2020 Packers Draft Thread

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I think Equanimeous St. Brown might be the biggest winner this weekend. He's a guy that went from such an afterthought that people forgot he was on the team to a guy who is primed to possibly have a huge role in the offense this year.

 

People forget that he was really starting to come on toward the end of the 2018 season, and was earning Rodgers's trust. He's a huge, fast target who isn't afraid to fight for contested balls. He's only 23 years old.

[wildcat83]

PFF also very down on the Packers draft. The issue they had with Love is the contacts overlap so much you can’t get the “good QB on a rookie deal” benefit even if Love pans out.

 

They had second and third rounds as major reaches.

[pacopete4]

Minor rant -- can we please stop saying "Look what the 49ers did to us!" as rationalizing that building a run first team is the way to go? This is still a passing era and passing league.

 

It's not like the 49ers have just been neglecting their passing attack like we have the last couple drafts.

 

(2017!!) was the last year that the 49ers did NOT take a receiver in the 2nd round or earlier. The last time we DID? 2014.

 

They traded for Jimmy G, they traded for Emmanuel Sanders. They have been making huge investments in trying to build a passing attack.

 

They ran the ball down our throats in the NFC championship game because they knew we couldn't stop them, and they were right. Not because of some sort of longstanding strategy they've had to just focus on running the ball.

 

They ran the ball (2nd in the league in attempts) against everyone. They were 29th in the league in passing attempts a year ago.

 

It is interesting to see how much more efficient SF was than us in the passing game considering we have Rodgers they have Jimmy. They ended up throwing for more yards per attempt, more yards overall, and more touchdowns even though we were about the middle of the pack in attempts.

[Noche]

Not surprised to see Gute lean into MLF’s system after a 13-3 year 1. The picks went against the grain, but that is no guaranty it’s wrong. The Patriots do this too. Draft is a bit overvalued at this point anyways. Plenty of avenues to player acquisition and development. Again, the Patriots prove this. Packers have been more creative in this space lately.

 

Fun to see everyone so worked up though.

[nodakfan17]

Not draft related, but Fox is apparently re-airing Super Bowl XXXI at 2:00 pm today.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Not surprised to see Gute lean into MLF’s system after a 13-3 year 1. The picks went against the grain, but that is no guaranty it’s wrong. The Patriots do this too. Draft is a bit overvalued at this point anyways. Plenty of avenues to player acquisition and development. Again, the Patriots prove this. Packers have been more creative in this space lately.

 

Fun to see everyone so worked up though.

 

Yep .... gearing up for a lot of "told you so's" or crow eating come September.

 

Personally, I think this fanbase is gonna love Dillon. He's the type that will put up 2-3 All Pro-type seasons over the next 3-4 years. Unfortunately he might be on the back end by the time Love is ready to play. That's just the way it is with RBs in the NFL.

[homer]

I'll reiterate that I don't hate the picks. But I think they could have gotten the same players + a WR had they just not traded up to get Love.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I'll reiterate that I don't hate the picks. But I think they could have gotten the same players + a WR had they just not traded up to get Love.

 

Yep ... you are spot on. I think the Packers were geared up to take Mims in the 2nd, and were a little miffed when the Jets grabbed him a few picks before their spot. That's how it goes, though, when you are picking at the end of every round because your team is good.

[adambr2]

I just don't really understand why we're so insistent on gearing our offense toward a smashmouth type strategy that is frankly kind out of outdated and relies heavily on defense. Not many championships have been won on the back of this idea in this era and the ones that did almost always had an elite defense to complement it.

 

Tennessee didn't have a wildly successful offense under MLF and didn't really find success until Henry broke out in '19. You could point to the '17 Rams but Goff really broke out that year and they also had some very good receivers, and used Gurley out of the backfield much more frequently.

 

I'd rather build the Chiefs' offense and outscore everyone and not have to have an elite defense out of necessity to win a championship, frankly.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I just don't really understand why we're so insistent on gearing our offense toward a smashmouth type strategy that is frankly kind out of outdated and relies heavily on defense. Not many championships have been won on the back of this idea in this era and the ones that did almost always had an elite defense to complement it.

