Watcha Think of Packers' Draft?

[bobblehead]

Report yesterday out of ESPN that the Packers and Alexander are in discussions. Jaire knows he isn't going to get 17 million on the open market, so the Packers want to knock his base salary down and offer incentives that would bring his total salary back up to 17 million. I think it is a win/win for the two sides. Alexander can play and have a great season and make his original salary, but if he gets injured or continues to be a dickhead he gets the negotiated base.

Jaire is done in GB. He won't take the cut necessary for them to take a chance that he can not be an ass and actually play 15 games or more. This is all talk to make other teams think we might just keep him if they don't give us something. They will string this out all offseason. I'm imagining him being more or less locked out of camp because they won't risk injury. Excuse will be they are still fielding trade talks so they don't want to risk injury, blah blah. He will be released at the end of camp if no one ponies up a 7th. Gutes will do this as a thumb in the eye to a guy who thumbed the organization in the eye over and over. With no camp and no prep his value on the open market will be at an absolute minimum and he will end up signing somewhere for $7 million on a prove it deal.

[Jaire]

I just listened to Mike Wahle on Belton. I was already happy with the pick. They are trying to get bigger, and nastier. Solid pick.

More importantly, I think, they are trying to find new leadership in the rooms. Golden for the WR's. Belton brings a bit of TJ Lang to the OL room. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Sorrell becomes the leader of the ends by year one. I was glad to see Gute acknowledged a need to rethink "leadership".

Sorrell was a steal imo. Most years, he goes round two. I didn't realize his athletic scores (for a DE) were so good. Most intriguing pick to me. Oliver is for playing with the lead: hopefully, we'll see more of that this year.

All in all, one of the most interesting drafts. I see what they're trying to do, and entirely agree: been asking for upgrade at OL for a long time, and also thinking we need different "leaders" in the locker room. Hope it works out. Value was good imo, and the picks too. Also, gotta realize that some of these are about cap. And Matt got himself a nice toy, round 3.

[run pMc]

They drafted a ton of players last year who were team captains, and that trend seems to have continued this year too.
Belton needs some coaching, but you have to love his size and attitude. I think they want him at G but will give him some snaps at T. He tested at 336 but played heavier; can't imagine many DL are going to enjoy a guy that big shoving and leaning on them all game, with Josh Jacobs running behind him.

Thinking about that opening drive vs. Seattle last year, I think MLF would love to have a lot of drives like that.

All that said, I'm not sure Belton sees a lot of snaps this year, unless they have injuries, a big lead, or try the rotating linemen gig again.

Sorrell looks like a good pick, and for a R4 guy a very good athlete.

I find drafts interesting because it often tells you a lot of what the GM/scouts think about their own players. Walker and Rhyan are probably goners in FA, Enagbare too. Aaron Mosby's roster spot is in big trouble.

[Teamcheez1]

I am interested to see how Collin Oliver performs. Every article talks about his explosiveness, but also says he is undersized at 6’1” and 240 lbs. Micah Parsons is listed at 6’3” and 245 lbs.

[smuggler]

Anthony Belton has been called Escalade. I think that's pretty sick.

[Deputy Nutz]

If you don't think of Oliver as a defensive end and more of an off the ball linebacker his size makes sense. I can't see him making it in the league with the expectation of lining up in a 5 technique and setting some kind of edge 40 times a game, If he materializes I think opposing offenses will have to identify where he is and then guess where he will be inserting or if he is spying the QB or dropping into coverage. He was drafted for his flexibility.

[run pMc]

I think Oliver is going to play ST snaps, and then a few 3rd and long snaps, or when up by 2+ scores with 5 minutes left. He's very undersized, but he's also a rocket who can bend around the edge. His pass production was basically on par with Abdul Carter's.
He has short arms and is not a tall man by DE standards, so he's going to be limited. You could have hm play some off ball LB snaps and rush him, sure. If he figures out how to drop into shallow zones that would give him some more value. I would guess he plays around 15 snaps in any given game (including ST).

