Elite 11: One Awesome Fact About Every Packers Draft Pick

The Green Bay Packers drafted 11 players during the 2022 NFL Draft. Here's a fun fact about each of them.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
May 1, 2022 1:05 AM EDT

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Thanks to a barrage of seventh-round picks on Saturday, the Green Bay Packers added 11 players in the 2022 NFL Draft.

“Obviously a long three days for us,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said afterward. “Really appreciate the scouting staff, personnel staff, all the support staff, our medical team, our football technology, all the coaches, just obviously a lot of work goes into this. Extremely important for our organization. Excited about the guys we got, but it's been a long weekend, but we felt we did some good and helped our football team.”

From Quay Walker to Samori Toure and three offensive linemen in between here’s an interesting fact about each of the team’s draft picks.

First Round – No. 22: Georgia LB Quay Walker

Walker’s road to the NFL started with a dunk while in basketball.

“That happened when I was 15. I was in the gym playing and dunking the ball and (coach Shelton Felton) was there. This was probably like the first or second day after he got hired. He was just walking through and I wasn’t a football player at all. He came up to me and said something that stuck with me: ‘You’re 6-3, 6-4 and you’re playing power forward in basketball. That’s the normal height of a Division I point guard.’ He was like, ‘6-3, 6-4 is big in football, so try football out.’

“I listened to him. My first season, halfway through, I didn’t really like it. He could tell my body language. He told me, ‘Stick with it.’ I was playing offense at the time. The next school year, my junior year, by the springtime, he switched me over to defense. Before you know it, everything just fell how it was supposed to out of nowhere. Listening to him was the best thing I could have ever did.”

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First Round – No. 28: Georgia DT Devonte Wyatt

Wyatt ran the fastest 40-yard dash among the defensive linemen at the Scouting Combine. When did he know he was fast for his size?

“I feel that point was when we were training for the 40 at Arizona,” he said. “They had put me and [fellow Georgia defensive lineman] Jordan Davis out of the big-man group and moved us with the linebackers. And that’s how I knew I was fast, because our numbers were way lower than offensive linemen and the defensive linemen.”

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Second Round – No. 34: North Dakota State WR Christian Watson

Watson’s father, Tim, was drafted by the Packers in 1993. In the 1993 Packers Media Guide, general manager Ron Wolf thought he was the “best tackler in the draft.” He wound up playing in 13 games over four seasons with the Chiefs, Giants and Eagles.

How did his son wind up on offense?

“Becoming a wide receiver, I wanted to compete. As a kid, I played on both sides of the ball but, when it came down to high school days in terms of choosing one thing that I wanted to kind of specialize in, I really wanted to have the rock in my hands. Being able to make an impact with the ball in my hands, that was something that I could see myself doing really well at in the future. And, shoot, throughout my entire childhood, obviously growing up around a football family, we’re just a family full of competitors, so I’ve been competing since such a young age, love competition. I always push myself to be as dominant of a competitor as possible, so it’s just been a lifelong thing.”

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Third Round – No. 92: UCLA OL Sean Rhyan

Rhyan’s father, Scott, was a professional motocross racer. Any thoughts on following his father into the family business?

“Growing up, I wanted to get on a bike, but he got injured so much that he wouldn’t allow me to because I had sports to deal with and play. Riding a motorcycle, it could jeopardize that, so he never let me get on a bike. ”

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Fourth Round – No. 132: Nevada WR Romeo Doubs

Growing up in Los Angeles, Doubs played in Snoop Dogg’s youth football league.

“Being interested in football as a kid, I was fortunate enough to have an older brother who was able to get me into playing football,” he said. Growing up, I thought I was going to be a basketball player. It was just truly a great feeling to play for Snoop Dogg’s youth league. To be more specific, that youth team I played for was green-and-gold and it was a Green Bay logo. So, that’s where things just started to kick in for me. Up until this point, having that feeling that maybe I can’t leave the green-and-gold. It’s always in me, forever in me. Go Pack. It’s really a blessing to participate in his youth football league and come into this point now.

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Fourth Round – No. 140: Wake Forest OL Zach Tom

Tom is from Prairieville, La. His older brother, Cameron, was a four-year starter on the Southern Miss offensive line and has played in 13 games since entering the NFL in 2017. In August 2018, both players played in New Orleans on a Thursday night: Zach for Wake Forest against Tulane and Cameron for the Saints in a preseason game against the Rams.

“I was a big Saints fan growing up,” Tom said. “Offensive linemen that are now in the league, I try to model my game after people like Rashan Slater and Terron Armstead, guys like that who are fairly athletic and that’s like the name of their game. So, watching them, especially when I was moving from center to left tackle, really helped me to see what life is like out there and helped me technically and fundamentally.”

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Fifth Round – No. 179: South Carolina edge Kingsley Enagbare

You can call him Kingsley or J.J. Where does J.J. come from? “It was little cartoon show that I used to watch when I was little kid. And it just kind of stuck with me, I guess.” That show was “Jay Jay the Jet Plane.”

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Seventh Round – No. 228: Georgia Tech S Tariq Carpenter

Carpenter’s mom served five international tours of duty, including three deployments to Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Honoring the troops at games is a big deal.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for those women and men going overseas and putting their life on the line just so we can have freedom. I don’t ever take it for granted. Those young guys, those young women and men that be at the games, they just be sitting there just chilling. I feel like they should get more attention than for us playing football. They’re out there defending us. So, I just give them appreciation and things like that.”

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Seventh Round – No. 234: Miami DT Jonathan Ford

Ford is from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. So is fellow Packers defensive tackle T.J. Slaton. In fact, they went to the same middle school. That’s a lot of beef, with Ford tipping the scales at about 340 pounds.

“I’m very excited man to see two big guys in the middle of that defense man,” he said. “It’s going to be scary out there. I’m very excited to reunite with him and be able to play with him.”

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Seventh Round – No. 249: Penn State OT Rasheed Walker

Walker knows a lot about the Packers for the obvious modern-day reason.

“That’s one of my favorite teams to use on “Madden.” I’ve also watched guys like David Bakhtiari a lot. I look forward to learning a lot from him. I look forward to playing alongside Aaron Rodgers and all the other guys, great players in the organization. I’m just excited, man. I’m going to come in and bring what I have to bring to the table and more. I’m just ready to do this.”

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Seventh Round – No. 258: Nebraska WR Samori Toure

With Montana in 2019, Toure caught 87 passes for 1,495 yards and 13 touchdowns. Transferring to Nebraska allowed Toure to compete against a much higher caliber of cornerback. Most of his 46 receptions this season came from the slot.

“It proved to other people what I already knew myself, that I can play with the best of the best, at the Power-5 level,” he said. “Other than that, what it really showed me is that I can adapt to a new situation, new playbook, new teammates, new coaches, new system, new place. That showed me a lot because that’s what I’ve got to do right now, making that move to the NFL.”

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