 

Tennessee didn't have a wildly successful offense under MLF and didn't really find success until Henry broke out in '19. You could point to the '17 Rams but Goff really broke out that year and they also had some very good receivers, and used Gurley out of the backfield much more frequently.

 

I'd rather build the Chiefs' offense and outscore everyone and not have to have an elite defense out of necessity to win a championship, frankly.

 

 

They got bullied by the 9ers twice and maybe they're overreacting to that. That's what it seems like. Maybe? I don't know.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'll reiterate that I don't hate the picks. But I think they could have gotten the same players + a WR had they just not traded up to get Love.

 

I agree with this, to some degree. I still don't like taking a 5/6 round tight end in the 3rd, and as much as some love the Dillon pick, I'm just coming away from this super deep class of WR's disappointed that we didn't snag a single one, when that was pretty clearly one of the team's biggest most pressing needs.

[LouisEly]

A few thoughts after digesting for a day or two.

 

WR:

It's very possible that they looked at the WRs who were left at the end of the 3rd round and felt like they weren't any better than the ones that they already had. If that was the case, then why draft a player at a position if you feel like they aren't any better than the ones you have? Once they got to the end of the 5th round, that's where the ones they have were drafted (MVS - 5th, ESB - 6th), so they probably weren't any better.

 

Someone on another board postulated that with all of the WRs who were drafted, will there be high priced veterans who will be cut? There may be dominoes yet to fall that may lead to another veteran being signed as a FA. Entirely possible they are not done acquiring NFL-caliber WRs, and if so, then the joke's on us.

 

OL:

Interesting that Stepaniak was announced as a tackle. He's athletic and some scouting reports said he looked like a tackle playing guard. Possible they are looking at him as a RT. They also have Turner, and Madison played RT at WSU. They have some options to look at behind Wagner.

 

The 6th round picks likely signal they let Linsley walk after this year. They'll need his cap room to resign Bakh and Clark. Also likely signals end of the road for Taylor; his $4.1M cap savings could be used to acquire another player (possibly a released WR mentioned above). Turner may be on his last year with the team too, as after this year they can recoup $5.8M of cap space for each of Turner's remaining two years by releasing him.

 

If you look at what they are getting paid this year, the cap space for Bakh ($14M) plus Linsley ($10.5M) plus Taylor ($5.5M) plus Clark ($7M) is about what they will need to resign Bakh and Clark (~$37M).

[sveumrules]

I just don't really understand why we're so insistent on gearing our offense toward a smashmouth type strategy that is frankly kind out of outdated and relies heavily on defense.

 

I'd rather build the Chiefs' offense and outscore everyone and not have to have an elite defense out of necessity to win a championship, frankly.

 

That steategy may have been outdated for some time, then again maybe things have shifted so far away from the run game that the pendulum is starting to swing back. More to be gained by being an early adopter if that's the case.

 

Outscoring everyone with a mediocre defense has essentially been the formula here for the last 30 years, I'm fine with possibly trying something new.

[GAME05]

Maybe if Love progresses, Rodgers gets increasingly frustrated hearing about his decline and Love's development that he becomes a lot more open to getting traded. And maybe Gute is ok with that. And Love would ideally minimize those 2-3 terrible years where a team stinks without a QB, which also tends to cost coaches jobs.

 

I'm pretty ok with Funchess as the #2 and think he'll be good. And it's one last year to decide on St. Brown and MVS. So I don't really feel like WR is some big black hole of a position that we just don't have any players for.

 

And MLF ran the ball twice as much in Jacksonville as MM did, so an opposite-style back to Jones makes sense. Williams is more QB protection than much of a runner.

[adambr2]

I just don't really understand why we're so insistent on gearing our offense toward a smashmouth type strategy that is frankly kind out of outdated and relies heavily on defense.

 

I'd rather build the Chiefs' offense and outscore everyone and not have to have an elite defense out of necessity to win a championship, frankly.

