B+
Green Bay Packers
Grand theft in pick 255: the Packers steal Hadden and grade out a B+.
by PackersFanForever ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 8 steals
· 4 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Kamal Hadden, pick No. 255, roughly 88 picks past where he belonged.
The cost of the Gant reach is exactly the players who went right after him. They will regret leaving quarterback for another day if the season turns on it.
The Green pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at quarterback and interior defensive lineman. The dealing nudged the ledger their way without much fuss.
Not a headline-grabber, but a perfectly good weekend's work.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 26 they get a double-digit-sack hope at a price that makes it sweeter. Exactly the need they had to hit.
No edge and no loss on Edgerrin Cooper in the Round 2 slot; it is a wash and a sensible one. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They read the board right and Cooper Beebe was the payoff at pick No. 58. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Fair-plus on Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Renardo Green at safety with quarterback and interior defensive lineman open.
Nothing to complain about; MarShawn Lloyd went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A reach for Beaux Limmer in pick 118; a little patience would have been rewarded. It fills a real need, too.
Christian Jones at the 126th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The roster fit checks out.
They will replay DJ James at the 139th pick for years; that is how good the value is. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Malik Mustapha this early at the 152nd overall pick. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
The board fumbled James Williams all the way to slot 169, and they scooped it up. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
By-the-book stuff, Jared Wiley at pick 202 squarely in line with his ranking. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A cornerback of that caliber at the Round 6 slot is the definition of value, full stop. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Nathaniel Watson at pick No. 220 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Bub Means in No. 222 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A need, and now a little less of one.
Dallas Gant at Round 7, Pick 25 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Somehow Trente Jones was still sitting there in Round 7, Pick 26, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Kamal Hadden at the 255th pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.