Green Bay Packers NFL Draft Live Blog for Days 2 and 3
DAY 3
After an impossible-to-predict first two days of the NFL Draft, the Packers are scheduled to have six picks on Saturday.
The picks:
Fifth round: No. 175
Sixth round: Nos. 192, 208 and 209
Seventh round: Nos. 236 and 242
"Obviously, we have six picks tomorrow – one in the fifth, three in the six and two in the seventh," GM Brian Gutekunst said after Friday's Day 2. "Early tomorrow we’ll hit the phones and see what’s out there. With those picks in the back, there might be something that intrigues us to go up. At the same time, I think we’d be pretty happy to sit there and pick, as well. We feel the board’s pretty strong right now, especially with where we sit with those picks. Again, you never know the opportunities that are going to present themselves as you go through the draft but, right now, I feel pretty good about it."
In case you missed it
Deguara short on size, long on versatility
Third round: Packers select tight end
Dillon makes backfield a ‘three-headed beast’
Second round: Packers select running back
Gutekunst, Rodgers speak after selection of Love
Vote now! (Or later)
The overwhelming majority of fans dislike taking Jordan Love. And I get it. The Packers got to the championship game and Love will do nothing to help the team take the next step in 2020. Still, I want to know what you think in this context:
Of course, I'd love to hear what you think. Feel free to type in the comments.
LaFleur on Rodgers, Love
Who knows what a "long time" means? I'll ask him later.
The fallout of the Love trade
With the pick the Packers gave up to move up to get quarterback Jordan Love, the Baltimore Ravens (who acquired the pick from Miami) took Purdue tight end Brycen Hopkins at No. 136 of the fourth round.
Here are eight players selected in that vicinity of the draft who I thought might have been of interest:
No. 138: Louisiana Tech S/CB L’Jarius Sneed by the Chiefs. Incredibly athletic defensive back who started at safety and corner.
No. 140: Miami LB Shaquille Quarterman by the Jaguars. A scout said if he had Christian Kirksey at one linebacker, he would select a thumper to be his sidekick. Quarterman is a thumper but not much of a coverge guy.
No. 141: Penn State CB John Reed by the Texans. I was on Reed as a potential slot guy.
No. 142: Liberty WR Antonio Golden-Gandy by the Redskins. He fit the mold the Packers seem to like under Gutekunst as big and athletic. Incredibly sure-handed and demolished lesser competition.
No. 145: Auburn OT Jack Driscoll by the Eagles. One of the better developmental tackles in the draft. With some strength training, I see him as good enough to start at right tackle in 2021.
No. 146: Wisconsin C Tyler Biadasz by the Cowboys. Maybe he’s not a great fit for a zone scheme but those guys are off the board.
Moving into the fifth round …
No. 149: Ball State G Danny Pinter by the Colts. Incredibly athletic right tackle in college.
No. 151: Virginia WR Joe Reed by the Chargers. Between him and Texas’ Devin Duvernay, those are the two guys I was much higher on than others. RB build, 4.4 speed and electric returner.
Tacking on a couple more to make it an even 10 …
No. 156: San Diego State C Keith Ismael by the Redskins. Super-athletic. Like I wrote about Driscoll, he just needs some time. He might have slid in to replace Linsley in 2021.
No. 158: Virginia CB Bryce Hall by the Jets. If not for being injured last year, I bet Hall would have been long gone in Day 2.
Fifth Round (175): Kamal Martin, LB, Minnesota
In eight games, Martin tallied 66 tackles, 2.5 tackles for losses, two forced fumbles and two interceptions to earn honorable-mention all-Big Ten. In four seasons, he recorded 177 tackles, four forced fumbles and four interceptions. He was a difference-maker when he played. His 34-inch arms are at least a couple inches longer than most of the other linebackers. He allowed a 57 percent completion rate and just 4.4 yards per target but missed 11 tackles (14 percent) and had the lowest TFL count among our top 27 linebackers. He missed four games in 2019 with foot and knee injuries, skipped the bowl game, then had what he called a minor knee surgery that prevented him from testing at the Combine.
“I’m feeling really good,” he said at the Scouting Combine. “Had surgery, and you know nothing too serious, just got everything cleaned up in there. I’m close to being back to 100 percent. Had to take the opportunity to get my knee right. I’m still a few weeks out, but I’m going to be back.”
