Four Pillars of Packers’ NFL Draft: Size, Speed, Versatility, Familiarity

A theme emerged for the Green Bay Packers during the 2025 NFL Draft. Well, four of them emerged. Here’s a big-picture look at the eight-man draft class.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden reacts after beign selected by the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The 2025 NFL Draft is over.

Mock drafts, consensus boards, you name it, they’ll all go back into storage until the 2026 cycle finds us.

For the Green Bay Packers, they often say the draft is the lifeblood of their franchise. It’s how they build the foundation of their roster.

Each draft takes on its own shape. When Brian Gutekunst turns a name in on the card, that shape begins to form, and occasionally a theme or two begins to emerge.

People love doing Mount Rushmore topics during mindless sports conversations.

This is not quite that, but this draft class did take on four distinct traits that I believe were pillars for this class.

Size

“Big don’t get small,” vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan said after the Packers selected offensive lineman Anthony Belton in the second round on Friday.

He’s right, and it demonstrates the Packers’ change of direction.

The addition of guard Aaron Banks in free agency was shocking for a variety of reasons. One of which is because the Packers typically don’t chase players with his size. The 325-pounder should add some power to Green Bay’s run game and help build a solid pocket for quarterback Jordan Love.

That trend continued with Belton. “Big Escalade” weighs 336 pounds. For good measure, they added 322-pound John Williams with their last pick of the draft.

That’s a departure from their previous philosophy, in which Green Bay’s prototype on the offensive line looked a lot more like last year’s first-round pick, Jordan Morgan. Morgan is not a small man, but he “only” weighs 311. Compared to these three men, that’s drastically different.

When the Packers drafted Josh Myers in 2021, Gutekunst cited the desire to build what he called a big, intimidating offensive line.

After the draft wrapped up on Saturday, coach Matt LaFleur mentioned looking at last year’s Super Bowl champion, the Philadelphia Eagles, as a team they needed to combat, which could be a reason for the shift along their front.

“Well, you want to get bigger as long as they’re talented, so I think it all goes hand in hand.” LaFleur said. “And I think it was pretty evident last year when you look at a team like Philly.

“They dominated most teams up front on their offensive line as well as their defensive line, so I think in order to combat some of these teams that have elite pass rushes, you better be able to protect the quarterback and run the ball. So, I thought to add big guys that can actually move, I think that’s a big-time positive for us.”

Gutekunst would not be as much of a prisoner of the moment, but he did note that a desire of his from the day he stepped in the big chair was to prioritize size.

“I think back in 2018 when I took over this thing, I thought that was critically important that we continued to stay big,” Gutekunst said after the selection of Belton.

“I think we have over the years, and I think it’s one of those things where that can get away from you quickly if you don’t pay attention to it. So, I think we’re in pretty good shape right now.”

With the addition of Banks and Belton, a future offensive line combination of Morgan, Banks, Elgton Jenkins, Belton and Zach Tom would combine to weigh 1,586 pounds.

If Gutekunst’s goal was to stay big, he accomplished that.  

North Carolina State Wolfpack offensive tackle Anthony Belton was drafted by the Green Bay Packers on Friday. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Speed

Perhaps this draft was an ode to the popular 1980s movie Top Gun.

The Packers had a need. The need for speed.

Their first pick filled that by leaps and bounds.

“You can’t teach 4.29,” LaFleur said of first-round pick Matthew Golden.

He’s right. The speed of Golden pops off the screen.

Golden is more than a speed receiver, which is why they made him their first receiver selected in the first round since 2002, which team President Mark Murphy noted when he announced the selection to a raucous crowd.

Adding speed to the receiver position was incredibly important. They had a dearth of it following the injury to Christian Watson, who likely will miss at least the first two months of the regular season.

Not content to have only one fast, explosive threat at the position, the Packers added Savion Williams in the third round.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden (2) catches a pass over the head of UTSA Roadrunners cornerback Zah Frazier. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

He didn’t run a 4.29 like Golden at the Scouting Combine in February, but he did run a 4.48 at 222 pounds. His speed and explosion shows up in his tackle-breaking ability, and he can take the top off of a defense. Sometimes, the Packers have gotten stuck with only one speed threat on the roster, and it has hindered them when that player has been sidelined.

