B
Green Bay Packers
Best value of the weekend goes to the Packers for Vaki: B.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 5 steals
· 7 reaches
When a board-topper like Sione Vaki slides to the 202nd overall pick, you do not overthink it, and the Packers did not.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped wide receiver, which is a strange place to end up. They will need Taylor to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it. The Hicks pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with wide receiver and interior defensive lineman still on the board.
The dealing tilted against them, just enough to notice.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the wide receiver spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
Somehow J.J. McCarthy was still sitting there in the Round 2 slot, and they pounced on premier quarterback value. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
No edge and no loss on Renardo Green in pick 71; it is a wash and a sensible one. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
A surprising call. With wide receiver and interior defensive lineman still to address, they spent the 88th pick on Jaden Hicks, a safety they were not short of.
By-the-book stuff, Zak Zinter at No. 105 squarely in line with his ranking. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They took Cedric Gray at par in the 108th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Nice patience on MarShawn Lloyd, who had no business lasting to slot 109. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending pick No. 110 on Javon Solomon with wide receiver and interior defensive lineman unsolved.
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Ben Sinnott. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Javon Foster at the 126th overall pick is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Roger Rosengarten in pick 127 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A conviction pick on Hunter Nourzad at Round 5, Pick 12 that the board grades a round light. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A premium they did not need to pay, Ty'Ron Hopper a notch or two before his time. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
A straight-up fair deal on Khristian Boyd at No. 177, value and slot in agreement. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Joe Milton III in the 187th pick is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Steal is underselling it; Sione Vaki at the Round 6 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
They read the board right and Jase McClellan was the payoff at slot 206. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They paid sticker price for Jordan Magee in the 219th overall pick, and that is fine. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Trevin Wallace at the 225th pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Trey Taylor this early at No. 245. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They paid up for Matthew Jones at pick 253 when waiting would have done the job. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Daijahn Anthony slipping to pick No. 255 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.