Along with injuries, he was suspended for the 2018 bowl game.
At Burnsville (Minn.) High School, Martin played quarterback and safety and was a finalist for Mr. Football Minnesota. “Growing up I was a huge Mike Vick fan as a quarterback. Huge Daunte Culpepper fan growing up and watching the Vikings. It’s surreal to be here and think about that. It’s pretty cool.”
Scout Brandian Ross: A lot of versatility and toughness. Played through knee injury as long as he could. Won't commit to him playing inside or outside at this point. "He can do a little bit of everything." Figures he's a 4.60 guy in the 40. Wasn't healthy for most of the 2019 season.
Sixth Round (192): Jon Runyan, T/G, Michigan
Jon Runyan, Michigan (6-4 1/4, 306; 33 1/4-inch arms): Runyan started at left tackle as a junior and senior, earning first-team all-Big Ten in both seasons. If you recognize the name, yes, he’s the son of former NFL standout Jon Runyan. A fourth-round pick in 1996, the elder Runyan started 192 games in 13 seasons. The younger Runyan was merely a three-star recruit.
“Growing up, it was kind of hard, especially trying to play football in the Philadelphia area. People were always giving me these unfair comparisons against my dad when I was just a 14-year-old kid just trying to find my way. I didn’t even know what position I was good at yet. It was really difficult, and I still get those comparisons to him. I feel like sometimes they’re unfair. I’m still going into my own. Feel like I’m at the point my whole life I’ve been living kind of in the shadow, but I’m trying to step outside that shadow and cast a bigger one over that one.”
Runyan had a strong Combine with an impressive 4.69 in the shuttle. He allowed two sacks but 16 total pressures for a pressure rate of 3.9 percent, according to Sports Info Solutions, which was about in the middle of the draft class. “I see myself projecting more inside at the next level, but I still feel like I will always have the capability of kicking out to tackle based on my athletic ability. I even did kind of play center my first year at Michigan, so I still have that. I’ve been pitching my versatility as an offensive lineman. Teams tell me not to push off the tackle idea. It’s something I’m fine with. I don’t care. My whole career, I’ve always just wanted to get on the field.”
On the conference call, Runyan said it was a blessing to have his dad there as a mentor. He believes he can play anywhere along the line. In conversations with Packers, he said he talked about guard and tackle but "I'm up for whatever. I'm about getting on the field and doing what's best for the team." Said he is trying to get out of his dad's shadow and creating a bigger one.
Saturday's draft picks
Seventh round: S Vernon Scott, OLB Jonathan Garvin
Sixth round (C): Packers make it a third O-lineman
Sixth round (B): Oregon center Jake Hanson
Sixth round (A): The son of an elite offensive lineman
Fifth round: Packers select linebacker Kamal Martin
Day 3 blog: Who did Packers miss out by trading fourth-round pick?
Crazy last hour or so with the five draft picks. My apologies if you were commenting and looking for some insight.
******** DAY 2 ********
Video: Talking A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones
Here's what you missed since signing off on Thursday night:
LOVE READY TO LEARN BEHIND RODGERS
GUTEKUNST MAKES ‘LONG-TERM DECISION’
NOTHING TO LOVE ABOUT THIS PICK (OPINION)
BACK TO FUTURE AS PACKERS TAKE LOVE
Video: Huber and Breer talk Love and Rodgers
A little draft history
Assuming the Packers stay at No. 62, here is that history from Pro Football Reference. The best of the recent No. 62s? Casey Hayward. Pittsburgh drafted star receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2017. The Packers landed a star receiver in Robert Brooks in 1992. Guard Ken Gray, who was drafted by the Packers in 1958, was a six-time Pro Bowler and 12-year starter. He never played for the Packers, though.
And, assuming the Packers stay at No. 94, here is that history. Baltimore found a Pro Bowl defensive tackle. On the other hand, Green Bay landed Ty Montgomery. It's not been a fertile position. In the history of the draft, only three players have reached two Pro Bowls.
Off and running
Receivers, perhaps the headline need for Green Bay to start the day, came off the board with the first two picks of the second round. Batting leadoff, Cincinnati selected Clemson receiver Tee Higgins. Up next at No. 34, Indianapolis selected USC receiver Michael Pittman.
