The highlight of the Green Bay Packers‘ draft was undoubtedly their 23-year-drought-ending selection of a first round receiver in Matthew Golden at no. 23 overall. Leading the SEC with nine touchdown catches last season, the 6’0, 195-pound target out of Texas has the kind of WR1 potential the team was looking to provide for quarterback Jordan Love. By complementing their opening night pick with strong choices in later rounds, the Packers earned a division-best grade from draft analyst Chad Reuter of NFL.com.
Green Bay Packers NFL Draft Review
Day 2 of the draft saw Green Bay select offensive tackle Anthony Belton out of North Carolina State and receiver Savion Williams from TCU. In the fourth round, they made the wildly popular pick of Golden’s Longhorns teammate, edge rusher Barryn Sorrell. The Packers wrapped up the weekend with three other picks following Sorrell on Day 3: edge rusher Collin Oliver (5th round, Oklahoma State), defensive tackle Warren Binson (6th round, Georgia), cornerback Micah Robinson (7th round, Tulane) and tackle/guard John Williams (7th round, Cincinnati).
For Golden, Reuter handed out a grade of A, praising the receiver’s “physicality and crisp route-running” and calling him a “big-play threat.” Concluded Reuter, “Expect him to be a playmaker early in his career.” For a roster in search of a pass-catching stud, Golden is the kind of prospect that made bucking a two-decade trend worthwhile.
The team’s second and third round picks, Benton and Williams, received a grade of B; their Day 3 picks tallied a mark of B-plus.
Successful Draft Weekend Makes Up for Packers’ Underwhelming Free Agency Activity
Elsewhere in the NFC North, Detroit and Minnesota both received B’s, while Chicago graded out a tick better with a B-plus. Nudged to the top by Golden, whom they followed up with an array of solid selections, the Packers topped the division with an overall A-minus grade.
Interestingly, the Packers declined to snap up some of the tastier cornerbacks early in the draft, procrastinating until the final round to draft Robinson. If Jaire Alexander is traded for a non-cornerback in return–and for months now, a trade has seemed probable–the roster will have only two starting-caliber players at the position in veterans Keisean Nixon and the injury-prone Nate Hobbs, signed as a free agent in March. Otherwise subject to depth issues, perhaps they plan to keep Alexander after all.
However, Green Bay did address key needs at receiver and edge rusher after failing to do so in free agency. In the NFC, only the Giants, who drafted coveted Penn State edge rusher Adbul Carter no. 3 overall, received a higher grade. The Packers apparently do not plan to make up ground in the division via splashy trades or signings, but they may have done so, to an extent, with a quietly exciting draft.
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