Now, in theory, an 11 personnel grouping could include some combination of Golden, Watson, Williams and Jayden Reed, all of whom have the ability to stretch the field vertically and horizontally.

Receiver was not the only position in which the Packers added speed. They did so at defensive end, as well.

If they broke a mold by drafting a receiver in the first round, they smashed it by drafting Collin Oliver in the fifth round.

Twice this offseason, Gutekunst talked about adding smaller speed rushers and the worries that had prevented it in the past.

“You love those guys that can scream off the edge and come in on third down and that’s all they play, and they play 20 snaps a game, tops, but they’re very effective," Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine.

"Then when you do have injuries and you need him to play 50 snaps, can he? So, there’s room for those kind of guys. I just think you’ve got to be creative from a roster-management piece how you use those guys.”

Perhaps the roster-management piece that Gutekunst was alluding to was adding a player like Oliver, who will be a “designated pass rusher,” a stack linebacker and special-teams contributor.

“Yeah, nice little change-up it might be, I feel like.” Oliver said when asked about his speed vs. the bigger defensive ends on the roster. “I win with speed but my speed also sets up my power, so it kind of keeps the offensive linemen off-guard. That’s part of my game. I can do a lot of things really well. So, it’ll be a great mixture rushing.”

Versatility

“Versatile, very versatile,” Savion Williams said when asked about the skill-set he is bringing to the NFL.

He was direct and to the point in that way, and he was not the only player who will bring versatility to the team.

Golden will play wide receiver and in the slot. Williams will line up all over the formation.

“We look at him as a receiver,” Gutekunst said when asked if Savion Williams would also play running back, like Ty Montgomery did in Green Bay and Cordarrelle Patterson has done during the second half of his career.

“Obviously, he’s versatile and he can do a lot of things. I do think he can do some of that stuff that those other guys did, as well, but we look at it as a receiver that can do all the things that we ask. I do think it’s going to be interesting how Matt draws some stuff up. When we had Tyler (Ervin) and did some of those things, I thought it was pretty unique how Matt was able to see him and find areas where he could help us produce, and I think this will be the same way.”

CU Horned Frogs wide receiver Savion Williams (3) runs for a touchdown against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

In addition, the linemen, both college left tackles, can play guard. It’ll be curious to see if Belton’s career will truly begin at tackle, as Gutekunst and LaFleur said, or if they will begin training him on the interior immediately.

Oliver’s versatility shows up in his ability to play on the line of scrimmage and off the ball.

It’s the old phrase of the more you can do, the more chances there will be to get on the field and make an impact.

The Packers brought in several players with the versatility to impact the team in a multitude of ways.

Familiarity  

Of Green Bay’s eight draft picks, five of them came to Green Bay on a predraft visit.

That familiarity was something the Packers talked about a lot over the course of the weekend. The changing landscape of college football has changed the way the scouting process works. It has to.

College football players are essentially professionals now. A lot of them have made life-changing money before they’ve stepped foot on a professional football field. That changes the way some players can be motivated. Getting to know the players before the draft has become more important.

“This is where the scouting process, in my opinion, is so imperative is you’ve got to do a lot of digging to find out how much not only do they love the game but do they need it,” LaFleur said.

“I think guys that are genuinely invested and love it, you’re going to get the most out of them. Our scouts do an unbelievable job of uncovering some of that stuff because, if you ask them all, they’re all going to give you pretty much the same answer.”

The difference between wanting the game vs. needing it was a big one.

Golden was emotional when he was drafted and joked he would get a workout in the same night. Belton was almost giddy talking on his conference call about wanting to get to work.

There was, however, no bigger testament of that than fourth-round pick Barryn Sorrell. Sorrell arrived in Green Bay on Wednesday just to experience the draft because he’d “been a fan of this league for a really long time.” That meant a long wait until being drafted on Saturday.

Incredibly, he was drafted by the Packers, so he was able to take his family around the stadium and into the media auditorium for his impromptu introductory news conference. When he was asked to introduce the large contingent, he broke down in tears when he mentioned his mom.

It was a short introduction, but it was easy to see the emotion and passion that inspired the Packers to pick him.

Of all the traits this draft has, that familiarity and desire to build the team’s culture is the one that took center stage by the time the last pick was made late Saturday night.