F
Green Bay Packers
The Packers went off-script early, and it cost them a F.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 34 picks
· 15 steals
· 7 reaches
The Packers went off the board in a big way for Mason Fairchild, 84 picks early. Conviction is one thing; this is another. The board sounded every alarm, and the F is the fallout.
The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. Getting Wilson where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class.
The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not.
In the end, a class that has to defy its grades just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 25 they get a building block for the line at a price that makes it sweeter.
In the 26th overall pick they get a blindside protector at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
In the 27th pick they get an island corner. The biggest hole, addressed.
Steal is underselling it; Rome Odunze at Round 2, Pick 9 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A straight-up fair deal on Jeremiah Trotter Jr. at slot 65, value and slot in agreement. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A quiet steal in the Round 3 slot: Max Melton for less than the market said. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Jaden Hicks at pick 91 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. A minor itch, scratched.
A real head-scratcher, Beaux Limmer in slot 101 is miles ahead of his ranking. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A running back of that caliber at Round 4, Pick 26 is the definition of value, full stop. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They barely believed it either: Johnny Wilson still on the board at the Round 5 slot. The roster fit checks out.
A slide stopped in the 171st overall pick, with Kitan Oladapo worth more than the price. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Jordan Travis at pick No. 172 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Joe Milton III at No. 173 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A tidy bit of business in the 175th pick, where Walter Rouse graded well above the range. A need, and now a little less of one.
Trente Jones at slot 190 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They robbed the room for AJ Barner here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It fills a real need, too.
A top-tier cornerback at a bargain, Dwight McGlothern in the 199th pick, plain and simple. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Somehow Kamal Hadden was still sitting there in pick 200, and they pounced on premier cornerback value. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Cody Schrader at the Round 6 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Circle this one: Tip Reiman at the 202nd overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Jaylan Ford in Round 6, Pick 28 is fair value, right on his grade. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Curtis Jacobs at pick No. 204 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the linebacker. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Cornelius Johnson at Round 6, Pick 30 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They took Caedan Wallace at par in slot 207, which is nothing to complain about. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Trevin Wallace in the 219th overall pick is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Trey Taylor in the Round 6 slot, miles early. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Jase McClellan in pick No. 234 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They paid sticker price for Daijahn Anthony in No. 239, and that is fine. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Ryan Flournoy in the 245th pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
By-the-book stuff, Jalen Sundell at pick 246 squarely in line with his ranking. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A wild overpay on Nick Gargiulo in the 248th overall pick, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Nothing to complain about; Jordan Whittington went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Mason Fairchild at pick No. 256 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A premium they did not need to pay, Carlton Johnson a notch or two before his time. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.