F
Green Bay Packers
Maye is the Packers' new face under center. Grade: F.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 27 picks
· 5 steals
· 10 reaches
The Baylor Cupp selection is the head-turner. The Packers reached 92 spots for him, and it will define how this weekend is remembered.
The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took McGlothern. They have staked the next five years on Drake Maye, which is the only story that really matters here.
It is not that Gray is a bad player; it is that the Packers had louder needs to answer first. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. They are betting the present roster is worth a lighter draft next spring.
About as rough as a weekend gets on paper, with edge rusher still staring back at them.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 25 they get a ballhawk on the outside. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 26th overall pick they get a plug-and-play piece up front at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
In the 27th pick they get an island corner. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick 28 they get a wrecking ball inside at a price that makes it sweeter. A real need, handled.
In No. 30 they get their quarterback of the future, outstanding value to boot. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Junior Colson in Round 2, Pick 26. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Jaden Hicks at pick 90 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Zak Zinter at the Round 3 slot is a conviction pick that outran the value. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Beaux Limmer in the 105th overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Value said wait; Isaac Guerendo in the 110th pick says they were not listening. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Johnny Wilson in Round 4, Pick 15 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. The roster fit checks out.
Ben Sinnott in slot 125 is fair value, right on his grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A surprising call. With edge rusher still to address, they spent pick No. 126 on Cedric Gray, a linebacker they were not short of.
The board had cheaper options than Roger Rosengarten at No. 127, and it noticed. A need, and now a little less of one.
No edge and no loss on Tyrone Tracy Jr. in No. 145; it is a wash and a sensible one. It fills a real need, too.
No drama and no debate, Kitan Oladapo went about where he belonged in slot 147. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They took Cody Schrader at par in the 169th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Ty'Ron Hopper in pick No. 188 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
By-the-book stuff, Jaylan Ford at Round 6, Pick 25 squarely in line with his ranking. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
A reach on Caedan Wallace in pick 202; the board had better options right there. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They robbed the room for Dwight McGlothern here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Cornelius Johnson in the 219th pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Sam Hartman at the 220th overall pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They liked Edefuan Ulofoshio enough to skip the value, taking him in Round 7, Pick 6. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
A big swing on Trey Taylor at pick No. 228, well ahead of any board in the building. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
They paid sticker price for Jalen Sundell in pick 245, and that is fine. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They reached into another round for Baylor Cupp, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.