GREEN BAY, Wis. – NFL Draft grades are the equivalent of a bag of chips. Sure, they’re delicious, but they’re nothing but empty calories. So, let’s enjoy an enormous helping of salty, crunchy Green Bay Packers draft grades.
Third Round – LB Ty’Ron Hopper: C-minus
With the short-term need driven by the schematic change and the longer-term need with Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson and Kristian Welch set to be free agents next offseason, Gutekunst double-dipped at linebacker with Hopper.
“He’s really physical,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Friday night. “He can run, but his stopping power, when he takes on blockers, is pretty impressive.”
Did Gutekunst reach on Hopper when NC State’s Payton Wilson – the Butkus Award winner with the lengthy injury history – was available? We’ll see, but that’s not the point of this critique.
Adding a second linebacker made sense but the Packers’ weakness at cornerback has not been addressed. Cornerbacks who had a chance to be taken in the first two days who remain available include Iowa State’s T.J. Tampa, Notre Dame’s Cam Hart, Missouri’s Kris Abrams-Draine and Wake Forest’s Caelen Carson.
The Packers also need a fourth defensive end. Penn State’s Adisa Isaac and Houston Christian’s Jalyx Hunt went a few picks later and Kansas’ Austin Booker, who had a predraft visit, is available. So is Wisconsin center Tanor Bortolini.
Third Round – RB MarShawn Lloyd: B-plus
At 5-foot-8 3/4 and 220 pounds, Lloyd can run with power. With 4.46 speed in the 40, Lloyd can run with game-breaking speed.
So long as he can catch the ball, which has never been his role, and stop fumbling, he’ll be a perfect fit in Green Bay. Those are two rather large caveats.
Big guys who can deliver a blow are the preferred style of runner in the Wisconsin cold. And with Josh Jacobs and AJ Dillon being more thunder than lightning, Lloyd’s big-play ability will be a welcome addition. He averaged 7.1 yards per carry and 17.8 yards per reception in 2023.
The other top running back on the board was Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright, who is faster but has less power.
Second Round – Javon Bullard: B-plus
Other than Tyler Nubin, Gutekunst had all the safeties available. He went with Bullard, who might not seem like the ideal fit alongside Xavier McKinney, though he does play bigger than his 197 pounds.
Gutekunst could have gone with Utah’s Cole Bishop, who was taken two picks later, or Washington State’s Jaden Hicks, who surprisingly went undrafted through three rounds. From a size perspective, they would have made sense as McKinney’s wingman. But Bullard has extensive experience in the slot, where the Packers were fortunate to get through last season without a backup behind Keisean Nixon.
The Packers re-signed Nixon to a three-year contract in free agency. Really, though, it’s only a year-to-year deal. If Nixon falters, Bullard could take his place in the lineup as soon as 2025.
Second Round – LB Edgerrin Cooper: A-minus
Gutekunst traded back from No. 41 to No. 45 and still got the man he wanted in making Cooper the first linebacker off the board.
Cooper’s numbers – both on-field production and predraft testing – were phenomenal as a game-wrecking linebacker.
“Cooper, the speed that he brings to the table at the linebacker position is rare,” Gutekunst said.
It’ll be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will make it work when he goes into his nickel package. Will Cooper or Quay Walker be the middle linebacker? From that perspective, Michigan’s Junior Colson might have been a better pick but Gutekunst went with the more productive and more explosive player.
And then there’s the matter of trading the 41st pick to the Saints, who selected Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry. If the Packers can’t stop top quarterbacks this season because they are undermanned at cornerback, it’ll be because Gutekunst opted for the All-American linebacker…
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