You build a draft on nights like this. Michael Pratt had no business being available in Round 5, Pick 33, and the Packers did the only sane thing and turned in the card.
Every board in the league had Taylor lower, and that gap is the story. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher.
The trades cost them a sliver of value they did not need to spend. Cornerback is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
R2.9
· Pick 41
· Xavier Legette
· WR
· rank 38
Nothing to complain about; Xavier Legette went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
R2.26
· Pick 58
· T'Vondre Sweat
· DT
· rank 45
T'Vondre Sweat is a better player than Round 2, Pick 26 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. The roster fit checks out.
R3.27
· Pick 90
· Max Melton
· CB
· rank 76
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Max Melton at No. 90 is the proof. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
R3.28
· Pick 91
· Dominick Puni
· OT
· rank 88
Dominick Puni at the Round 3 slot nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A need, and now a little less of one.
R4.26
· Pick 126
· Cedric Gray
· LB
· rank 113
The board had Cedric Gray higher than the 126th pick, and the linebacker fell to them anyway. It adds depth where they could use a little.
R5.2
· Pick 138
· Javon Solomon
· OLB-EDGE
· rank 116
They robbed the room for Javon Solomon here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The roster reasoning here is anyone's guess.
R5.33
· Pick 169
· Michael Pratt
· QB
· rank 140
They barely believed it either: Michael Pratt still on the board at pick 169. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
R6.27
· Pick 202
· Delmar Glaze
· C
· rank 192
Delmar Glaze at pick No. 202 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
R6.44
· Pick 219
· Caedan Wallace
· OT
· rank 212
Fair-plus on Caedan Wallace, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
R7.7
· Pick 227
· Frank Gore Jr.
· RB
· rank 227
Frank Gore Jr. at Round 7, Pick 7 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
R7.25
· Pick 245
· Trey Taylor
· S
· rank 268
Trey Taylor at the 245th overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
R7.35
· Pick 255
· Dominique Hampton
· S
· rank 234
Dominique Hampton in pick No. 255 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Stacking talent where they were already deep.