B+
Green Bay Packers
The Packers let Walley fall and pounced. Final grade: B+.
by brabazonlaw ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 15 picks
· 8 steals
· 4 reaches
If you want a masterclass in dealing, watch the Packers, who turned every swap into a profit this weekend. A sturdy weekend that grades out a B+.
That is a cornerback worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. They punted on wide receiver, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. It is not that Wilson is a bad player; it is that the Packers had louder needs to answer first.
If Smith pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about.
Not a headline-grabber, but a perfectly good weekend's work.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 32nd pick they get an enforcer at safety at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
T.J. Tampa slid further than he should have, and No. 50 is lovely value for the cornerback. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Edgerrin Cooper at slot 57 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
A reach on Trey Benson in the Round 2 slot; the board had better options right there. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Payton Wilson at linebacker with wide receiver, tight end and other spots open.
A quiet steal in pick No. 92: Christian Mahogany for less than the market said. The roster fit checks out.
Blake Fisher slipping to No. 115 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
MarShawn Lloyd at pick 125 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board had Max Melton higher than the 135th pick, and the cornerback fell to them anyway. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Value with a capital V on Darius Robinson in the Round 5 slot, a genuine coup. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They paid up for Joe Milton III at slot 156 when waiting would have done the job. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Kitan Oladapo is a better player than pick No. 178 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
They reached into another round for Jalen Berger, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Justin Walley at the 217th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Maurice Smith at the 246th pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It fills a real need, too.