F
Green Bay Packers
McCarthy is the Packers' new face under center. Grade: F.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 31 picks
· 9 steals
· 7 reaches
The Packers lost the trade war and it was not close, handing partners the better end again and again. The board sounded every alarm, and the F is the fallout.
Whatever J.J. McCarthy becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. The Limmer reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade.
The Johnson value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere. It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
There is no soft landing here; this class has to massively overperform just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 25th pick they get a building block for the line at fair value. A real need, handled.
In pick No. 26 they get a press-man option on the boundary. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In slot 28 they get their guy under center for the next decade at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In Round 1, Pick 30 they get a blindside protector at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Edgerrin Cooper at No. 66 is the proof. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They read the board right and Max Melton was the payoff at the Round 3 slot. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Jaden Hicks in pick 90 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A market-rate running back, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Ray Davis. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Beaux Limmer at No. 105 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Cedric Gray in the 112th pick is fair value, right on his grade. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Taking Braelon Allen in the 126th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Roger Rosengarten at pick 128 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A real head-scratcher, Hunter Nourzad in Round 5, Pick 2 is miles ahead of his ranking. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They jumped the gun on Kitan Oladapo, taking him earlier than his grade liked. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
They paid sticker price for Luke McCaffrey in slot 147, and that is fine. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Malik Mustapha at pick No. 154 is a conviction pick that outran the value. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
The board had cheaper options than AJ Barner at pick No. 155, and it noticed. The roster fit checks out.
A reach for Khristian Boyd in No. 162; a little patience would have been rewarded. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Fair-plus on Jared Wiley, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. It fills a real need, too.
Good price on Ty'Ron Hopper in Round 6, Pick 11, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Joe Milton III at the 196th pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Jaylan Ford in pick 202 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Steal is underselling it; Fabien Lovett at the 203rd overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
You do not let a wide receiver like Cornelius Johnson reach the Round 6 slot and blink. They did not. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Ryan Flournoy slid further than he should have, and No. 219 is lovely value for the wide receiver. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Nice patience on Jaylen Harrell, who had no business lasting to the 220th pick. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Jaylen Harrell slipping to the Round 7 slot is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A slide stopped in pick No. 228, with Caedan Wallace worth more than the price. A need, and now a little less of one.
No edge and no loss on Jalen Sundell in slot 245; it is a wash and a sensible one. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A straight-up fair deal on Jordan Whittington at pick 246, value and slot in agreement. It fills a real need, too.
They liked Trey Taylor enough to skip the value, taking him in Round 7, Pick 35. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.