Good Bye J’aire Alexander

[tynimiller]

So once again we're going to fix everything in the draft. Cracks me up with here and other places well we'll just pick a wide receiver or an offensive lineman in the third fourth round. What are the odds that a guy being any good or helping you immediately. Better yet give me a name who's going to be available in the third or fourth round. Forget that you don't know he's going to be any good you don't even know who the hell is going to be available.

Hang on….who has stated, with certainty that everything is “fixed” in the draft?

Also knowing without certainty but a strong likelihood of who will be there in the third and fourth isn’t some magical ability for folks fully aware and familiar with the prospects - any specific position you’re curious of?

Back to the fix everything though…the amazing thing is this team is a returning everyone that played significant snaps from last years top ten defense except TJ Slaton…and on offense we only loss our center but likely are increasing that positional play with Jenkins and even without drafting anyone we have six ready OL with Banks and Morgan (who was splitting snaps with Rhyan with an injury).

The Packers are a team without any holes but for sure positions that need elevated…but especially need for 2026 year.

The “fix” is never just free agency (although we did sign two starter level guys).

It’s never just draft, although fully suspect we draft a guy or two minimum that play significant contributory snaps somewhere in 2025.

It’s never just player growth, although fully suspect we do have still an incredibly young team with some sure fire good players that are going into their sophomore and junior seasons that could continue to progress.

 

[Thirteen Below]

Better yet give me a name who's going to be available in the third or fourth round. Forget that you don't know he's going to be any good you don't even know who the hell is going to be available.

How many fans knew the names David Bakhtiari, Corey Linsley, Josh Sitton, Zach Tom, Romeo Doubs, Aaron Jones, Micah Hyde, Desmond Bishop, James Starks, Rasheed Walker, Marcus Valdez-Scantling, and Donald Driver going into their respective drafts, or could have predicted they would be there when we were up?

The hit rate on Day Three picks is lower than in the earlier rounds, of course. But there are still players there, and Green Bay has a long history of finding more of them than most teams do.

But I don't think it's accurate to say that Green Bay is counting just on the draft to save the season. Many of our key players are transitioning from the 3rd years into their 4th, and from their 2nd into their 3rd, and statistically that's the point in a player's career where he is most likely to make his biggest single-year step up. It's not just likely, but quite probable that many of key players over the last 2 seasons will be substantially better this season.

I agree it's risky to depend too much on that, because it is a big unknown. But Gute did not have a lot of options to improve the team this year - the free agent market was very weak, and the good players who were available were astronomically priced. Paying for those premium free agents would have dealt a major blow to our salary structure, at a time when we need to start locking our good young players into extensions.

I wish Gute had had more options this spring, but he just didn't. It was a bad year to need help in free agency.

 

[Thirteen Below]

We have to remember that the Packers are, first and foremost a "draft and develop" team - especially under Gutekunst. In this model, the primary means of building a roster is through shrewd scouting, accumulating large numbers of picks, using those picks wisely, and depending on the coaching staff to develop the talent.

A well-run "D&D" franchise will not hesitate to use trades and free agency to fill weak spots on the roster as necessary, but one of the characteristics of a good D&D team is responsible financial management - a good D&D team can not overpay for free agents or give up too much capital in a trade, because that limits their ability to pay their key young players as they do develop.

The only real problem I have with Gute's offseason so far is that I'm not comfortable with how much he had to pay the two free agents, but if he felt he had to do it, I defer to his judgment. I have noticed from time to time that every now and then he seems to have a better idea of how to do his job than I do, and it's just possible this is one of those times. I'm glad he chose not to overspend on other players who were available; some of those price tags would have messed up our salary structure for the next couple of years, and it's going to be complicated enough as it is.

 

[OldSchool101]

So once again we're going to fix everything in the draft. Cracks me up with here and other places well we'll just pick a wide receiver or an offensive lineman in the third fourth round. What are the odds that a guy being any good or helping you immediately. Better yet give me a name who's going to be available in the third or fourth round. Forget that you don't know he's going to be any good you don't even know who the hell is going to be available.

I’d say by later Round3, call it our selection, you can absolutely find a player who can contribute year1.

Keep in mind that until recent drafts, GB really went after medium/long term upside over more immediate contribution. I’d submit that 2024 showed us lean more into needs based combined with increased experience.

Morgan played 4 positions by regular season and had he not injured his shoulder twice? Had the starting RG locked up.

I’d submit Evan Williams. We moved up to #111 overall so he didn’t even get selected until RD4 and he basically was our preferred starter opposite McKinney in year1.

Edgerrin Cooper in year 1 did play more rotational, but as a RD2 selection he came in and pretty quickly established himself as a Starter capable player.

Javon Bullard is another example. Now while he was not some high producing Slot CB, he arguably Won a starting role.

 

[OldSchool101]

Now all that said, I agree that I think at CB it becomes a little more a stretch to Win a starter role as a perimeter guy in a Rookie season. However a aRD2-RD4 selection if scouted correctly, in a Win Now approach, can be a regular rotational player who can impact year1.
I think in GB we’re used to Baseball players being converted with 1 year HS and 2 starting seasons at the collegiate level after a Redshirt season, so we as Packer fans in particular are accustomed to “project” types.

In 2025, we are seeing the fruits of more players coming out with 3-4 and sometimes even 5 starting seasons, which hardly ever happened in the past. Players are just by default older and more experience than several years ago. Also we’re picking at #23 vs 29 or 30 etc. area which helps our cause. That means as mention from several posters, we COULD trade back 2-4 even 6+ spots and still grab a very good Day 1 selection. That gives us adequate firepower to maybe DOUBLE up at CB. Such as a pair of drafts picks in that RD3/RD5 area without losing our natural selections. At minimum it creates Much better depth as a contingency as the players develop throughout the season.

A trade with Buffalo at #30 reasonably could produce a pick swap of our #87 For their #62 plus their later 4th #132 overall. The Bills might actually like that flexibility at #23. They have 2 RD2 selections and 2 RD4 and 3 RD5 selections. So they’d be still be getting their preferred guy and still have
1:23
2:56
3:87
4:109
RD5, RD5, RD5

 

[OldSchool101]

For GB we’re got to be thinking about our future at CB regardless of J’aire.
This one example gives GB this lineup, don’t get hung up on exact position picks it’s the draft we can be flexible with availability and you can modify positions to your liking and availability.
#30 WR
#54 DT
#62 CB
#123 DE
#132 CB
#159 OL
#198 TE
#237 QB
#250 Teams

If we are careful to balance experience heavy (mixed with Conference strength) I absolutely think that top3 selections can product 2 players who earn substantial playing time.