Reflections on Gooter

[run pMc]

I agree he's done well the last two drafts. I also agree he's had some drafts that were shaky at best.
If there's 1-2 players left from 2016 (for example), that's not a great draft but not terrible either, depending on those 1-2 players and what you got from the others. 7 years is a lifetime in the NFL. Agree if you get nobody long term from a draft (i.e., 7+ seasons) then you probably had a bad draft.
It might be helpful to look at a draft from whether the player made it to the end of their contract, and if they were signed to a 2nd contract.

Picking on 2016 randomly (a TT year, inind you), GB still has Kenny Clark. They got meaningful snaps from Kyler Fackrell and Blake Martinez, and they gave a 2nd contract to Dean Lowry (who was wisely allowed to sign a 3rd contract with MIN and is on IR). That's not a franchise-foundational draft, but it's not horrible either. Sure, you'd like to have picked Tyreek Hill over Trevor Davis in R6, and maybe not give up so much for Jason Spriggs, but if you go back and look at that draft and how some other teams did, it wasn't bad.

Someone in GB's pro personnel scouting is pretty good at finding guys who were basically on the scrapheap - Campbell, Douglas, Ballentine, Rudy Ford. Even getting Jared Veldheer off the couch.
Gute's done pretty good in FA too, and we saw with Smiths/Turner/Amos.

I'd give Gute a B grade. He's not GM of the year, but he's not horrible either. I think having a lot of picks helps -- it's like swings at the plate in baseball. At some point -- possibly this upcoming draft -- he's going to have more picks than roster spots, and that will be interesting. I'd expect him to trade for future picks or trade up in that case. (Personally, I'd prefer trading for future picks. It's less satisfying, but I'd happily part with a R3 pick to some team for their R2 in the next year. Don't think teams do that much anymore though.)

[call_me_ishmael]

We know TT was always able to draft receivers - he just stopped doing it after Adams.

Conversely Gooter's early receivers kinda sucked, but now these dudes the past two years seem like they are all NFL guys and going to be good players. Did he just get really lucky or what he has changed? Wicks seems like he could be a future star, same with Reed. Doubs is an NFL player but will never be a star. Maybe Watson could be a star. But hot damn there receiving corps went from shit to really promising in a hurry.

[Bretsky]

Should we reflect more on Gutes? I have ridden the roller coaster and I consistently say the proof is in the results. Right now his last couple drafts look really fucking good. The moral of the story is trade down, not up. He has killed it by trading down. He has crushed the 4th round since he stopped trading all our 4ths.

Its going to be a hell of a finish to this season. Its been emotionally draining. I started out hating Gutes, then liking him, then saying his draft picks aren't performing to where we are now. In a post above I said its symbiotic. Everyone is improving incrementally and the overall improvement is pretty big. Can they keep it up? You can't luck into beating two really good teams with really good records back to back...but you can't be as good as we have looked with that awful stretch on tape.

Heres to riding it out til the end.

I think we have to great the FLOWER a LOT HIGHER as well.

[RashanGary]

2022
1 Quay
1 D Wyatt
2 Watson
3 Rhyan
4 Doubs
4 Tom
5 Enagbare
7 Rasheed Walker



2023
1 VanNess
2 Musgrave
2 Jayden Reed
3 Tucker Kraft
4 Colby Wooden
5 Wicks
6 Karl Brooks
7 Carrington Valentine
7 Anthony Johnson

Maybe 17 players from 2 drafts?? Has that ever happened?

[RashanGary]

These two drafts and the luck of hitting on Love…. That’s recipe for an Owl soon. Gute might not be the fans whipping boy anymore. He might even be a packer HOFer at the rate it’s going now.

Gute might have even fucked around and hit a probowler and three starters in the 7th round in two years time. Valentine doesn’t just look ok, as a rookie, he’s as good as Jaire and Tramon were. And a starting LT. WOW

[texaspackerbacker]

My position on Gutekunst was that he had done a great job except for the glaring mistake of trading up and using a first round pick on Love. I still think alienating the GOAT by that move was a mistake. However, I came around - earlier than most, I think, to seeing the greatness of Love. So even that now is a good move.

I was saying this group of receivers was excellent when a lot of people were knocking them. He loaded up the D with probable quality personnel - if the coordinator can just use them right. That includes bringing in decent scrap heap players and other UDFAs both on O and D. That leaves the O Line, which I'm not gonna brag on except to say we have won a helluva lot of games the past couple decades with personnel no better than what we have now. I expect that to continue.

[call_me_ishmael]

These two drafts and the luck of hitting on Love…. That’s recipe for an Owl soon. Gute might not be the fans whipping boy anymore. He might even be a packer HOFer at the rate it’s going now.

Gute might have even fucked around and hit a probowler and three starters in the 7th round in two years time. Valentine doesn’t just look ok, as a rookie, he’s as good as Jaire and Tramon were. And a starting LT. WOW

If that dude is your starting LT, you're in trouble.

Easy there Neon Hawkins . Valentine doesn't look as good as Jaire, come on now. Valentine looks like he could be a good player but so did Quinton Rollins and LaDarius Gunter for a minute there. It is way too early to tell with him IMO.

[Freak Out]

The rookies are killing it. Look at the team that just beat KC. Wild.

