The Green Bay Packers entered the 2024 NFL Draft with a few clear needs on the roster. Much like the last two offseason, they moved on from some long-time contributors, creating some voids that needed to be filled.
Arguably the biggest was saying goodbye to long-time left tackle David Bakhtiari. His inability to stay healthy made the decision an easy one, monetarily, to release him. On the personal side, they were moving on from another stalwart of the franchise after saying goodbye to Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers and Mason Crosby in recent offseasons.
Along with the offensive line needing some depth, the secondary and linebacker spots did as well. With their first three picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Packers hit on all of those needs, which drew praise from Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN.
“Jordan Morgan (25) was a stalwart on the blind side for Arizona who rarely missed an assignment. He blew up edge defenders in the run game and made them look silly in pass sets. He’ll be a plug-and-play starter. On Day 2, I loved the additions of linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (45) and safety Javon Bullard (58), both of whom I ranked No. 1 at their positions. Cooper can be a three-down defender because of his coverage tools, while Bullard is a do-it-all defensive back who will assist a unit that intercepted just seven passes last season, which ranked 31st in the league,” wrote Kiper.
The presence of Jordan Morgan at tackle will open the door to move Zach Tom to the interior. There have been reports this offseason that some evaluators believe Tom can be a Hall of Fame player at center, an All-Pro at guard or a Pro Bowler at right tackle.
Hitting not only on needs but value based on Kiper’s Big Board led to him liking what the Packers did early on. There is a chance that all three players will be part of the team’s lineup come Week 1 as they fill immediate needs on the roster.
Alas, for how good the Packers started, Kiper doesn’t believe they finished as strongly. They continued adding much-needed depth to the roster, selecting one more offensive lineman and linebacker and three more defensive backs. But, it left Kiper “underwhelmed” with their Day 3 work.
Kiper did give Green Bay a B overall grade for the 2024 NFL Draft. That grade was heavily skewed by the selections of Edgerrin Cooper and Javon Bullard, as Kiper noted the Packers would have received a C+ without them being selected.
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