Here's our top remaining receivers:
No. 5: Baylor’s Denzel Mims ... No. 8: Colorado’s Laviska Shenault ... No. 10: Texas’ Devin Duvernay ... No. 11: Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool ... No. 13: Michigan’s Donovan Peoples-Jones ... No. 14: Kentucky’s Lynn Bowden ... No. 15: Florida’s Van Jefferson
Blacklock goes to Texans; Taylor to Colts
I intended to mock TCU defensive tackle Ross Blacklock to the Packers for the final couple weeks until I made a late switch to Arizona State receiver Brandon Aiyuk. At No. 40, Houston selected Blacklock.
One pick later, Wisconsin's dominant running back, Jonathan Taylor, was selected by the Indianapolis Colts.
Aiyuk pick was last straw
When San Francisco traded up to get Aiyuk, that was the last straw for Packers GM Brian Gutekunst. At No. 22, Minnesota traded up to get LSU receiver Justin Jefferson. At No. 23, the Los Angeles Chargers traded up to get Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray. At No. 24, New Orleans grabbed Michigan lineman Cesar Ruiz. At No. 25, the 49ers swung a deal with Minnesota with Aiyuk.
It's easy to believe the last two receivers on Gutekunst's first-round board were Jefferson and Aiyuk. It's easy to see Murray being the linebacker Gutekunst coveted. It's easy to see Ruiz being the long-term replacement for free agent-to-be center Corey Linsley and potentially even a challenger at right guard as a rookie. When Aiyuk was gone, that was the last straw. In a draft full of depth, no teams wanted to move up to Green Bay's spot at No. 30.
"After certain picks in the mid-20s, we very much were weighing the options of moving back and we did not have a lot of great options there," Gutekunst said.
Gutekunst could have waited for No. 30 to get quarterback Jordan Love. Seattle (No. 27), Baltimore (No. 28) and Tennessee (No. 29) weren't going to draft a quarterback, after all. But Gutekunst "heard chatter" and either feared someone would jump ahead to take Love or caught wind of a team trying to do so, so he sent a fourth-round pick to Miami to move to No. 26 for Love.
"Playing quarterback in the National Football League is probably the hardest position in all of sports," Gutekunst said. "I think whenever you have the ability to take a player, whether it’s in the first round, second round, third round, that you think has a chance to play, you have to consider it. It really wasn’t about this year. This was not something we set out to do. It just happened that a guy that we liked fell to us, and we thought it was the best decision."
Showing some Love
In analyzing the quarterbacks in this year’s draft, it was easy to get hung up on Love’s FBS-leading 17 interceptions. (Full disclosure: I focused on the interceptions, too.) However, Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy raved about Love in an interview earlier in the day. Utah State’s supporting cast was awful – a 10-year NFL scout, for instance, called it the worst offensive line he’d ever seen. With a lack of protection and lack of open receivers, the results were predictable.
“I put out a tweet two months ago that he’s the only quarterback I’ve ever scouted that’s going to be throwing into bigger windows in the NFL than he threw into in college,” Nagy said. “The only one that’s even close is Matt Ryan at Boston College his last year there. What this guy could be if he sat a year, even two years, you could hit on a really, really high-end player – a Pro Bowl-level player. This isn’t just some guy. I thought it was a great move.”
The Ryan comparison is great. As a senior in 2007, Ryan threw 19 interceptions. His 12-year NFL average is 12.3.
Receivers update
With the second round halfway to Green Bay's spot at No. 62, Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman, Laviska Shenault and K.J. Hamler have been selected. Higgins and Pittman were two of our top receivers but the undersized Hamler almost certainly wasn't on Green Bay's board, anyway, and Shenault's injury history is troubling. Here's our top remaining receivers:
No. 5: Baylor’s Denzel Mims ... No. 10: Texas’ Devin Duvernay ... No. 11: Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool ... No. 13: Michigan’s Donovan Peoples-Jones ... No. 14: Kentucky’s Lynn Bowden ... No. 15: Florida’s Van Jefferson
(Update: As soon as I hit publish, Pittsburgh took Claypool at No. 49.)
