Official Draft Night Thread

[tynimiller]

It just feels like a Gute swinging a trade up tomorrow for DZ or maybe Amos or Hairston....

 

[OldSchool101]

I'm underwhelmed. While fast, Golden is small. Can he beat our Doubs and Wicks for snaps? I seriously doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the #4 WR on the depth chart this season.

Just because he's small, I wouldn't compare him to Amari Rodgers but I just have a hard time seeing how he adds much to the offense.

IMO Goldens floor with moderate usage is Doubs and I’m talking yesterday. If used properly and he improves his drops (see Watson) and learns better press and release technique, we could easily be talking a ~1000+ yard type Receiver in a committee team approach. Possibly more if he reaches his ceiling.

What i like best is Golden is not great at anything, but he’s really good at everything. he can play all 3 WR roles also. He’s made ready for the NFL at 23 years old and rising. He’s capable of taking an ordinary play into a highlight reel

He’s the perfect Watson replacement. If Watson somehow gets back in the mix late in the year? the speed we’ll have with both guys simultaneous will either cause deep coverage issues for opponents or allow Jacobs and Lloyd to gash you underneath.

 

[gopkrs]

He doesn't have a drop problem

 

[Thirteen Below]

While I won't say it's a bad pick, I also can't say I'm doing somersaults over it. I was really hoping for a trade back, but if nobody's willing to make a deal, that's hard to do. I feel very strongly that Gute wanted to slide back a bit, too; he'd almost have to have lost his mind not to have wanted to.

Golden's going to help the team; his speed will open up a lot more options for he rest of the offense - both the WRs and the RBs. We all saw last year how very much more effective and efficient Lafelur's offense was when Watson was there to stretch the field, and how anemic and easily defended it was when he was not on the field. Golden is a WR who has been compared to Brandon Aiyuk, and should be able to step right in and take over Watson's role.

I would have rather traded back and taken Hairston, and then Higgins in Round 2, because I think that would have made our team better than whatever we're probably going to do instead. But as I say every time Gute does something that puzzles me, the man knows a lot more than i do and is a lot better at his job than I would be. Of course the man does sometimes make mistakes, but it's way too early to say whether this is one of them

He clearly saw "speedster WR" as a higher priority than I did, so i just have to assume he knows more than I do. I'm sure he's got ideas for EDG, CB, and maybe DT tomorrow and into Saturday, so we'll just see how ti plays out.

Bottom line is - Gute made the team better tonight; maybe quite a bit better. Tomorrow, he'll have more chances to make it even better. Let's wait and see where we're sitting Saturday night.

If Watson somehow gets back in the mix late in the year? the speed we’ll have with both guys simultaneous will either cause deep coverage issues for opponents or allow Jacobs and Lloyd to gash you underneath.

Plus, it pretty much eliminates any temptation to hurry Watson back into the lineup any sooner than he may be ready. If the recovery takes a little longer than expected, ok - no worries. We can ease him back in at a pace that's medically advisable, and come January.... wow. Look out.

 

[tynimiller]

I don’t see him at all as versatile as Watson…sure he runs fast but Watson all around is a better player right now than Golden for sure. Even as a rookie prospect I would say that IMO.

Golden gonna have to show a willingness to block for me to not want Watson back out there asap lol

That said I get it though, IF Golden can be a big play guy and it keeps the team winning…not pushing Watson back is a good fallout of that

 

[DoURant]

Was at a draft party, so missed the talk tonight, so trying to catch up.

Golden is what consensus said we needed, speed, with Watson out right now. He was fairly productive last year with what I consider a poor QB in Ewers.

I've definitely shook my head over some of the posts I've read, but it's expected after every pick, some people will never be happy, unless it's their guy. Was Golden the guy I wanted? No Was he a reach? No, he was a Top 20 prospect by most people, and thought of as the 2nd WR off the board in Rd 1, and turned out to be 3rd. Is he going to help this team right away? Yes, as long as he's healthy.

I said earlier this week that there are 2 starting positions open on this team right now. 1. DT taking Slaton's spot, and 2. Christian Watson's spot, due to his injury.... 1 down, one to go, the rest is depth and for the future.

As for trading back.... it wasn't going to happen if it meant not picking tonight. The draft was in Green Bay, they weren't trading with the Giants or the Falcons.

 

[DoURant]

Official attendance at the Draft, for Rd 1, was 205,000 people.

