Gutekunst Watches Top Receiver, Tall Corner at Minnesota
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst was at Minnesota’s pro day on Thursday, a noteworthy development with the draft four weeks away.
The Golden Gophers have only two draft-worthy performers. One is potential first-round receiver Rashod Bateman and the other is supersized cornerback Benjamin St-Juste.
Bateman, our fourth-ranked receiver, measured 6-foot 3/8 and 190 pounds. He ran his 40 in 4.39 seconds (unofficially) with a 36-inch vertical.
Bateman initially opted out of the 2020 season. He told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that he had COVID-19 over the summer. When the Big Ten started its season late, Bateman decided to play. He played in five games but opted out again after a spate of COVID cases within the Gophers led to the cancellation of the game against Wisconsin. He can play on the outside and in the slot.
RELATED: GET TO KNOW RASHOD BATEMAN
In two full seasons and his COVID-abbreviated final campaign, Bateman caught 147 passes for 2,395 yards and 19 touchdowns. He had a monster sophomore campaign with 60 grabs for 1,219 yards (20.3 average) and 11 scores to earn first-team all-conference and third-team All-American honors. In 2020, the catch number was strong (36) but he wasn’t nearly as productive in terms of big plays (13.1 average, two touchdowns). He caught at least one pass in all 31 games with 10 100-yard performances.
The Packers re-signed 6-foot-3 cornerback Kevin King to a one-year deal. St-Juste could be developed into a size-for-size replacement if available with a third-round pick. He measured 6-foot-3 1/4 and 202 pounds, with a 4.51 in the 40, 34.5-inch vertical and superb times in the 20-yard shuttle (4.00) and three-cone drill (6.63).
“I felt good,” he said. “I felt like relieved to really go out there after like three, four months of training. I felt like I showed what I needed to show. A lot of scouts were impressed with my speed and how quick I can be. I felt fast and really quick, so that was a big question for me as a tall corner. Can he move? Can he be quick? And all that stuff. I feel like I'm hard on myself that like there could have been better in certain areas, but it is what it is and now it's time to go play ball.”
A native of Montreal, he opened his career at Michigan in 2017 before transferring to Minnesota. In two seasons with the Golden Gophers, he had zero interceptions and 13 passes defensed.
He is one of a few top corners Gutekunst has watched in person, including Florida State's Asante Samuel and Northwestern's Greg Newsome.