[RashanGary]

If that dude is your starting LT, you're in trouble.

Easy there Neon Hawkins . Valentine doesn't look as good as Jaire, come on now. Valentine looks like he could be a good player but so did Quinton Rollins and LaDarius Gunter for a minute there. It is way too early to tell with him IMO.

Hahaha.

He’s as good as a rookie as Tramon and jaire were in their maiden voyages is what I’m saying. Not as good as Jaire became.

[RashanGary]

Last five weeks for Rasheed Walker:

One sack allowed (Khalil Mack poking the ball out during Love's windup)
74.7 @PFF OFF Grade (T9/55 NFL OTs)
69.2 @PFF Run Block Grade (14/55 NFL OTs)
73.8 @PFF Pass Block Grade (17/55 NFL OTs)

He's #3 in the NFL at tackle in PBWR at 94%.


Top 20 out of 64 starting tackles. He’s from the 7th round and still should get better next year. That’s not a bad pick at all. Could be a top 15 or maybe even top 10 tackle if he really puts his heart in it. Valentine looks like a future lock down corner from the 7th round.

Gute is cooking. He might fuck around and win an Owl.

[run pMc]

Agree it's early on the rookies but very promising. If they continue to build on this and improve next year, look out. There have been a lot of one-year wonders, or players who are just on hot streaks and peak early for GB. If they prove it's repeatable over 2+ seasons then I'm on board.
They are getting a lot of important contributions from young players, and there's plenty of blame/credit to go around for that. Certainly Gute deserves some.

As for Walker, he's everything physically you want in a T, and he's been better since they did the sharing with Njiman thing, but I think his run blocking is still iffy and his footwork/fundamentals are bad. If he can really work on that this offseason he'll be a good one.
Just getting starts and league average play from a R7 pick is gold in this league. Average starting LTs are generally not cheap.

[call_me_ishmael]

Hahaha.

He’s as good as a rookie as Tramon and jaire were in their maiden voyages is what I’m saying. Not as good as Jaire became.

I meant as a rookie as well. We knew Jaire was gonna be a hoss from day one. I don't think Valentine is that guy. I think it's far more likely that he becomes Gunter than a 5 year solid starter. But we'll see.

[Joemailman]

I meant as a rookie as well. We knew Jaire was gonna be a hoss from day one. I don't think Valentine is that guy. I think it's far more likely that he becomes Gunter than a 5 year solid starter. But we'll see.

Valentine has much better speed than a guy like Gunter. In fact Gunter had one of the worst RAS scores I've ever seen. His length was his only asset. Valentine is a very good press man corner. The knock on him at draft time was that his aggressiveness could make him vulnerable to double moves, and to WR's good at evading press coverage. That's what he'll need to work on.

[Fritz]

Rasheed Walker seems a key to the future. IF he works on his weaknesses this offseason, and can become a better run-blocker and get his footwork in better shape (as run and I think Bobble have pointed out as an issue), they've got a starting left tackle. Whoa. That would change the draft. So no you don't have to focus on one with your first pick. You could wait until the second round and get a more developmental guy, and let him compete with Tom for RT. Then you can wait again until maybe the fourth or something - the fifth, once you trade Bakh to the Jest to get a fifth back (!) - and pick up another one. Then you've got competition and developing guys, and with luck could move Tom to center.

But if the Pack thinks Walker is not that guy, you're looking at going after a LT early early.

I'm not ready to anoint Valentine the next Sam Shields (who was undrafted) or Jaire Alexander, but he's certainly holding his own - and MVS in the KC game there at the end...

[Joemailman]

With the Packers now holding the 20th pick in the draft, a lot of people are looking at Cooper DeJean of Iowa. He's played CB last 2 years at Iowa, but was recruited as a safety and has the build to play there. (6-1, 209). Packers love their Hawkeyes.

Current Draft Projection and Summary

On my board, DeJean grades out as a top-25 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft who could feasibly challenge for top-15 capital, depending on schematic preference. It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll unseat Kool-Aid McKinstry as CB1, but DeJean is firmly in the Round 1 CB discussion.

DeJean’s traits and style mesh particularly well with zone and off-man schemes. He’s an explosive, gliding athlete at 6’1″, 209 pounds, with stellar space management skills, zone awareness, route IQ, and reaction quickness, and he also has the rapid closing speed to trigger and wash in front of ill-fated throws.

Naturally, with his mass, DeJean doesn’t quite have elite fluidity. He’s fluid enough with exceptional corrective athleticism, but there are times when he struggles to sink on sharper transitions. Nevertheless, DeJean has great discipline and foot speed in press-man, and he can use his length and physicality to dictate releases as well.


The tape evaluation speaks very favorably of DeJean’s diagnostic tools, both physical and mental. And at the end of the day, the production corroborates his talent. He’s a prolific ball hawk with unmatched playmaking statistics and a support defender with all-encompassing range, physicality, and utility.

There’s an outcome where DeJean splits time between the boundary, the slot, and field safety at the NFL level. Ultimately, he’s an extremely role-versatile player based on the game script. Let him manage and play in space, and let him crash downhill and attack blocks. Either way, he’ll produce from whichever alignment he takes on these jobs.