The 2024 NFL Draft is starting soon, and sure enough, Green Bay Packers fans are excited to see what the team will do in the upcoming rookie selection in order to further improve the roster.
Aside from mock drafts and analysis of potential prospects, though, one interesting thing to note about the Packers (and every team in the draft, for that matter) is their draft habits. Luckily, a recent analysis provided just that.
Green Bay Packers NFL Draft Trends
From the tool created by Arjun Menon–a former member of the New York Jets analytics department and someone who worked with Pro Football Focus before–fans can now track every NFL team’s athletic testing averages since 2011.
SB Nation used the tool and assessed how the Packers have drafted for the past decade or so, revealing some eye-opening numbers on what kind of players Green Bay likes.
In the wide receiver position, the Packers like them big, with the average height of the wideouts they took at 6’1.1. For running backs, they have a similar criteria, with the average weight of the backs they get being at 224.5 pounds–the heaviest among any other team in the league.
For the offensive line, the Packers often draft players who have a tackle background. With that being said, they rank in the Top 5 in the “short shuttle average for the tackle position.”
The Packers also apparently put a premium when selecting players for the defensive line, as proven by the fact that their average time for the 40-yard dash (4.94 seconds) and 10-yard split for interior defensive linemen are third and second in the league during that span, respectively.
At cornerback, the players the Packers have drafted have averaged 6.82 seconds on the three cone and 4.11 seconds on the second short shuttle. Green Bay, as the numbers show, also often avoid taking small CBs.
On the safety position, the average 40-yard dash time of the players the Packers liked are 4.47 seconds, which is second albeit just .01 behind the top NFL average.
Overall, the Packers are fond of taking big and athletic players, which isn’t really a surprise in a league that has high demand for physicality.
Green Bay Packers’ 2024 NFL Draft Needs
Considering all the numbers mentioned above, it will definitely be interesting to see what types of players the Green Bay Packers will take in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Green Bay has 11 picks in the upcoming draft, five of which are in the Top 100. They pick no. 25 overall in the first round before selecting twice each in the second (no. 41 and 58) and third (no. 88 and 91) rounds.
Some of the Packers’ biggest needs heading into the draft include the safety, inside linebacker and offensive tackle positions.
Considering how the Packers have drafted in the past, don’t be surprised if Green Bay adds more athleticisms and size to their promising roster.
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