B+
Green Bay Packers
Grand theft in slot 109: the Packers steal James and grade out a B+.
by 05packersfan01 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 3 steals
· 0 reaches
The Packers spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: D.J. James, the No. 75 name on the board, in pick 109.
A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want. It is not that Smith is a bad player; it is that the Packers had louder needs to answer first.
The trade work was a quiet net positive. Job largely done: cornerback settled and 3 of 8 of the wish list covered.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 13 they get a cornerstone up front. A real need, handled.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Nate Wiggins at Round 2, Pick 11 is the proof. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
No drama and no debate, Sedrick Van Pran went about where he belonged in the 63rd pick. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They let Kamren Kinchens come to them and pounced at No. 73. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Braelon Allen in the 77th overall pick. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending the Round 3 slot on Maason Smith with edge rusher, quarterback and other spots unsolved.
D.J. James at slot 109 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
No edge and no loss on Tahj Brooks in pick 135; it is a wash and a sensible one. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.