F
Green Bay Packers
A weekend the Packers spent ahead of the board, for worse: F.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 35 picks
· 10 steals
· 13 reaches
Call it a hunch or call it a gamble, but the Packers spent Round 7, Pick 33 on Hayden Hatten, a name most had 83 spots down the list. The board sounded every alarm, and the F is the fallout.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. The McGlothern pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged.
It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake. Nearly every premium pick went to that side of the ball.
Bottom line, it will take a lot of luck to make this look better later.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 25th pick they get a double-digit-sack hope at a price that makes it sweeter. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Cooper DeJean in pick 27 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Terrion Arnold slid further than he should have, and Round 1, Pick 31 is lovely value for the cornerback. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
By-the-book stuff, Junior Colson at pick No. 41 squarely in line with his ranking. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Jaylen Wright at the 58th overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A top-tier safety at a bargain, Jaden Hicks in No. 88, plain and simple. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Kiran Amegadjie at slot 89 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Malik Washington at pick 90 is the proof. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Good price on Dominick Puni in the 92nd pick, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Roger Rosengarten in the 94th overall pick is fair value, right on his grade. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They liked Cedric Gray enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 4 slot. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
DeWayne Carter in Round 4, Pick 5 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The roster fit checks out.
Hunter Nourzad at No. 110 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Zak Zinter slipping to pick No. 126 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It fills a real need, too.
A market-rate safety, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Malik Mustapha. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
No edge and no loss on Isaac Guerendo in the 138th pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A straight-up fair deal on Kitan Oladapo at pick 141, value and slot in agreement. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
They paid sticker price for Beaux Limmer in pick No. 142, and that is fine. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They paid up for Dallin Holker at the 145th overall pick when waiting would have done the job. A need, and now a little less of one.
AJ Barner in No. 147 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Khristian Boyd at Round 5, Pick 26 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Somehow Nehemiah Pritchett was still sitting there in the Round 5 slot, and they pounced on premier cornerback value. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Joe Milton III in the 181st overall pick, miles early. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A slide stopped in pick No. 186, with James Williams worth more than the price. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Decamerion Richardson in Round 6, Pick 25 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
No drama and no debate, Nathaniel Watson went about where he belonged in the 202nd pick. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Jaylan Ford in the Round 6 slot is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
They went early on Trey Taylor in pick 219, and the value did not follow. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
They barely believed it either: Dwight McGlothern still on the board at slot 220. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A premium they did not need to pay, Dylan McMahon a notch or two before his time. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Sam Hartman in Round 7, Pick 18 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They talked themselves into Donovan Jennings at pick No. 245, and the board did not agree. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Jaylon Carlies in the Round 7 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
A wild overpay on Hayden Hatten in No. 253, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They took Frank Crum at par in pick 255, which is nothing to complain about. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.