B+
Green Bay Packers
The Packers let Ponds fall into their laps, and walked away with a B+.
by Clw11 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 6 steals
· 3 reaches
The real work happened on the phones. The Packers fleeced their trade partners, turning their picks into a noticeably bigger pile than they started with. Solid and sensible more than spectacular: a B+.
If Kamara pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. Ponds at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster. The Hill Jr. pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with quarterback still on the board.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but quarterback.
Pick-by-Pick
CJ Allen slid further than he should have, and the 47th overall pick is lovely value for the linebacker. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They read the board right and Caleb Banks was the payoff at slot 50. A need, and now a little less of one.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Anthony Hill Jr. at linebacker with quarterback open.
Good price on Christen Miller in pick 63, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A clean, defensible pick in the Round 3 slot with a little surplus value in Germie Bernard. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Nice patience on Jake Slaughter, who had no business lasting to pick No. 66. The roster fit checks out.
Mike Washington Jr. at the 68th overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
D'Angelo Ponds at the 76th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Sam Roush at pick No. 81 is a conviction pick that outran the value. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Value with a capital V on Chase Bisontis in pick 82, a genuine coup. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
No drama and no debate, Bryce Lance went about where he belonged in Round 3, Pick 24. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They reached a country mile for Billy Schrauth at No. 93, and the board is aghast. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Mikail Kamara at the Round 4 slot is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.