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Winners:

Brian Gutekunst
We know the Packers are going to be good on offense next year, right? (Spoiler: they are.) Now they're going to be good on defense too, thanks to getting Mike Pettine some weapons in the draft. Gutekunst, the Packers first-year GM, went defense-heavy early in the draft, picking up Louisville corner Jaire Alexander in the first round and Iowa corner Josh Jackson in the second round. Green Bay then added linebacker Oren Burks in the third round. The real power move by Gutekunst in all of this was him somehow managing to walk out of Thursday with an extra first-round pick next year despite moving down only three spots: he let the Saints come up, took their first next year, then moved back up at a cheaper cost when the Seahawks were looking to trade down. It was some David Blaine-level trickeration. Notre Dame wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown in the sixth round might have been one of the biggest steals in the whole draft. For a fanbase that got tired of the team not spending in free agency and standing pat in the draft and taking what came down the pipe, Packers fans should be thrilled at the way Gutekunst spent this offseason being active and this draft whipping up some serious defensive improvements.

New Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst wasn’t shy in his first draft. He moved from the 14th to 18th pick while adding a first-round pick in the 2019 draft. Then at No. 18 he took Louisville cornerback Jaire Alexander, a player they probably would have picked 14th. The Packers doubled up on cornerbacks by taking Iowa’s Josh Jackson in the second round. It was a surprise in that Green Bay had some other needs, but you can’t fault the value.

In the third round, the Packers added a versatile and athletic linebacker in Oren Burks. He has to become more disciplined against the run, but his athleticism can’t be coached. Not many people expected Burks to go that high, though.

Green Bay brought in three wide receivers in J’Mon Moore in the fourth round, Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the fifth round and Equanimeous St. Brown in the sixth round. That’s a lot of draft capital on one position.

Grade: B-

Green Bay Packers

New defensive coordinator Mike Pettine always had an aggressive, disruptive pass rush when he was coordinating the Jets’ defense from 2009-12, even though that team had very mediocre edge rushers. Pettine generated pressure through scheme by putting extra defensive backs on the field and having them roam around, creating a blurry look. At the snap, some would rush and others would rotate into coverage. It was hard for blockers to identify which would come, and the beauty was those defensive backs always arrived quicker than a defensive lineman or linebacker would.

Head coach Mike McCarthy favors this unique brand of defense, which was also employed—to a lesser extent—by Pettine’s predecessor, Dom Capers. For this approach to work, you need corners who can win on an island. In Green Bay, Pettine inherited only one decent corner: last year’s second-rounder Kevin King, who has played just nine NFL games. So, the team drafted of twitchy Jaire Alexander in the first round and lanky Josh Jackson in the second. The Packers now have youthful talent at all three starting corner spots.

It was wise of Green Bay to use its third-round pick on an athletic linebacker like Oren Burks. He can replace the departed Joe Thomas in dime packages (something Pettine, with his fondness for DB blitzes, employs often). Having addressed the defense thoroughly for Pettine’s scheme, first-year GM Brian Gutekunst used picks in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds on wide receivers, hoping to bump into a quality No. 3 in the wake of Jordy Nelson’s release.


Grade: A

Day 1 grade: A
Day 2 grade: A
Day 3 grade: B+
Overall grade: A
The skinny: Even with talented safety Derwin James on the board, the Saints gave the Packers a deal too rich to give up. Getting a 2019 first-round pick was a steal. Alexander was the second-best corner in the draft on most team boards, despite being a shade over 5-foot-10. They did give up a third-round pick to move up but the net effect of the two trades is still a positive, and they met their biggest position need with a player who can be an above-average starter. The team continued to bolster its secondary with Jackson in the second round. The question is, should they have picked two corners right away, ignoring other needs? With aging free agent veteran Tramon Williams planned as a starter this year, it was probably a good move. Moving up for Burks cost them a fourth-rounder, but he adds athleticism, strength, versatility and intelligence. He'll be a good starter for them at a spot they desperately needed to upgrade. Green Bay went with Moore, Valdes-Scantling, and St. Brown at receiver to re-build that position. All of those guys could make a case for a roster spot. Madison could be a long-time starter at guard. Scott meets a big need for a team that's lacked an above-average punter for some time. The Packers' troubles with the kicking game forced them to pick a long snapper, and Bradley's a good one (though he has an injury history). Depth at offensive tackle and tight end must be addressed after the draft.

Green Bay Packers: B+

Interesting maiden draft for GM Brian Gutekunst. A trade with the Saints netted a 2019 first rounder. The Pack's first two picks were understandably spent on corners Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson. Super-sized WR Equanimeous St. Brown (6-5, 214) is an intriguing project who went later than expected in Round 6. But did Gutekunst really need to draft a punter and a long snapper?

Mags FTW wrote:

Green Bay Packers: B+

Interesting maiden draft for GM Brian Gutekunst. A trade with the Saints netted a 2019 first rounder. The Pack's first two picks were understandably spent on corners Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson. Super-sized WR Equanimeous St. Brown (6-5, 214) is an intriguing project who went later than expected in Round 6. But did Gutekunst really need to draft a punter and a long snapper?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/draft/2018/04/28/nfl-draft-grades-teams-2018-giants-patriots-cowboys-jets/562265002/

RRyder823 wrote: I give it a B- because there was shockingly little done to address the pass rush. Yes we needed CBs. But damn if we didn't need a guy to at least add to the rotation because as of right now our pass rush, and in turn any hope of having a successful defense regardless of our corners, is predicated on Perry and/or Mathews not getting hurt.