He's basically a DPR. I've heard him compared to Nate Herbig. Either way, Hafley appeared to be creative and flexible with adapting the scheme to his players, I think Oliver gives him another way to tinker with his D. GB usually doesn't go for bendy speed rushers, so this is a nice change of pace from the 270 pound bull rushers that don't have any pass rush moves.

[Fritz]

It does look like Halfley did get a couple "toys" even though they didn't go for defense early in the draft.

Weird article in Acme today about how the Packers draft class is ranked according to some crazy analytic:

https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/green-bay-packers-draft/2025/5/1/24421820/2025-nfl-draft-packers-draft-class-ranked-as-one-of-the-best

[Patler]

During the draft, seeing only initial comments about players, I didn't like the Packers' draft very much. As I learn more about the players and think more about how they will fit in and be used, I am liking it more and more.

[Spaulding]

During the draft, seeing only initial comments about players, I didn't like the Packers' draft very much. As I learn more about the players and think more about how they will fit in and be used, I am liking it more and more.

I didn't like the draft either Patler which means it's going to be historically good one for Gute as I'm not giving it the kiss of death endorsement. However I do like the Hardman and Simmons signings and so they are likely going to underwhelm unfortunately.

[Bretsky]

During the draft, seeing only initial comments about players, I didn't like the Packers' draft very much. As I learn more about the players and think more about how they will fit in and be used, I am liking it more and more.

So what you are saying is once they started pouring the homer kool aide you drank the whole gallon ? ))

[Bretsky]

I am pretty luck warm on the draft.

Like the round one pick although I wasn't jumping for joy because I wanted the OSU stud

Really wanted a CB in round two; instead we drafted a guy who need to develop and pretty much means Wallace and Ryan are gone next year. So we added depth

And I think I'd have preferred an EDGE over around round 3 WR so I'm not as sold on as others.

Loved the round 4 pick.

The rest were fine.

I'd grade this bad boy a C plus/B minus overall

[run pMc]

There's been some kool aid with the R3 pick for sure, the rest I'm mostly ok with. The board didn't fall good for GB - a lot of the DLs were gone, and the CBs were hurt. Apparently even Trey Amos (who was available in R2) had a medical concern with his back, so I get it.
There were a lot of players who got overdrafted and it will be interesting to see how that looks in 2-3 years, I don't get the feeling this was an all-timer draft and GB took Mandarich or anything. They had needs at DL (DT/EDGE), CB, WR, and OL depth, and they tried to address each of them.
If Jaire's gone they're still thin at CB, they're probably fine at the rest. Hafley and Co. did ok with Stokes for at CB for a chunk of the year, if they actually improve the pass rush they will probably be ok with his replacement APRH.

[bobblehead]

I loved the round 3 pick for one simple reason....its usually that pick Gutes goes with in the 1st. Savion is an absolute size freak. His upside is tremendous, but unlikely. I'm ok with that in the 3rd round (late no less). Lets put it this way. I slammed Gutes for the Amari Rogers pick. Smallish guy with limited upside. Why for ffs? Williams is a beast who probably will never utilize all that potential, however I think the floor is much higher than for other guys we have taken there. He is physically similar to Watson who we traded up for. A touch slower, but a world difference in strength and size (weight). I don't know, but getting him in the 3rd instead of Gutes trading up in the 2nd seems like a better value than we have found in recent history.

[run pMc]

Fair argument bobble. I think Savion is raw and there is upside if they can develop him. The hands worry me, and he's not a plug-and-play X receiver. I think he's a bigger Reed, but I agree he could probably run some 9 routes and be a nightmare for 5-9 180 lb CBs to cover. I think the drops could be corrected - seem like concentration drops -- and he's actually good in contested catches.

I like the pick better than Amari Rodgers 100%, I thought he was too short and not explosive enough... and then there was the lost confidence (punt return fumbles etc.)

Also agree as you get farther into the draft, you end up looking at players with bigger holes in their game, so you gotta take swings.
Golden isn't a finished project, but at least he got a few elite traits and good hands. He's not a 9.99 RAS athlete who doesn't know how to play. Gute likes to take athletes and hope coaches can turn them into football players, sometimes you need to take a football player.