D
Green Bay Packers
The Packers lost the trade table, and the D tells the story.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 26 picks
· 7 steals
· 6 reaches
You can fall in love with a player. You are not supposed to marry him in the wrong round. The Packers did exactly that with Jaylon Hutchings in the 252nd overall pick.
The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. The Johnson pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
No edge and no loss on Roman Wilson in the Round 2 slot; it is a wash and a sensible one. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Junior Colson at pick No. 56 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Payton Wilson in pick 58 is fair value, right on his grade. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
A tidy bit of business in slot 88, where Max Melton graded well above the range. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They did well to land Dominick Puni in Round 3, Pick 28, just ahead of his grade. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Cole Bishop at the 105th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Ray Davis at slot 108 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A straight-up fair deal on Elijah Jones at pick 110, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Mohamed Kamara well ahead of where he belonged. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A slide stopped in the 126th pick, with Cedric Gray worth more than the price. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
They paid sticker price for Roger Rosengarten in the Round 4 slot, and that is fine. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Somehow Jarrian Jones was still sitting there in No. 159, and they pounced on premier cornerback value. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Trevor Keegan in pick No. 165 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Malik Mustapha in Round 5, Pick 31 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
No drama and no debate, AJ Barner went about where he belonged in the 169th pick. A need, and now a little less of one.
They took Jordan Travis at par in the Round 5 slot, which is nothing to complain about. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They paid a round early for Tanor Bortolini in the 172nd overall pick, more than the board wanted. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Joe Milton III. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Trente Jones in slot 202. The roster fit checks out.
Good price on Jaylan Ford in pick 210, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Caedan Wallace in Round 6, Pick 44 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. It fills a real need, too.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Cornelius Johnson in No. 225, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They liked Trey Taylor enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 245. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Jaylon Hutchings at No. 252 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
By-the-book stuff, Kimani Vidal at the Round 7 slot squarely in line with his ranking. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Frank Crum at the 255th pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.