B+
Green Bay Packers
The Packers let Smith fall and pounced. Final grade: B+.
by JDHAYES ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 5 steals
· 4 reaches
Somebody in the 196th overall pick was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Packers sat still while Brashard Smith, the No. 100 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium. A dependable weekend that grades out a B+.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. Reaching for Vinson left real value on the table behind him. They will regret leaving quarterback for another day if the season turns on it.
Adding Martin Emerson Jr. by trade rounds out the weekend beyond the rookies.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the quarterback spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
JT Tuimoloau at the Round 2 slot is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Zy Alexander at the 54th overall pick is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Tyler Booker at Round 3, Pick 3 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They read the board right and Jayden Higgins was the payoff at No. 87. It fills a real need, too.
Jake Majors at slot 122 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They reached into another round for Carson Vinson, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They barely believed it either: Brashard Smith still on the board at pick No. 196. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Jordan Hancock in pick 237 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
A big swing on Jamaree Caldwell at Round 7, Pick 34, well ahead of any board in the building. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.