The 2023 NFL Draft will take place in just three short days. The offseason for all 32 teams is essentially over and the real work begins next week. As we all know, the Green Bay Packers have had a very disappointing offseason. As of now, the Aaron Rodgers trade has not been completed, the team has lost contributors from 2022, and very little signings have taken place. This comes as no surprise as Green Bay predicates itself on building their team within the draft. With 11 selections in this year’s NFL Draft and possibly more courtesy of the New York Jets, Brian Gutekunst is going to have to make some serious headway to get the roster rebuilt. There are a lot of questions on the roster and have not been answered yet this offseason. Let’s take a look at the three most important questions that Brian Gutekunst will need to answer and address starting Thursday evening:
Does Jordan Love Have Enough Talent Around Him To Be Successful?
The Green Bay Packers went extremely heavy at the wide receiver position in the 2022 NFL Draft. This turned out to be very smart as both Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs had flashes last year. The downfall here and biggest concern is that both players missed time last season due to injury. In order for Love to be successful, he is going to need weapons who are consistently on the field. On top of that, the tight end room is extremely thin with little to no playmakers. I think that the focus in this year’s draft is going to have to be surrounding Jordan Love with enough talent and consistent playmakers. Green Bay has the reputation at putting little value on these skill positions. This notion and decision needs to be fixed going forward. Will this be the case, or will Brian Gutekunst go all-in and hope Watson, Doubs and Josiah Deguara will be able to get the job done and wait until day two or day three to address skill players?
Will Safety Be Addressed This Season Or Next Season?
Green Bay’s other most glaring need right now is safety. Unfortunately for the Packers, the safety position is one of the weakest position groups in this year’s draft class. A temporary solution would be to move Rasul Douglas to safety ,but it sounds as though that is not an option. It is unclear whether or not Adrian Amos will return, and Darnell Savage has declined more and more each year. This leaves Rudy Ford and Tariq Carpenter as the other safeties on roster. Green Bay most definitely missed an opportunity to add to this position in free agency all due in part to Aaron Rodger’s contract cap hit for this season. I think that Green Bay’s solution to the safety room is to address this on day three of the draft. Guys that I would be looking at are Quindell Johnson, JL Skinner, and Brandon Joseph. I would not reach for a safety day one or two, even though players such as Brian Branch and Christopher Smith would be available. This seems to be the year where Green Bay puts a half-used bandage on the safety position and makes it a top priority comes 2024.
Is There Value In Adding A Running Back?
Another position that Green Bay is going to look at is running back. Aaron Jones is in the second year of his contract extension, and AJ Dillon is in the year of his rookie contract. One thing we know about Brian Gutekunst is that he is not afraid to move on from a player too soon that has a contract that is heavy on the salary cap. AJ Dillon was a second round pick in 2020, but has not produced in way that a second round player would. See the dilemma here? It would would be absolutely foolish for Green Bay to address this position day one or day two. There is, however, a ton of day three talent that I think it would worth looking into. Players that I would highly consider on day three are: Deuce Vaughn, Tayjae Spears, and Mohamed Ibrahim. It would a very similar situation as 2020, but it would be potentially one less draft need going into 2024.
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