What "Gute" Type Early Picks Could We See...

[tynimiller]

With 11 picks in this draft, I would not be surprised at all to see Gute do what TT did in 2017 and draft 2 RB's prior to the 6th round. TT grabbed Williams in the 4th and Aaron Jones in the 5th. With Dillon seemingly done in GB, if they don't have any plans to sign a FA vet RB, 2 middle round rookies might work out for the present and the future.

I haven't done a whole lot in the draft dept. I always like to wait until after the combine and even the first few weeks of Free Agency. At that point it becomes a bit more obvious what the "position need picks" in the draft should be.

Combine measurements are incoming here shortly.....that is when a lot of us can filter prospect groups by traditional GB types and not....always a fun time.

 

[gopkrs]

Didn't know where to put this so I picked this thread. The past few years we have been awesome at picking W/Os and TEs. Where we haven't done all that well is with O line, RBs, corners and fullbacks. Off the top of my head I'm thinking Myers, Rhyan, Savage, Stokes, Deguara and Dillon (2nd round?). The earlier round picks. I'm wondering if our scouts in those areas are maybe not as good as the scouts who are picking W/Os. Or if we have the same scouts picking all positions; maybe we shouldn't do it that way.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Didn't know where to put this so I picked this thread. The past few years we have been awesome at picking W/Os and TEs. Where we haven't done all that well is with O line, RBs, corners and fullbacks. Off the top of my head I'm thinking Myers, Rhyan, Savage, Stokes, Deguara and Dillon (2nd round?). The earlier round picks. I'm wondering if our scouts in those areas are maybe not as good as the scouts who are picking W/Os. Or if we have the same scouts picking all positions; maybe we shouldn't do it that way.

I could be wrong, but I think Scouts are a broad stroke, they scout all talent. A guy like Sam Seale has been with the Packers since 1995 and was promoted to their National Scout in 2018, has landed some talented players for the Packers through the years.

The scouts bring their info to Gute, MLF and positional coaches, to determine if a certain guy is one they want to go after or not. As far as success of certain picks at certain positions, a lot of that is just "luck of the draw." While the Packers have had recent success at WR and TE, don't forget Amari Rodgers, Sternberger.

Also, if you are just looking at the past 2 drafts, none of those positions that you say that they have "done bad in" were drafted very high, if at all. 2023 had no OL players drafted of the 13 picks. 2022 saw the Packers select 3 OL players (Rhyan, Tom and Walker), those seem to be working out just fine.

As far as RB's and FB's, not much invested by the Packers, unless you consider Nichols (7th rounder) and DeGuara (technically a TE/H-Back).

Personally, I don't think the OL is in dire straights at all. While I think the Packers will try to replace Myers and if a solid LT is available, will see if he can beat out Walker.

 

[Thirteen Below]

Didn't know where to put this so I picked this thread. The past few years we have been awesome at picking W/Os and TEs. Where we haven't done all that well is with O line, RBs, corners and fullbacks. Off the top of my head I'm thinking Myers, Rhyan, Savage, Stokes, Deguara and Dillon (2nd round?). The earlier round picks. I'm wondering if our scouts in those areas are maybe not as good as the scouts who are picking W/Os. Or if we have the same scouts picking all positions; maybe we shouldn't do it that way.

Or maybe we don't develop some of those positions very well once we bring them into the family?

But yeah, you're probably more right than I am. I disagree with you about O-line (Bakhtiari,Tom, Walker, Sitton, Lang, Linsley, etc) but yeah.... quite a lot of RBs seem to have topped out in college and never got any better once they got off the plane at Austin Straubel. Over the last 20 years, the only RBs I can think of that came up through our system and turned into really good backs were James Stark and Jones. That's not great. Half of our really good RBs in the 2000s were drafted by Seattle and we traded for them.

We've had a few good DBs, but considering how many we've drafted, I'm not sure how good our percentage is. Maybe it's part scouting, part coaching/development, or maybe it's just an overall low league average for that position. I'm sure someone else will know.

Considering how many high-round picks we've spent on defensive players in general the last 15 years or so, it seems to me we're getting a pretty low return for investment all around on that side of the ball. I'm hoping that Hafley will turn that trend around for us.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Considering how many high-round picks we've spent on defensive players in general the last 15 years or so, it seems to me we're getting a pretty low return for investment all around on that side of the ball. I'm hoping that Hafley will turn that trend around for us.

I think that is it in a nutshell. I would also add that there has been a lot of Free Agent money spent on the defense as well.

I spread the blame for this pretty equally on the GM, scouting, coaching and some just on bad chemistry/bad luck.

 

[Schultz]

Or maybe we don't develop some of those positions very well once we bring them into the family?

But yeah, you're probably more right than I am. I disagree with you about O-line (Bakhtiari,Tom, Walker, Sitton, Lang, Linsley, etc) but yeah.... quite a lot of RBs seem to have topped out in college and never got any better once they got off the plane at Austin Straubel. Over the last 20 years, the only RBs I can think of that came up through our system and turned into really good backs were James Stark and Jones. That's not great. Half of our really good RBs in the 2000s were drafted by Seattle and we traded for them.

We've had a few good DBs, but considering how many we've drafted, I'm not sure how good our percentage is. Maybe it's part scouting, part coaching/development, or maybe it's just an overall low league average for that position. I'm sure someone else will know.

Considering how many high-round picks we've spent on defensive players in general the last 15 years or so, it seems to me we're getting a pretty low return for investment all around on that side of the ball. I'm hoping that Hafley will turn that trend around for us.

IMO Jamaal Williams was a very good RB draft pick also.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

IMO Jamaal Williams was a very good RB draft pick also.

Agree and it isn't like RB has been a glaring weakness for the Packers. Now that is mostly with AR at QB. Would Love still thrive without a star RB? I think the offense in general wouldn't be as efficient without a guy like Jones. The defense has to respect his abilities to run and catch the ball. Now put CM3 on the Packers roster and watch out. Pair another explosive back with Jones and the pass game benefits.