I just cant give a grade higher then a B- when a glaring weakness like that wasn't addressed once. Even in a draft that wasn't loaded with them.

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HaroldinGMinor wrote:

RRyder823 wrote: I give it a B- because there was shockingly little done to address the pass rush. Yes we needed CBs. But damn if we didn't need a guy to at least add to the rotation because as of right now our pass rush, and in turn any hope of having a successful defense regardless of our corners, is predicated on Perry and/or Mathews not getting hurt.

I just cant give a grade higher then a B- when a glaring weakness like that wasn't addressed once. Even in a draft that wasn't loaded with them.

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You don't draft for need when the people available to you aren't worth drafting.

RRyder823 wrote:There were pass rushers available. They decided to go a different direction. Hence the B- grade

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Balls2TheWalls wrote:

RRyder823 wrote:There were pass rushers available. They decided to go a different direction. Hence the B- grade

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Do you have names? I'm interested in hearing the names of the players we should have drafted at EDGE. Not a judgement, just wondering who you felt was the guy we passed on that was value for the pick number that we took by comparison to the player we actually took.

Balls2TheWalls wrote:I'm not crapping on the stance. I am actually interested. I don't believe you can second guess not trading up to get players. It takes two to tango and sometimes it doesn't line up. However, if you have guys that went between our picks, and you think they would have been better picks -- I'm open to hearing about it. I am fine with someone give us a B- grade. I believe very strongly in some things that Gute said about not being able to address every hole in the draft, and that trying to massage your board to address a need when the quality is not there is a mistake. That being said I am interested in the players that people think were going to step in and be pass rush difference makers this year.

I know there were guys that would have helped us with pass rush. I was a big fan Carter and Landry outside of the first round, but I am on board with Gute saying that Jackson was too good of a value to pass in the 2nd round. Landry got scooped before the pick anyways.

RRyder823 wrote:

Balls2TheWalls wrote:I'm not crapping on the stance. I am actually interested. I don't believe you can second guess not trading up to get players. It takes two to tango and sometimes it doesn't line up. However, if you have guys that went between our picks, and you think they would have been better picks -- I'm open to hearing about it. I am fine with someone give us a B- grade. I believe very strongly in some things that Gute said about not being able to address every hole in the draft, and that trying to massage your board to address a need when the quality is not there is a mistake. That being said I am interested in the players that people think were going to step in and be pass rush difference makers this year.

I know there were guys that would have helped us with pass rush. I was a big fan Carter and Landry outside of the first round, but I am on board with Gute saying that Jackson was too good of a value to pass in the 2nd round. Landry got scooped before the pick anyways.

Well like I said then two examples would be Sweat over Burks and Griffen in place of Moore (I say Moore cause I'd prefer to keep Madison). Obo could of been a solid choice in the 5th also.

There were mid round guys available. They chose to go with guys like Burks and Moore. If you read my summary I'm not low on either of these guys at all. Only that I think they dropped the ball by not going different directions

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weezybaby856 wrote:Only gripe I have is if we took 3 WRs, I wanted us to take a chance on Quadree Henderson. I know he's a midget at only 5'8" but he's ultra fast and has blazing quickness and at 190lbs he's built enough to play. I watched him his entire Pitt career and I really hope he gets a chance, I think he could stick as a returner/gadget WR. We could've used his speed imo.

Just a gadget player on offense at this time
High percentage of his touches came on jet sweeps and slip screens
Had just 17 catches this year
Hasn't run any semblance of a route tree at Pitt
Routes are rounded and lack crisp breaks
Appears to hear footsteps when routes take him into middle of the field
Needs to sink and open to quarterback quicker on hitch routes
Struggles to gather weight and elude defenders in open field because he's always in his highest gear
Has small hands and has fumbled five times over his career

Balls2TheWalls wrote:

RRyder823 wrote:

Balls2TheWalls wrote:I'm not crapping on the stance. I am actually interested. I don't believe you can second guess not trading up to get players. It takes two to tango and sometimes it doesn't line up. However, if you have guys that went between our picks, and you think they would have been better picks -- I'm open to hearing about it. I am fine with someone give us a B- grade. I believe very strongly in some things that Gute said about not being able to address every hole in the draft, and that trying to massage your board to address a need when the quality is not there is a mistake. That being said I am interested in the players that people think were going to step in and be pass rush difference makers this year.

I know there were guys that would have helped us with pass rush. I was a big fan Carter and Landry outside of the first round, but I am on board with Gute saying that Jackson was too good of a value to pass in the 2nd round. Landry got scooped before the pick anyways.

Well like I said then two examples would be Sweat over Burks and Griffen in place of Moore (I say Moore cause I'd prefer to keep Madison). Obo could of been a solid choice in the 5th also.

There were mid round guys available. They chose to go with guys like Burks and Moore. If you read my summary I'm not low on either of these guys at all. Only that I think they dropped the ball by not going different directions

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Yeah. I just like to know names. I'm not high on Sweat because of his knee issue. I think that taking him a full round before he actually went is sketchy value. Shaquem Griffin is an okay choice. I think that not drafting Moore makes it much more likely to you have to address WR in free agency. I liked his film. I'm not sure he gets the same output from the effort play that he got in college.

RRyder823 wrote:
Fair enough. As I said it's not like "hate" their selections. Only that I think they should've went a different way. So they get a lower grade from me.

Do people really think B- is that bad of a draft grade?lol

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