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Green Bay Packers
A weekend the Packers spent fighting the board, and losing. F.
by emc2feld ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 34 picks
· 20 steals
· 10 reaches
Call it a hunch or call it a gamble, but the Packers spent Round 7, Pick 30 on Dontae Manning, a name most had 134 spots down the list.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Singleton. The trades bled value they could not afford to lose.
It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake. Edge rusher is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
In the end, a class that has to defy its grades just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 24 they get a matchup problem out wide, and a steal at that.
In the Round 1 slot they get a pocket-collapsing interior rusher at a price that makes it sweeter. A clean fit for the roster.
In slot 26 they get a potential shutdown corner, outstanding value to boot. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick 27 they get an anchor for the offensive line at a price that makes it sweeter. A real need, handled.
They let Jahdae Barron come to them and pounced at Round 1, Pick 29. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They will replay Shavon Revel Jr. at the 56th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Jalon Walker at pick No. 60 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A minor need, but a need all the same.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Will Howard in pick 61, miles early. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They robbed the room for Jihaad Campbell here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
A offensive lineman of that caliber at the Round 3 slot is the definition of value, full stop. It fills a real need, too.
Steal is underselling it; TreVeyon Henderson at Round 4, Pick 7 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Jake Majors in the 125th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Cody Simon at the 159th pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
You do not let a running back like Cam Skattebo reach slot 169 and blink. They did not. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at pick No. 170 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A premium they did not need to pay, Nazir Stackhouse a notch or two before his time. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They reached a country mile for Theo Wease Jr. at pick 174, and the board is aghast. A need, and now a little less of one.
A clean, defensible pick in Round 5, Pick 38 with a little surplus value in Connor Colby. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Taking Nicholas Singleton in No. 187 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.
A reach on DJ Campbell in the 196th overall pick; the board had better options right there. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Circle this one: Sonny Styles at slot 199 is a fall that decides a draft. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
They liked Jonah Monheim enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 6 slot. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jordan Hancock slipping to No. 202 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Jared Wilson in pick 204 is fair value, right on his grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Jack Kiser at pick No. 209 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Tyler Batty. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Value said wait; Luke Lachey in the 225th pick says they were not listening. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A tidy bit of business in the Round 7 slot, where Clay Webb graded well above the range. The roster fit checks out.
Roc Taylor at slot 237 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A big swing on Jasheen Davis at Round 7, Pick 27, well ahead of any board in the building. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A real head-scratcher, Dontae Manning in pick No. 246 is miles ahead of his ranking. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Xavier Nwankpa in pick 247 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Seth McLaughlin in Round 7, Pick 34, plain and simple. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Germie Bernard at slot 252 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.