The Green Bay Packers enter the NFL draft with a roster that many consider to be a top five on paper. However, the Packers lack depth in some premier positions. Everyone knows the Packers need to take a receiver early on but there are other positions that they must address in the NFL draft if they are to be competitive next year and beyond.
Safety
The Green Bay Packers have a really good set of safeties in Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos. However, both are in the final year of their contracts and while Savage could have his 5th year option picked up, he is coming off a season where PFF had him as the 69th ranked safety out of 100. The Packers should look to address safety in the first four rounds of the draft. The other option is to extend Amos or Savage and hope Savage plays closer to his 2020 play when he was one of the rising safeties in the NFL.
Edge Rusher
The Packers lost depth at edge rusher this offseason. All-Pro Za’darius Smith signed with division rival Minnisota and Whitney Merciless retired. The Packers have two proven edge rushers on their team in Preston Smith and Rashan Gary but the drop off in talent is large after those two. Edge is a position where you need three guys that can rotate and stay healthy. The Packers are one injury away from having a bad edge group.
Tackle
The Packers got by last year with a rotation of Billy Turner, Yosuah Nijman, and Elgton Jenkins. Billy Turner was cut when the offseason started and Elgton Jenkins is coming off a torn ACL and not looking to be available till week eight at the earliest. Luckily for the Packers David Bakhtiari should be back and healthy and Nijman is still on the roster. The Packers are hopeful that Bakhtiari’s last season complications are gone. However, after Nijman and Bakhtiari the packers are dangerously thin at tackle.
Center/Guard
The Packers have their center of the future in Josh Myers who played well before injuring his finger and knee. But they lost their backup center and swing guard in Lucas Patrick who signed with the Chicago Bears this offseason. They should look for a swing lineman who can play all three interior spots earlier in the draft for depth and building the future.
Cornerback
The Packers have one of the best secondaries in the NFL right now with; Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, and Rasul Douglas. However, Stokes and Douglas are mostly boundary corners and Alexander can do it all. The reality is the Packers like to three to four corners often and its a passing league at the end of the day. If Douglas doesn’t repeat his play from last year, or Stokes takes a step back, or Alexander has issues with his shoulder he hurt last year the Packers could be in some trouble after losing Chandon Sullivan this offseason.
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