Gutekunst, LaFleur Discuss Packers’ Nine Picks
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The 2020 NFL Draft will go down in the books as one of the most unexpected in Green Bay Packers history because of first-round pick Jordan Love. Love was one of nine players selected by the team. Here’s what general manager Brian Gutekunst, coach Matt LaFleur and the scouts had to say about those players.
First round: LaFleur on QB Jordan Love
“We spent some time with Jordan. We had a FaceTime interview with him, myself and Nathaniel Hackett and Luke Getsy. The one thing I took away from that is, this guy is a humble guy. We showed some of his really good clips, which he is extremely talented, as well as some clips that weren’t the best. What I love about him is just the accountability he took for everything, whether it was a good play, bad play. I think that gives you a chance any time you have that kind of mind-set. The talent is there. He is a natural thrower. He’s fearless in the pocket, he’s athletic. It’s one of those rare opportunities where we never thought we’d be in a situation like we were.”
Second round: Area scout Mike Owen on RB A.J. Dillon
“You don’t hear those numbers come around too often. I had a chance to scout the guy for the Giants right now, Saquon, with those kinds of numbers. Now we got AJ Dillon here with impressive numbers also , it’s just God-gifted ability that blessed them with height, weight, speed and athleticism to do that, you know? A lot of people in America wish they had that kind of traits.”
Third round: LaFleur on TE Josiah Deguara
“I love Josiah. He is extremely versatile. The thing he brings to our offense is we can be in the same personnel grouping, and we can line him up on the line of scrimmage or in a wing alignment or we can line him up in the backfield. I just think that adds stress to a defense in terms of how are these guys going to line up and what exactly they’re going to do. When you watch Josiah, you see such a gritty, tough player. I’m very close with the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati, Mike Dembrock, and he raves about the guy.”
Fifth round: Area scout Brandian Ross on LB Kamal Martin
“He’s a guy who can cover tight ends down the field. He has some length and size to him that allows him to be more physical with those tight ends who like to stretch the seam. I think he’s going to be a guy who will give you another versatile piece when dealing with those bigger, faster tight ends because of his ability to run downfield and play out in space and cover backs and tight ends.”
Sixth round: Gutekunst on OL Jon Runyan, Jake Hanson and Simon Stepaniak
“With Jon Runyan, starting left tackle at Michigan for the past couple of years, we really like his versatility to move inside as well as play outside. We may experiment with him inside and kind of see where his best fit is. Obviously, he’s been around the game for a long time with his father, who played for a long time in the NFL. He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s really athletic. Had a chance to see him at the all-star games and just really thought he’d be a good fit for our culture and our team. Jake Hanson, I think he’s got 47 starts at center at Oregon. He’s got enough size and versatility that, if he had to kick out to guard, he could do so. Just really a model of consistency and another culture guy, the kind of guys that we like to bring into our offensive line room. The third one, Simon, probably would have gone a lot higher; obviously had the (knee) injury and will probably be on the shelf still for a little while. With the value where we were picking, it was worth taking a little bit of a chance to take a guy who might not be ready right away. His strength and his power, played in the Big Ten for a long time, just another guy that really fit. I thought he had the traits that he could turn into a really strong offensive lineman candidate.”
Seventh round: Gutekunst on S Vernon Scott
“He’s a mid-4.4 guy (in the 40). He’s got the size, he’s about 6-1, 200 pounds. We really like his versatility. He’s got a little bit of that ability to play safety but he can cover in the slot a little bit. He’s a little of a late bloomer, some struggles to get through the early part of his college career but once he took off this year, we just really liked his upside.”
Seventh round: Gutekunst on OLB Jonathan Garvin
“He’ll start out on the edge. I think he has some of that position flexibility where he can do some things like our other edge guys do where they go inside and rush the passer from the three-technique and different things. But he’ll be an edge guy more than an interior player.”
