B
Green Bay Packers
Larceny in slot 202 lands the Packers a B, Hadden and all.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 7 steals
· 5 reaches
Every so often the board makes a mistake, and the Packers were there to profit. Kamal Hadden, the No. 168 name on the board, should have been long gone before Round 6, Pick 27. No fireworks, but a solid B.
The phones were where this weekend was really won. If Nourzad pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about.
The veteran additions, Javon Kinlaw chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not. The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 25th overall pick they get an island corner. The biggest hole, addressed.
They paid sticker price for Javon Bullard in the 41st pick, and that is fine. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A straight-up fair deal on Braden Fiske at No. 58, value and slot in agreement. It fills a real need, too.
Nice patience on Mike Sainristil, who had no business lasting to the Round 3 slot. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A clean, defensible pick in slot 91 with a little surplus value in Dadrion Taylor-Demerson. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Zak Zinter. The roster fit checks out.
Cedric Gray at Round 4, Pick 10 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
The board had cheaper options than Javon Foster at pick 111, and it noticed. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Mohamed Kamara in slot 126 is fair value, right on his grade. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A reach for Dallin Holker in pick No. 135; a little patience would have been rewarded. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Hunter Nourzad at No. 136 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They will replay Johnny Wilson at pick 145 for years; that is how good the value is. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
You do not let a quarterback like Spencer Rattler reach Round 5, Pick 11 and blink. They did not. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Tanor Bortolini at the 169th pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A need, and now a little less of one.
A reach on Joe Milton III in the Round 6 slot; the board had better options right there. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Kamal Hadden at the 202nd overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jaylan Ford slid further than he should have, and pick No. 219 is lovely value for the linebacker. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Jalen Sundell at slot 245 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
The board fumbled Edefuan Ulofoshio all the way to the Round 7 slot, and they scooped it up. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Good price on Kimani Vidal in the 256th overall pick, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They barely believed it either: Daijahn Anthony still on the board at No. 257. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.