B-
Green Bay Packers
The Packers cashed the board's mistake on Smith: B-.
by Bruce ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 5 steals
· 4 reaches
The rest of the league will want that one back. Ainias Smith tumbling to the Packers in Round 6, Pick 44 is a gift they did not have to think twice about. Solid and sensible more than spectacular: a B-.
The Watson pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. Leaving edge rusher unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
Job largely done: cornerback settled and 4 of 8 of the wish list covered. The offense got the lion's share of the attention.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 11 they get a cornerstone up front. A clean fit for the roster.
Rome Odunze at the 39th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The roster fit checks out.
Keon Coleman in the 43rd overall pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It fills a real need, too.
A real head-scratcher, Zak Zinter in pick 75 is miles ahead of his ranking. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Braelon Allen at Round 3, Pick 18 is a conviction pick that outran the value. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
D.J. James in slot 111 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They paid up for Devin Neal at the Round 4 slot when waiting would have done the job. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Steal is underselling it; Jonah Monheim at No. 189 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Jack Nelson in slot 217, plain and simple. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Ainias Smith in the 219th pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Blake Watson in pick 232, miles early. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.