C+
Green Bay Packers
The Packers land in the muddy middle: C+.
by emc2feld ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Packers spent the Round 5 slot on Patrick Payton, a name the board had a full 80 spots lower.
Landing Miller that late papers over a lot of smaller sins. The trades cost them a sliver of value they did not need to spend. They left with edge rusher solved and the rest of the wish list mostly ticked off.
The offense got the lion's share of the attention.
If Eli Stowers and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Eli Stowers. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Christen Miller in pick No. 84 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They took Julian Neal at par in No. 120, which is nothing to complain about. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Kaytron Allen in the 153rd overall pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Beau Stephens in pick 160 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Patrick Payton at slot 178 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Value with a capital V on Ephesians Prysock in slot 201, a genuine coup. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They reached into another round for Diego Pavia, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Somehow Zavion Thomas was still sitting there in the Round 7 slot, and they pounced on premier wide receiver value. A need, and now a little less of one.