The Green Bay Packers made eleven total draft picks, so there's plenty of topics to talk about. This is the biggest moment of the calendar for the Packers' roster-building process, so it's also a huge opportunity for the external public to understand what the front office really thinks of certain areas of the team.
After the picks have been made, it's time to evaluate who are the winners and losers after three days of the process.
Winners
Middle of the defense
The Packers used six of their 11 draft picks on defense. Of those six picks, five were spent on off-ball linebackers and safeties — the only exception was cornerback Kalen King, with the 255th overall pick.
"We added a lot of guys on the inside of our back end that can really run and hit," Gutekunst said, mentioning that some pieces can contribute right away. "We fortified the inside of our defense."
The linebackers are second-rounder Edgerrin Cooper and third-round Ty'Ron Hopper. They are both athletic, aggressive linebackers who are better suited to play on the weak side — Hopper is a thin player, and his best attribute is probably his work as a blitzer, but Cooper has legitimate starting potential, which would mean moving Quay Walker to middle linebacker.
As far as the safeties, Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, and Kitan Oladapo all have shown abilities to play in the box as strong safeties. That also shows they probably view free agent addition Xavier McKinney as a deep safety.
Luke Butkus
Butkus has been the Packers' offensive line coach since 2022, when he was promoted following Adam Stenavich's elevation to offensive coordinator. But he has worked with the Packers since 2019, first as an assistant OL coach.
He has helped develop several offensive linemen, such as Yosh Nijman, Zach Tom, Rasheed Walker. Some of them were really raw players.
Now, his work will be indispensable. The Packers took three offensive linemen in the draft in Jordan Morgan, Jacob Monk, and Travis Glover. All of them have impactful traits, but they also need work to develop their techniques — especially Morgan, who eventually overcompensated his short-arms in pass protection, and Glover, who has excellent physical tools but needs polishing.
If the Packers are able to put these guys in position to be high-end players, Butkus might get a promotion soon.
Non-elite cornerbacks
The Packers cornerback group received several — and fair — questions before the draft. Jaire Alexander won't go anywhere, but even beyond him, the Packers showed real confidence in their cornerback group. Matt LaFleur said he's confident Eric Stokes will be healthy soon, and Brian Gutekunst praised Carrington Valentine for his performance as a rookie.
That combination of factors ended up making the Packers go in other directions until the seventh round, when they took Kalen King with the 255th overall pick.
Losers
Depth linebackers
Isaiah McDuffie was hoping he would be a starter, but that's much less likely after the draft with the selection of Edgerrin Cooper. At this point, it seems like the Packers will use Quay Walker and Cooper most of the time, with McDuffie as the third linebacker in base defense.
For Kristian Welch and Christian Young, it probably means they will have to be impressively valuable special teamers to justify a roster spot. It's easier to foresee veteran Eric Wilson with that last linebacker spot, because he has actual defensive experience, is a solid special teamer, and can be a resource for the younger players.
Developmental safeties
Last year's seventh-rounder Anthony Johnson Jr. and undrafted Benny Sapp III were much more important for the Packers last week than they are now, and that's hard to argue. The Packers ended up drafting Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, and Kitan Oladapo at safety, and they also have Xavier McKinney. So now, instead of fighting for the starting job alongside McKinney, they will probably fight for a roster spot.
Right guards
Sean Rhyan and Royce Newman are going through a similar scenario of losing value. Before Thursday, Rhyan was the projected starter at right guard, and former starter Royce Newman was the only backup interior offensive lineman of the roster.
Now, the Packers used their first-round pick to select Jordan Morgan, who is probably going to start his career as a guard. In the fifth-round, the team also took Jacob Monk, who they see as a swing guard/center.
With these moves executed, Rhyan is just a backup, and Newman has a real risk of being released — a move that would open up $3 million in cap space for the Packers.
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