NOT think Gute would change and he proved me wrong).

We now have one of the youngest and most talented teams in the league with good coaches (and I was always hopeful for Joe Barry after I dug into his background and pedigree). Gute's next challenge, and biggest, will be the post Rodgers era. But even the best organizations, like the Steelers & Ravens, struggle when it comes to QB.

As to the playoffs, I regard that as somewhat of luck...... 2019 (they were lucky to get so far), 2020 (the Bucs were stacked, the oline lost the game -- Bakh out didn't help), 2021 (that team was decimated and gimpy like no Packer team I remember in 30 years. Healthy, they would have walked through the Superbowl). Next year (and as long as AR is QB) we can really be excited. I know folks are tired of dissapointment, but I really can't blame the team, MLF, or AR unless it be DREADFUL special teams but that was our Achilles, and Crosby's fall off, who could have predicted that??

While I agree that Gutekunst is doing a better job than Thompson did in his last six or so years, I would also say that Thompson, in his first six years on the job, was really, really good - as good as anything Gutekunst has done. For example, you incorrectly state above that Tonyan was a Gutekunst signing - but that was Thompson in 2017. You also forget that Thompson signed Tramon Williams as a street free agent, and Sam Shields as a UDFA. And then there's one of the greatest Packer free-agent signings of all time: Charles Woodson. In terms of drafting, in his first six or so years, Thompson was one of the best in the league. Just look at the gold he mined there.

But yes, he did get stuck in his ways, and he did begin to lose focus on drafting the best player available and moving to drafting for need. That's when things began to get away from him, and he began to hurt the franchise. You are also correct that his increasing conservatism regarding the salary cap hurt this team - though it benefitted Gutekunst in his first two years, as he had all kinds of cap room to sign the Smith Brothers and so on. I'm not sure how much of Ted's GM decline is attributable to the onset of his dementia, but he passed away fairly soon after he was relieved of his GM duties, really, so it's hard not to think he'd been declining for at least a couple of years before he was let go as GM. And that's on Murphy, for letting Thompson stay in charge too long.

But all in all, I agree that Gutekunst has been flexible and adaptable and has done a good job. He absolutely nailed Rashan Gary, and when he drafted a running back in the second round I nearly flipped, but look at how important AJ Dillon is now. Gutekunst has been what this team needed.

[RashanGary]

I put Ted above Gute.

Down the stretch Ted wasnt himself but he still got us a ring with his own QB. And the Favre doom and gloom about how wed go back to the 80s never came true.

Gute has us in salary hell and no championship in sight. No new QB. No thanks. Our receivers are Lazard, Cobb and Watkins. Yuck!

[texaspackerbacker]

The Packers could have and should have been MUCH better all during Ted's time, not just his senile years. If he had handled free agency more like Gutekunst, the team really could have been maximized. but he didn't and it wasn't. One good move with Woodson doesn't make up for being way too cautious and not using the salary cap effectively like Gutekunst does.

[Bretsky]

I consider Ron Wolf to be the best GM I have ever witnessed in Green Bay.

I would give Ted a Slight Edge over Gute overall but purely because he got us a Super Bowl. If Gooters gets one in my book he jumps TT immediately. And truth be told, with the exception of the motherload F'ck up of the Love Machine, I like the way Gute does business way more than TT. If TT was more like Gute I think AROD would have won more than one SB

[texaspackerbacker]

Neither Wolf nor Ted handled the cap like Gutekunst - pushing it to the max. Thus, they failed to maximize the team the way Gutekunst has. Wolf and Ted didn't win the Super Bowls. Favre and Rodgers did. I'd certainly never defend drafting Love, but it's about the only black mark against Gutekunst.

[Joemailman]

Both Wolf and TT got the 2 most important things right. They hired the right coach, and they got their QB. Both really stuck their necks out for the QB. Wolf gave up a 1st round pick for a guy who had been a 2nd round pick and who was totally undisciplined. TT used a 1st round pick on a QB when he still had an elite QB.

The final jury is still out on Gute. We don't yet know if his coach can get the team over the hump in the playoffs. And if Rodgers chooses to retire, we don't know if he acquired the right guy to replace him.

[Fritz]

I consider Ron Wolf to be the best GM I have ever witnessed in Green Bay.

I would give Ted a Slight Edge over Gute overall but purely because he got us a Super Bowl. If Gooters gets one in my book he jumps TT immediately. And truth be told, with the exception of the motherload F'ck up of the Love Machine, I like the way Gute does business way more than TT. If TT was more like Gute I think AROD would have won more than one SB

Gutekunst has been GM for what, four years now? And . . . no Super Bowl yet. So I'm not sure how TT being more like the guy who has yet to get the team to a SB would mean more SB's...