 

That steategy may have been outdated for some time, then again maybe things have shifted so far away from the run game that the pendulum is starting to swing back. More to be gained by being an early adopter if that's the case.

 

Outscoring everyone with a mediocre defense has essentially been the formula here for the last 30 years, I'm fine with possibly trying something new.

 

So why extend Rodgers to an untradeable contract if you weren't planning on tailoring the offense for his last few years to the things he does well? Doesn't make much sense. Or, why hire MLF if you were just going to let him install a completely new offense that is centered around the run game and not the HOF QB that you just extended for 30M+ a year?

 

These are legitimate questions.

[homer]

I just don't really understand why we're so insistent on gearing our offense toward a smashmouth type strategy that is frankly kind out of outdated and relies heavily on defense.

 

I'd rather build the Chiefs' offense and outscore everyone and not have to have an elite defense out of necessity to win a championship, frankly.

 

That steategy may have been outdated for some time, then again maybe things have shifted so far away from the run game that the pendulum is starting to swing back. More to be gained by being an early adopter if that's the case.

 

Outscoring everyone with a mediocre defense has essentially been the formula here for the last 30 years, I'm fine with possibly trying something new.

 

yeah defenses are getting lighter in response to the passing game. Maybe they are zigging when everyone else is zagging.

 

Not to mention having a strong run game will only help play action.

[pacopete4]

 

So why extend Rodgers to an untradeable contract if you weren't planning on tailoring the offense for his last few years to the things he does well? Doesn't make much sense. Or, why hire MLF if you were just going to let him install a completely new offense that is centered around the run game and not the HOF QB that you just extended for 30M+ a year?

 

These are legitimate questions.

Isn't our HOF QB one of the best out of the pocket and at play action? Maybe the tailoring is for Rodgers too. He's not 26-year old Rogers, he's 36-year old Rodgers that needs some assistance these days. I am hoping this change allows him to continue to take advantage of what he does do well. I don't think spread em out 4-wide is the way to go with him anymore. He will eventually get killed and we don't possess the ball long enough for our defense to do its thing.

[Yount19]

Packers also have this guy on their roster.. was one of the best CFL receivers and is probably better than any of the 4th round and later WR that we could have drafted..

Reggie Begelton

 

[adambr2]

 

So why extend Rodgers to an untradeable contract if you weren't planning on tailoring the offense for his last few years to the things he does well? Doesn't make much sense. Or, why hire MLF if you were just going to let him install a completely new offense that is centered around the run game and not the HOF QB that you just extended for 30M+ a year?

 

These are legitimate questions.

Isn't our HOF QB one of the best out of the pocket and at play action? Maybe the tailoring is for Rodgers too. He's not 26-year old Rogers, he's 36-year old Rodgers that needs some assistance these days. I am hoping this change allows him to continue to take advantage of what he does do well. I don't think spread em out 4-wide is the way to go with him anymore. He will eventually get killed and we don't possess the ball long enough for our defense to do its thing.

 

We will see I guess. Seems like a pretty big investment in your stat QB to be planning to transition him to more of a game manager role. I forget what the actual extension was but I thought it was around 33M a year in additional money. .

[igor67]

Not in the derogatory sense, but strategically Rodgers has always been a game manager. He really goes out of his way to avoid risky throws. I was thinking about this when they were analyzing Cepheus getting drafted. A big guy who isn't going to get separation, but fights for the ball really well. I doubt he sees the ball much at all. On the other hand Farve would have feed him the ball all the time on 3rd downs.

[adambr2]

Normally even when I don't love a Packer draft, I d have a very "wait and see" attitude about it because I really don't think you can accurately evaluate a draft for 2 to 3 years. In this case I am having a really hard time even doing that because it's just really hard to see how we haven't committed ourselves to some pretty significant regression in 2020.

 

There are people throwing out the scouting reports of guys like Derrick Henry and George Kittle to compare to draftees like AJ Dillon and Josiah DeGuara. I really don't think people fully have an appreciation for how rare players like Henry and Kittle are and how many "types" of those are drafted over a period of time that never really amount to much of anything.

