B-
Green Bay Packers
Bertrand should have been long gone. The Packers pounced, and earned a B-.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 7 steals
· 2 reaches
The Packers did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and JD Bertrand fell into No. 255.
Spending an early pick on linebacker with edge rusher and interior defensive lineman open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to. A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want. If Reiman pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about.
Bottom line, more hits than misses and a roster nudged the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 25 they get an island corner. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Fair-plus on Edgerrin Cooper, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went linebacker with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. while clear needs at edge rusher and interior defensive lineman sat open.
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Kingsley Suamataia in No. 88, plain and simple. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Value with a capital V on Max Melton in pick 91, a genuine coup. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A tidy bit of business in pick No. 99, where Dadrion Taylor-Demerson graded well above the range. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A curious use of the 126th overall pick. Edge rusher and interior defensive lineman needed the pick; a safety in James Williams did not.
Steal is underselling it; Johnny Wilson at the Round 5 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A need, and now a little less of one.
Kitan Oladapo at pick No. 155 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Tip Reiman at the 169th pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They took Joe Milton III at par in the 202nd overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A running back of that caliber at slot 219 is the definition of value, full stop. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A slide stopped in Round 7, Pick 25, with Tylan Grable worth more than the price. It fills a real need, too.
JD Bertrand at the Round 7 slot is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Stacking talent where they were already deep.