C+
Green Bay Packers
The Packers let Smith-Wade fall and pounced. Final grade: C+.
by GARRYR999 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 2 steals
· 7 reaches
The board owed the Packers one, and it paid up: Chau Smith-Wade, the No. 162 name on the board, sitting there at Round 6, Pick 42 like a gift left on the doorstep.
The Robinson pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. The Gray pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at quarterback, wide receiver and other spots.
They will regret leaving quarterback for another day if the season turns on it.
If Kamren Kinchens and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 25 they get an enforcer at safety, even if it was a touch early.
Edgerrin Cooper in the 41st pick is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. It adds depth where they could use a little.
No drama and no debate, T'Vondre Sweat went about where he belonged in slot 57. A need, and now a little less of one.
McKinnley Jackson at pick 88 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Darius Robinson at No. 91 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A want over a need in pick No. 125: Cedric Gray adds a linebacker while quarterback, wide receiver and other spots keeps waiting.
The board had Kris Abrams-Draine higher than the 135th overall pick, and the cornerback fell to them anyway. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Blake Watson at the Round 6 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Circle this one: Chau Smith-Wade at the 217th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Demani Richardson in the Round 6 slot, miles early. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Xavier Thomas at No. 246 is a conviction pick that outran the value. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.