The 62nd pick is in ... A.J. Dillon, RB, Boston College
The mammoth Dillon rushed for school records of 4,382 yards and 38 touchdowns in three seasons. He topped 1,000 yards each year, including career-high totals of 1,685 rushing yards, 5.3 yards per carry and 14 rushing touchdowns in 2019. He had only 21 career receptions.
He’s by far the biggest back in the class. But he’s got some finesse and wheels, as evidenced by his shocking 4.53 in the 40. He carried the ball 842 times in three years at Boston College. Only Taylor had more. He ran into a stacked box on a whopping 44 percent of his carries, according to Sports Info Solutions. The aforementioned Evans and Vaughn were a distant second at 25 percent. If this were 15 years ago, he’d be a top draft prospect. In today’s NFL, a back has to catch.
“Underrated is a phrase,” he said. It depends on how everybody rates. It’s an opinion. But I know that I’m definitely the full package and a team would get a hard worker out of me, a leader and obviously a running back who is capable of doing everything.”
There were plenty of good players available.
Scout Mike Owen and Dillon conference calls
The area scout, Mike Owen, believes Dillon can catch better than you might think for a guy with only 21 career catches. Been tracking him since his freshman year. Had three seasons of 1,000-plus yards. With 800-plus carries during that time, "I think he's got a body that's built to last. I don't see any breakdown in his body." Rare combination of size and athleticism. "God-gifted ability," Owen says. "Not a lot of guys on earth with those traits."
Owen saw a three-headed monster in the backfield with Dillon, Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams. He did not mention Dexter Williams, last year's sixth-round pick.
On his call, Dillon called himself an "all-purpose back" blessed with size and athleticism. "I feel like I can help out the Packers a lot." He was not surprised he went in the second round. "Football's an amazing game and I love it to death," he said, but knows he has a platform and must carry himself the right way.
He played more and more on third down as his career progressed. Sees himself as someone who can protect the passer and understand defenses. Catching the ball was a lack of opportunity. "When I did have those opportunities, I made the most of them." Said he had a good Combine as a receiver.
On his workload at BC: "I'm good to go, healthy as can be. I can handle the workload, I can be the workhorse." Had no issues at the Combine for his medical checks, "which is a blessing." Doesn't compare himself to other runners but says he's a student of the game. "Derrick Henry, the comparables definitely jump out." Can block, run and catch "with aggression." He ran zone 54 percent of the time at BC, according to Sports Info Solutions. He feels comfortable in that scheme.
The 94th pick is in ... Cincinnati TE Josiah Deguara
The Green Bay Packers selected Cincinnati tight end Josiah Deguara with their third-round pick on Friday night.
Deguara caught 38 passes for 468 yards and five touchdowns as a junior and 39 passes for 504 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior. He was first-team all-conference as a senior.
He’s undersized as tight ends go, measuring 6-foot-2 3/8 and 242 pounds at the Scouting Combine, where he ran his 40 in 4.72 seconds.
He’s always been undersized, though. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds coming out of high school, his only scholarship offers were from Cincinnati and Air Force. Too small? He put up better numbers at Cincinnati than NFL star Travis Kelce. “The NFL has always been a dream of mine, but it hasn’t always felt realistic,” Deguara said. “Even though it’s about to happen for me and I’m about to have that opportunity, it still doesn’t feel real.”
At tight end, Dayton star Adam Trautman and Mackey winner Harrison Bryant were available.
That means the Packers didn't draft a receiver with their first three picks. If you ask me, the vision for this team is power on offense and play-action passing.
Gutekunst wraps up the night
In his conference call, Gutekunst called it a "good night." But what about receiver? Not really disappointed. Six picks on Saturday and some "good players" are left. Felt fortunate to get running back A.J. Dillon in the second round. "He's going to add a lot to our offense." As for the tight end, Gutekunst is "excited" because he can line up everywhere. Tight end, H-back, fullback ... "matchup piece."
LaFleur wants to tie the run game to the pass game more, which is why he likes Dillon and Deguara. Hopes Dillon can be a force in cold-weather, late-season games. But he's "really an all-around back" and not just a big guy. Mentions the impact Lacy made.
Gutekunst has talked to Rodgers; wouldn't go into any details. "In my mind, it doesn't really affect him that much. He's still the quarterback of this team, and he will be for awhile. Hopefully we win championships with him." Thinks today's picks will help the offense and both can contribute right away.
