For Packers, Super Bowl Will Be Like Watching Kevin King-T.J. Watt 2.0

Drafting Kevin King and bypassing T.J. Watt was a monumental mistake in 2017. The Packers erred in 2023, as well, which they’ll be reminded of on Super Bowl Sunday.

Green Bay Packers defensive end Lukas Van Ness celebrates after tackling Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler. | Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Even great talent evaluators make mistakes.

In 1992, Ron Wolf’s first draft pick as general manager of the Green Bay Packers was used on cornerback Terrell Buckley when he could have selected Wisconsin cornerback Troy Vincent, who wound up being a five-time Pro Bowler.

In 2017, Ted Thompson could have drafted Wisconsin edge rusher T.J. Watt. Instead, he traded out of the first round and drafted cornerback Kevin King at the top of the second round. King concluded his NFL career with seven interceptions and 32 passes defensed. Watt is an eight-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro with nine interceptions and 57 passes defensed. Oh, and 115 sacks.

While the Watt-King decision was an all-time blunder, any general manager who’s spent more than a minute in the NFL has picked the wrong player. That’s how it goes in the inexact science that is draft evaluation.

Nonetheless, when the Seattle Seahawks face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, two players who Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst could have drafted will play starring roles.

Packers Could Have Drafted Christian Gonzalez

In the 2023 NFL Draft, the Packers were scheduled to pick 15th but moved up to 13th as part of the trade that sent Aaron Rodgers to the Jets.

Cornerback was a need entering the 2023 draft, though not as glaring as the need to upgrade the pass rush, which is the direction Gutekunst chose to go with Lukas Van Ness. In 2022, Jaire Alexander was a second-team All-Pro after intercepting a career-high five passes and Rasul Douglas added four interceptions. However, after an impressive rookie season, 2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes was going through a sophomore slump in 2022 even before he suffered season-ending injuries at Detroit.

Stokes never recaptured his groove, Douglas was shipped to Buffalo at midseason in 2023 and Alexander’s career fell off a cliff. Suddenly, an absolutely critical position group that looked strong had become weak, and the Packers have utterly failed to rebuild it.

Instead of taking Van Ness at No. 13, they could have taken cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who wound up going 17th to New England. After missing most of his rookie season with a torn labrum, Gonzalez was second-team All-Pro in 2024 and a Pro Bowler in 2025.

New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) reacts after an interception against the Denver Broncos. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The numbers from Pro Football Focus tell the story.

• Christian Gonzalez: 46.1 percent completions, 64.4 passer rating, one touchdown, four penalties.

• Keisean Nixon: 60.0 percent completions, 104.6 passer rating, seven touchdowns, 14 penalties.

• Carrington Valentine: 56.4 percent completions, 109.4 passer rating, five touchdowns, six penalties.

• Nate Hobbs: 68.0 percent completions, 125.3 passer rating, two touchdowns, four penalties.

Of 97 cornerbacks who played at least 245 coverage snaps (Hobbs played 247) in 2025, Gonzalez was third in completion percentage and sixth in passer rating. Nixon was 72nd in passer rating, Valentine was 81st and Hobbs was 89th.

With the season on the line, Van Ness – who had 1.5 sacks in nine games in 2025 and just 8.5 sacks in three seasons – didn’t provide nearly enough pass rush to help Nixon and Valentine hold off the Bears in the wild-card game. With the Patriots’ season on the line at Denver, Gonzalez grabbed the clinching interception.

Packers Could Have Drafted Jaxon Smith-Njigba

In 2022, the Packers traded Davante Adams and drafted Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. Now, having traded Rodgers to the Jets and handing the keys of the offense to Jordan Love, the Packers could have given their new starting quarterback a premier receiver.

With Watson and Doubs on the perimeter, Jaxon Smith-Njigba could have been a terror in the slot while growing into a larger role.

That’s exactly what happened. The 20th pick by the Seahawks, he caught 63 passes for 628 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie. He had a breakout second season with 100 receptions for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns last season and dominated this year with 119 receptions for an NFL-high 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns to earn All-Pro honors.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

His dominance was foreshadowed when he destroyed Green Bay’s defense at this year’s joint practice.

“Yeah, he’s a beast, man,” safety Evan Williams said that day. “He’s just a guy that’s really smooth in all of his routes. Just a guy that makes everything look the same, and those are some of the hardest receivers to guard. They’re pushing up the field and you don’t know if they’re really running, going vertical, you don’t know if they’re going to break. He’s definitely a guy that’s really sudden at the break point. I’ve got a lot of respect for that guy and I’m sure he’s going to tear it up this year.”

Williams was right. In an absolutely absurd season, Smith-Njigba had less than 70 yards only once in the regular season. Then, he destroyed the Rams in the NFC Championship Game with 10 catches for 153 yards and one touchdown.

According to Pro Football Focus, he forced 18 missed tackles and dropped only three passes (2.5 percent). Green Bay’s top three receivers combined for 1,667 yards. All of Green Bay’s receivers combined to force 16 missed tackles.

Green Bay’s receivers have been good since the Adams trade. They just haven’t been great. Here are their season leaders:

• 2022 – Allen Lazard: 60 catches (61.2 catch percentage), 788 yards, six touchdowns.

• 2023 – Jayden Reed: 64 catches (71.1 percent), 793 yards, eight touchdowns.

• 2024 – Jayden Reed: 55 receptions (73.3 percent), 857 yards, six touchdowns.

• 2025 – Romeo Doubs: 55 receptions (66.3 percent), 724 yards, six touchdowns.

• 2025 (Seattle) – Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 119 receptions (75.8 percent), 1,793 yards, 10 touchdowns.

Smith-Njigba had nine games of 100-plus yards this season. All of Green Bay’s receivers combined for eight the past three seasons. He had four games of 125-plus yards this season. The Packers had zero this season.

With solid but unspectacular results provided by Watson, Doubs, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, the Packers used this year’s first-round pick on Matthew Golden in hopes that he can be the game-changing talent that Smith-Njigba has proven himself to be for the NFC champs.

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