 

The best, best case scenario I can really think of in the short-term for this draft is that we get one average startable quality lineman out of the 3 in the 6th, Dillon is a rookie sensation and we have one of the most feared 1-2 punches at RB. That's absolute best-case scenario for 2020, though, and there's a lot of scenarios that fall short of that.

 

Obviously, this draft will probably be remembered by what Love amounts to, and if he turns out to be a future star QB no one will really care about the rest of it and if he turns into DeShone Kizer it will likely cost Gute his career. I don't have a problem dreaming on Love but I think people have had their expectations for our QB developments blown out of proportion because of the successes of Favre and Rodgers. It just doesn't always work out that way. In fact, the odds are that it probably will not.

 

We will see I suppose. It'll have to be revisted in a couple years, but yeah, right now it feels like Justin Harrell all rolled up into one draft.

[RollieTime]

Looking back at the Dillon pick, I didn’t realize that both Jones and Williams are in the final year of their contracts. I imagine that the drafting of Dillon is because Gute doesn’t see the Packers being able to bring both back. And if they are able to do so, they will have a loaded backfield where Jones might see a little more time as a receiver. Negating the need to draft a wide receiver. Maybe even Jones is dangled as a trade piece for an early round draft pick this offseason. There are a lot of different routes they could go.

 

It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the offseason plays out.

[pacopete4]

Those players get profiled into players types just like all players do. They get compared. The guys we drafted may not end up being Kittle and Henry but those are the types they drafted and I’m sure those are the types they hope these players to be. Just like any other draft. It just hasn’t fit a lot of fans ideas of where this team should head. Fine.

[brewcrewdue80]

A few thoughts after digesting for a day or two.

 

WR:

It's very possible that they looked at the WRs who were left at the end of the 3rd round and felt like they weren't any better than the ones that they already had. If that was the case, then why draft a player at a position if you feel like they aren't any better than the ones you have? Once they got to the end of the 5th round, that's where the ones they have were drafted (MVS - 5th, ESB - 6th), so they probably weren't any better.

 

Someone on another board postulated that with all of the WRs who were drafted, will there be high priced veterans who will be cut? There may be dominoes yet to fall that may lead to another veteran being signed as a FA. Entirely possible they are not done acquiring NFL-caliber WRs, and if so, then the joke's on us.

 

OL:

Interesting that Stepaniak was announced as a tackle. He's athletic and some scouting reports said he looked like a tackle playing guard. Possible they are looking at him as a RT. They also have Turner, and Madison played RT at WSU. They have some options to look at behind Wagner.

 

The 6th round picks likely signal they let Linsley walk after this year. They'll need his cap room to resign Bakh and Clark. Also likely signals end of the road for Taylor; his $4.1M cap savings could be used to acquire another player (possibly a released WR mentioned above). Turner may be on his last year with the team too, as after this year they can recoup $5.8M of cap space for each of Turner's remaining two years by releasing him.

 

If you look at what they are getting paid this year, the cap space for Bakh ($14M) plus Linsley ($10.5M) plus Taylor ($5.5M) plus Clark ($7M) is about what they will need to resign Bakh and Clark (~$37M).

 

On Linsley, Jenkins was a center moved over to guard. Just a thought on the guys drafted or with whats on the backup list, one can move to LG vs a center role.

[brewcrewdue80]

Packers also have this guy on their roster.. was one of the best CFL receivers and is probably better than any of the 4th round and later WR that we could have drafted..

Reggie Begelton

 

I know nothing on rules in CFL. First take watching this is man coverage on the line to be jammed doesnt exist. It wad almost like watching the probowls of the past zone coverage. RBegs shows strong hands and winner to catch 50-50s. Other than that I cant really say theres any thing else to be jubilant on. The video mix isnt that great for route indicating speed, burst, separation. How would he do getting jammed at line of scrimmage? So while cool video, it is lesser competition and maybe rules that help in his favor.