You can draft well and still miss the point. The Packers did plenty of tidy work and somehow never got around to quarterback, which was the need that mattered most. It nets out to a B-, which feels about right.
However the rest shakes out, Barton at that price is a win they earned. They are betting Byrd proves the room right and everyone else wrong.
Edge rusher is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it. The weekend tilted hard toward the defense.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
R1.25
· Pick 25
· Nate Wiggins
· CB
· rank 20
In slot 25 they get a press-man option on the boundary at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
R2.9
· Pick 41
· Graham Barton
· OT
· rank 26
Nice patience on Graham Barton, who had no business lasting to Round 2, Pick 9. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
R2.26
· Pick 58
· Junior Colson
· LB
· rank 52
Junior Colson in No. 58 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A minor itch, scratched.
R3.25
· Pick 88
· Renardo Green
· S
· rank 77
Renardo Green in the 88th overall pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
R3.28
· Pick 91
· Dominick Puni
· OT
· rank 88
Good price on Dominick Puni in pick No. 91, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
R4.26
· Pick 126
· Jarvis Brownlee Jr.
· CB
· rank 112
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. at pick 126 is the proof. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
R5.33
· Pick 169
· Marist Liufau
· LB
· rank 164
Marist Liufau at the Round 5 slot is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
R6.27
· Pick 202
· Evan Williams
· S
· rank 214
The board had cheaper options than Evan Williams at the 202nd pick, and it noticed. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
R6.44
· Pick 219
· Caedan Wallace
· OT
· rank 212
Nothing to complain about; Caedan Wallace went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The roster fit checks out.
R7.25
· Pick 245
· Solomon Byrd
· DE-EDGE
· rank 261
Solomon Byrd in pick 245 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
R7.35
· Pick 255
· Rasheen Ali
· RB
· rank 256
They paid sticker price for Rasheen Ali in the 255th pick, and that is fine. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.