 

[gopkrs]

I don't see Golden as strictly a speedster. His speed will open him up for other passes. And his run after the catch should be very good. I just hope LaFleur isn't going to use him on those rinky **** short passes to the flat with receiver blockers or that end around thing. Too many bad things can happen. I think he will open up other receivers also. He and Watson on the field at the same time sounds good to me later in the season. I just think he really opens up things on the offense. Probably more than Watson did. Including the run and passes in the flat to the backs. We could be dynamic offensively. Love the pick.

 

[tynimiller]

I don't see Golden as strictly a speedster. His speed will open him up for other passes. And his run after the catch should be very good. I just hope LaFleur isn't going to use him on those rinky **** short passes to the flat with receiver blockers or that end around thing. Too many bad things can happen. I think he will open up other receivers also. He and Watson on the field at the same time sounds good to me later in the season. I just think he really opens up things on the offense. Probably more than Watson did. Including the run and passes in the flat to the backs. We could be dynamic offensively. Love the pick.

so his yards after catch can be very good, but one weakness of his is very easily tackled. He isn’t a tenacious runner upon contact, BUT he has the shiftiness and wiggle of Reed and I think he might grow into more watching another smaller framed guy like Reed do his work.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

As for trading back.... it wasn't going to happen if it meant not picking tonight. The draft was in Green Bay

As I said before the draft, I was pretty sure that Gute and the Packers were not going to trade out of the 1st round and make the Home Crowd go away with a Nothing Burger on Opening Night. Short of trading up and getting a top 5 pick, I would say that the Packers made as big of a splash in Round 1 as they could. The NFL is all about the optics and the optics of selecting a WR, no less named "Golden", was a shining moment for the Packer organization, on their own hallowed grounds. How that pick works out, we won't know for awhile, but for now, the Packers scored a lot of points by making it.

I honestly didn't look at Golden all that much, because I figured he would be off the board before the Packers pick. I was excited to see both Harmon and Egbuka available after the Seahawks took Zabel at #18. Not sure if Gute wanted either of those guys, more than he wanted Golden, but if he did, he probably was trying to make a trade with the 3 teams picking next.

Anyway, time for me to deep dive on the Golden pick, but even if I do or don't like the pick, I'll be back in 2029 to grade the pick.

 

[Magooch]

Setting aside our actual thoughts here on the pick, I thought the delivery couldn't have went better. Wish I was there! The home town crowd went absolutely nuts! It was such a huge reaction that I even saw folks online speculating that they had pumped in crowd noise over the broadcast to make it sound louder than it really was. But I saw some videos direct there on the ground too, and it was all legit hype. Time will tell how it pans out of course, but I think at least for the moment Murphy, Gute, and co bought themselves quite a bit of goodwill amongst many fans last night

 

[Sanguine camper]

Have you even paid attention to the prospect pool??? I'm so confused by your blind dedication to sourness that you ignore that they say this draft class is insanely deep at DT.

There are 8 guys still in the consensus top 100 and that doesn't include guys like Deone Walker or Jamaree Caldwell just outside it.

The problem is those guys skipped most of their athletic testing. The Packers just don't take guys in the upper rounds that don't meet their athletic standards. Maybe they'll take a flyer on them in the fifth round. Detroit picked Williams in the first round for good reasons. He's huge and the best run stuffing DT in the draft.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Time will tell how it pans out of course, but I think at least for the moment Murphy, Gute, and co bought themselves quite a bit of goodwill amongst many fans last night

100%

Now I don't think that the Packers ever forget about picking the best players and trying to win a Super Bowl, but the "hidden" agenda of any team and its owner(s), is to make money, a ton of it. Seems like you would have to be the most inept business person to actually tank an NFL team, but everything the Packers organization did yesterday with the draft itself, as well as the Golden pick, assured the Packers organization that the profits will keep flooding in.

 

[Sanguine camper]

IMO Goldens floor with moderate usage is Doubs and I’m talking yesterday. If used properly and he improves his drops (see Watson) and learns better press and release technique, we could easily be talking a ~1000+ yard type Receiver in a committee team approach. Possibly more if he reaches his ceiling.

What i like best is Golden is not great at anything, but he’s really good at everything. he can play all 3 WR roles also. He’s made ready for the NFL at 23 years old and rising. He’s capable of taking an ordinary play into a highlight reel

He’s the perfect Watson replacement. If Watson somehow gets back in the mix late in the year? the speed we’ll have with both guys simultaneous will either cause deep coverage issues for opponents or allow Jacobs and Lloyd to gash you underneath.

The question with Golden is he a reliably outside receiver? I think he's an ideal slot receiver but Reed excels there. Are there many outstanding outside guys in the NFL that are 5'11" ?

