The trade table was a mismatch, and the Packers were on the right end of it, hauling in a fortune in surplus value.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Harris. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. The cost of the Gentry reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
It is a bet on later, and a defensible one for a team playing the long game.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
R1.17
· Pick 17
· Johnny Wilson
· WR
· rank 26
In the Round 1 slot they get a true top target, even if it was a touch early. A clean fit for the roster.
R2.9
· Pick 41
· Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
· LB
· rank 43
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in the 41st pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
R2.11
· Pick 43
· Cooper Beebe
· OG
· rank 49
Cooper Beebe at Round 2, Pick 11 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The roster fit checks out.
R3.9
· Pick 73
· Braelon Allen
· RB
· rank 74
No edge and no loss on Braelon Allen in slot 73; it is a wash and a sensible one. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
R3.17
· Pick 81
· Brenden Rice
· WR
· rank 88
Brenden Rice in pick No. 81 is fair value, right on his grade. It fills a real need, too.
R3.18
· Pick 82
· Jaylin Simpson
· CB
· rank 78
A tidy little value on Jaylin Simpson in No. 82, a step better than break-even. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
R4.9
· Pick 109
· James Williams
· S
· rank 118
They liked James Williams enough to skip the value, taking him in No. 109. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
R4.35
· Pick 135
· Tyler Guyton
· OT
· rank 139
Tyler Guyton at Round 4, Pick 35 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
R6.12
· Pick 187
· Jestin Jacobs
· LB
· rank 194
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jestin Jacobs. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
R6.42
· Pick 217
· Tre Harris
· WR
· rank 192
They barely believed it either: Tre Harris still on the board at the 217th overall pick. A need, and now a little less of one.
R6.44
· Pick 219
· Storm Duck
· CB
· rank 228
Storm Duck in the Round 6 slot is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
R7.10
· Pick 230
· Eric Gentry
· LB
· rank 252
Eric Gentry at pick No. 230 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.