Unprecedented Draft, Unimaginable Results

Nobody could have expected the Packers to draft a quarterback in the first round while ignoring receiver and defensive line.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Apr 26, 2020 9:53 AM EDT

GREEN BAY, Wis. – A draft unprecedented in NFL history ended with unimaginable results for the Green Bay Packers.

After building a team that reached the NFC Championship Game, general manager Brian Gutekunst used his first-round draft pick on a quarterback, Jordan Love.

Rather than surround his veteran quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, with more weapons, Gutekunst didn’t draft a single one of the record 36 receivers that were selected.

The run defense that was demolished by the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game got only one addition, fifth-round linebacker Kamal Martin.

The decision to bypass a receiver class that was historically loaded – on paper, anyway – was an obvious shock. Only a few days before the draft, Gutekunst spoke about aggressively targeting the position.

“It is a deep class, but I don’t think you can just count on things and wait and expect to get a really good player,” he said on Monday. “If there’s guy we think can play and can help us, I don’t think we’ll wait too long.”

However, when LSU’s Justin Jefferson and Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk went off the board at No. 22 and No. 25, respectively, Gutekunst didn’t see value and couldn’t find a partner to trade back. Instead, he traded up for Love, a bold move meant to secure the success of the franchise well into the next decade. Key in that was losing a fourth-round pick, because it left Gutekunst short on ways to trade up short of giving away future picks.

With the Packers’ pick at No. 62 of the second round approaching, receivers Van Jefferson of Florida and Denzel Mims of Baylor were available. Based on the trade-value chart, that fourth-round pick would have allowed him to move up five spots. Instead, Mims went to the Jets three picks before Green Bay would be on the clock. So, Gutekunst drafted running back A.J. Dillon. In the third round, prolific Texas receiver Devin Duvernay went two spots ahead of Green Bay. Again, having that fourth-rounder would have let Gutekunst move up. Instead, he took Cincinnati tight end Josiah Deguara.

Dillon is a massive, fleet-footed back who should contribute immediately and provide valuable insurance behind free agents-to-be Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams. “I love Josiah,” coach Matt LaFleur said of his new tight end in a tone of voice that made it perfectly clear it wasn’t mere coach-speak. Maybe Gutekunst would have drafted them, anyway, even if he could have landed a receiver. They’ll be good fits and will help Rodgers, but they’re not receivers who can help Rodgers.

“I think it’s a little bit the way everything kind of fell early in the draft,” Gutekunst said afterward. “Just didn’t work out that we weren’t able to select some of the guys that we had rated really highly. And once we got to the middle and towards the end of the draft, I just didn’t think there was great opportunity to add a player that was going to make an impact on our roster this year. You guys know how hard it is for young players at that position to make impacts early. Certainly with some of the guys that we’ve had in the past that became really good players, it took them two or three years to get there. We have a few of those guys who are entering that second or third year of their career that you expect a lot of them.”

So, Gutekunst will count on the returning group of Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown and Jake Kumerow, free-agent addition Devin Funchess, Canadian import Reggie Begelton and practice-squad player Malik Taylor to do what the group as a whole couldn’t do a year ago alongside Davante Adams.

Almost as surprisingly, Gutekunst ignored the run defense that was no more than a mere speedbump with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. At No. 26, the Packers could have had LSU linebacker Patrick Queen rather than Love. In the second round, they could have drafted Wyoming linebacker Logan Wilson. In the third round, they could have drafted Ohio State linebacker Malik Harrison. At least he drafted a linebacker with Minnesota’s Kamal Martin in the fifth round. Gutekunst didn’t even touch a weak defensive line class. That means, like at receiver, a group that wasn’t up to the challenge in 2019 will be asked to play better in 2020. Dean Lowry wasn’t good enough after his contract extension and former third-round pick Montravius Adams hasn’t been good enough, period.

“We have to get better in that area,” Gutekunst said. “It was a little bit of an Achilles heel at times last year, but I like the group and if we stay healthy I think we’ll be able to correct it.”

The media pundits are tearing this draft to shreds and Twitter was in an uproar for most of three days. Gutekunst was perhaps the most popular man in Green Bay following his free-agent spending spree 14 months ago. Now, he's one of the least popular. But at this point, it’s all conjecture and meaningless talk.

“I like our football team right now,” Gutekunst said. “It doesn’t mean it won’t change but I like where we’re at.”