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Are there many outstanding outside guys in the NFL that are 5'11" ?

If you are only using height as your measuring stick for "outstanding", I guess go look at OBJ's career. You probably shouldn't look at Tyreek Hill though, he's only 5' 10".

 

[tynimiller]

The problem is those guys skipped most of their athletic testing. The Packers just don't take guys in the upper rounds that don't meet their athletic standards. Maybe they'll take a flyer on them in the fifth round. Detroit picked Williams in the first round for good reasons. He's huge and the best run stuffing DT in the draft.

This isn't true....let's look at the remaining consensus guys:

Darius Alexander - fits Packers type very well...Senior Bowl attendee and excelled, full testing except cone and shuttle (but said to have ran for teams at pro day)
TJ Sanders - did everything except the 40 (which many argue matters nothing for DL) and exceeds Packer type athleticism
Alfred Collins - Senior Bowl standout, sadly missed testing due to mild injury but his frame and size is special - very high floor type prospect.
Shemar Turner - He did do drills at pro day but numbers are not public. I heard from one scout he isn't explosive but agility testing was great for a biggun.
Omar Norman-Lott - Many say he is the best pass rusher amongst the DL class, He did full testing (shuttle, cone at pro day)...is slightly below the norm for Packer athletically but so was Karl Brooks.
Joshua Farmer - A guy many thought might go back end of Day1 (35 inch arms is insane!) and has a RAS of a Packer type.
Ty Robinson - literally is possibly the most athletic profiled DT in the draft
CJ West - did shuttle and cone at pro day, and is a very athletic type meeting Packers typical athletic threshhold.

That is just the guys in the consensus top 100...there are others most will recognize like Deone Walker, Jamaree Caldwell, Jordan Phillps, Aeneas Peebles, Vernon Broughton

 

[Pkrjones]

This isn't true....let's look at the remaining consensus guys:

Darius Alexander - fits Packers type very well...Senior Bowl attendee and excelled, full testing except cone and shuttle (but said to have ran for teams at pro day)
TJ Sanders - did everything except the 40 (which many argue matters nothing for DL) and exceeds Packer type athleticism
Alfred Collins - Senior Bowl standout, sadly missed testing due to mild injury but his frame and size is special - very high floor type prospect.
Shemar Turner - He did do drills at pro day but numbers are not public. I heard from one scout he isn't explosive but agility testing was great for a biggun.
Omar Norman-Lott - Many say he is the best pass rusher amongst the DL class, He did full testing (shuttle, cone at pro day)...is slightly below the norm for Packer athletically but so was Karl Brooks.
Joshua Farmer - A guy many thought might go back end of Day1 (35 inch arms is insane!) and has a RAS of a Packer type.
Ty Robinson - literally is possibly the most athletic profiled DT in the draft
CJ West - did shuttle and cone at pro day, and is a very athletic type meeting Packers typical athletic threshhold.

That is just the guys in the consensus top 100...there are others most will recognize like Deone Walker, Jamaree Caldwell, Jordan Phillps, Aeneas Peebles, Vernon Broughton

I'm confident one of those above will be a Packer later tonight. Also think Gute will be active trading to get "his guys", so more excitement awaits.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

The Packers currently have 7 more draft picks. Anyone hitting the panic button over Golden, or on the other side of the coin, anyone buying Super Bowl tickets because of Golden, need to keep in mind, the next 48 hrs is more important than just 1 pick.

 

[gopkrs]

so his yards after catch can be very good, but one weakness of his is very easily tackled. He isn’t a tenacious runner upon contact, BUT he has the shiftiness and wiggle of Reed and I think he might grow into more watching another smaller framed guy like Reed do his work.

Like the blocking, you seem to be down on smaller receivers. He's not expected to run through anyone. That's not why we drafted him. If he isn't better than Reed (who I like); we made a huge mistake and I just don't see that happening. Let's run the offense. Let's not put round pegs in square holes.

 

[tynimiller]

Like the blocking, you seem to be down on smaller receivers. He's not expected to run through anyone. That's not why we drafted him. If he isn't better than Reed (who I like); we made a huge mistake and I just don't see that happening. Let's run the offense. Let's not put round pegs in square holes.

I generally don't like the odds of a sub 6 footer excelling outside. It absolutely has happened and in another thread I shared some of the most recent outside guys that were sub 6 foot, but yes when looking for that outside WR threat I don't usually circle guys his frame or size.

Right now he absolutely isn't better than Reed in my humble and worthless opinion, BUT he has more traits and I'd argue seems to have a higher ceiling (even if just slight) over Reed.