C
Green Bay Packers
A costly weekend of dealing drags the Packers to a C.
by emc2feld ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 24 picks
· 5 steals
· 7 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Packers would have aced it. Donovan Jennings at pick 245 is 46 spots clear of where he belonged. The good and the questionable cancel out to a C.
Foster falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. The Trotter Jr. pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with wide receiver still on the board.
The wide receiver spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
The verdict is a shrug for now, with the swing picks left to write the real ending.
Pick-by-Pick
A reasonable price with a little left over, Jackson Powers-Johnson in the 37th pick. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Value with a capital V on Payton Wilson in the 51st overall pick, a genuine coup. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Max Melton at pick 58 is a conviction pick that outran the value. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They bypassed pressing needs at wide receiver to take Jeremiah Trotter Jr., a linebacker that was not the priority.
They paid a round early for Cole Bishop in slot 84, more than the board wanted. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
They read the board right and Michael Hall Jr. was the payoff at Round 3, Pick 25. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Ray Davis at No. 91 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Ben Sinnott at the Round 4 slot is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They took Mohamed Kamara at par in the 107th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Dominick Puni in Round 4, Pick 9, plain and simple. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending slot 126 on Malik Mustapha with wide receiver unsolved.
Steal is underselling it; Jarrian Jones at pick 143 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Trevin Wallace. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Mason McCormick at the 147th pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They will replay Javon Foster at pick No. 169 for years; that is how good the value is. It fills a real need, too.
A premium they did not need to pay, Khristian Boyd a notch or two before his time. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A reach on Jordan Travis in slot 171; the board had better options right there. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Tip Reiman at the Round 5 slot nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A need, and now a little less of one.
Ty'Ron Hopper in the 175th overall pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Fabien Lovett in Round 6, Pick 12 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A wild overpay on Trey Taylor in pick 202, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Nothing to complain about; Jaylan Ford went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Donovan Jennings this early at pick No. 245. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Jaylon Carlies in pick 255 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.