Where’s Gutey? Eventful Week for Packers GM Brian Gutekunst

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst logged some frequent-flier miles this week, attending the NFL pro day workouts at Alabama on Wednesday, Notre Dame on Thursday and Missouri on Friday.

One of the star attractions at Notre Dame was Joe Alt, who is in contention to be the first offensive tackle selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. With Alt a potential top-10 pick, his sidekick, Blake Fisher, might have been of greater interest to Gutekunst.

Fisher started 25 games at right tackle over his final two seasons. Pro Football Focus charged him with three sacks in 2023. At 6-foot-5 3/4 and 310 pounds, he ran his 40 in 5.20 seconds at the Scouting Combine and put up 22 reps on the 225-pound bench press at pro day.

“To continue to show my versatility out of a left-hand and right-hand stance,” Fisher told reporters. “A strong punch, smart player, short-area quickness, just all the things that you want to see in an offensive tackle. … Run blocking, pass blocking from a left-handed or right-handed side. So, I think it just continues to show them that I'm a versatile player. I can play left, I can play right. I'm equally as comfortable at both.”

Fisher is viewed as a second- or third-round prospect. Linebacker Marist Liufau and running back Audric Estime could be in the third-round conversation, as well.

With the move to a 4-3 base defense and release of De’Vondre Campbell, the Packers have a huge need at linebacker. Liufau measured 6-foot-2 1/8 and 234 pounds and ran his 40 in 4.64 seconds at the Combine. At pro day, he showed his short-area quickness with a 4.18 in the 20-yard shuttle.

He had 44 tackles, including three sacks and six tackles for losses, as a senior, when he was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, which goes to the nation’s top linebacker.

“I feel like I’m very versatile as a linebacker,” he told reporters. “Being able to cover, being able to get off the ball and get guys lined up and being a vocal leader out there, and also being able to rush off the edge or wherever a coach needs me. I feel like I proved I’m one of the best out there and can compete at the next level.”

Estime had a big day by greatly improving his time in the 40. Green Bay will be looking to add to a running back group led by Josh Jacobs and AJ Dillon, though it might be looking for a change-of-space speedster.

Gutekunst has said he’s looking to build upon a quarterback room anchored by starter Jordan Love and Sean Clifford. In five seasons at Wake Forest and the 2023 season at Notre Dame, Sam Hartman threw an ACC-record 134 touchdown passes and ranks second with 15,656 passing yards.

“Six very, very long years,” he joked to reporters.

During his lone season for the Fighting Irish, he completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 2,689 yards with 24 touchdowns vs. eight interceptions.

“It’s been surreal,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you’ve been in college for so long that you think it might not come, and then it does and you blink your eyes and it’s over. I tried to enjoy it as much as I can. Sometimes, I feel like I didn’t enjoy it enough. I’m just grateful and excited for the future.

“I thought I did a good job. I wanted to show some drive [on my passes] and feel like I can spin the ball at a high rate. I really let some of those deeper balls go.”

At Alabama a day earlier, All-American cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry’s fast 40 might have solidified his spot in the first round. He was set to have surgery on Friday to repair a Jones fracture in his left foot. He should be ready for rookie camp.

On Friday, Gutekunst bypassed the star-studded Michigan pro day – the Wolverines set a record for most players at the Scouting Combine – in favor of a longer flight to Missouri. Two more cornerbacks, Ennis Rakestraw and Kris Abrams-Draine, would have been under the microscope, along with defensive lineman Darius Robinson.

The Tigers’ best prospect is Robinson. If there was a single reason why Gutekunst would have picked Missouri, getting an up-close look at a potential first-round pick might have been it. He figures to go somewhere between No. 20 and No. 30, according to a source at the workout.

The 6-foot-5, 285-pounder, who ran his 40 in 4.95 seconds and dominated the jumps at the Combine, had 8.5 sacks and 14 tackles for losses as a senior. Then, he had a big week at the Senior Bowl. He could set a physical edge in the base defense and rush from the inside on passing downs.

It was an important day for Rakestraw, who put up disappointing numbers at the Combine – though his 10-yard split of 1.52 seconds helped at least partially offset a 4.51 in the 40. He improved the 40 time slightly, the source said.

It’s important to note that Rakestraw had groin surgery in December.

“(Teams have told me) that I'm good," Rakestraw told reporters. “The tape speaks for itself. A lot of teams said they're really just amazed that I came out here and ran. I haven't ran since the Combine. I just started running on Monday, just to show the willingness to still try to do it in a line. It just shows (my) competitive drive. Because now, they know it's on film and what everybody says of it, and now they've witnessed it again.”

Running back Cody Schrader, who finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting after rushing for 1,627 yards and catching 22 passes as a senior, could be a late-round target after a less-than-spectacular Combine.

“I think people will recognize that I'm a football player and they see it. Everything that I've heard is that they really enjoyed watching me during the season,” he told reporters. “They thought I'm a really good running back and that's the greatest compliment I can get.”