“With the 20th pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers select….Javon Walker, Wide Reciever, Florida State.”
Those were the words from NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue after Head Coach and General Manager Mike Sherman made that pick, the last time a receiver was a number one draft choice of the Packers. Will the run end at 19 years Thursday night? Considering the depth of the position (for a second straight year by the way), it could, but I doubt it. On my Wednesday edition of the Draft Preview Series that aired this morning, there are a couple of names that could tempt current General Manager Brian Gutekunst.
The Packers have resisted going wide out first, instead consistently hitting home runs in the second and third rounds under both Ted Thompson and Gutekunst. Consider the run of production they received from Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams. The numbers are massive from this fab five, combining for 2351 receptions for 31,622 yards and 274 touchdowns.
Why this year could be different? Every single wide out on the Pack’s current roster from Adams, to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, Allen Lazard, Devin Funchess and even Malik Taylor will have contracts that expire in 11 months.
Earlier this week, Gutekunst was asked if he looks back on the franchise draft history to try and determine how and why they hit on day 2 receivers for instance, or miss on other positions and rounds. He absolutely does a self scout, going back as long as 15 years ago. I did the same thing and came up with some trends the Packers may want to consider, or avoid.
Wait on the linemen. The Packers got plenty of mileage with high round offensive tackles like Chad Clifton (2nd, 2000) and Bryan Bulaga (1st, 2010) but they whiffed badly with 2011 first rounder Derrick Sherrod and the 2nd rounder in 2016 with Jason Spriggs. The motherlode came on day three with the likes of Mark Tauscher, Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang, David Bakhtiari and Corey Linsley. That speaks well of both scouting and coaching.
Be wary of defensive backs. Since Nick Collins was taken in round two after Aaron Rodgers in 2005, the Packers have drafted a dozen defensive backs in the first three rounds and I put only four of those 12 in the hit column; Morgan Burnett, Casey Hayward, Jaire Alexander and Darnell Savage. Loading up the miss column are Aaron Rouse, Pat Lee, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins, Kevin King, Josh Jones and Josh Jackson.
Forget the tight end. After Jermichael Finley (3rd round, 2008) had his career cut short by a neck injury, the Packers have swung and missed seven times at this position although the jury may still be out of the two most recent. The drafted tight ends since Finley include Andrew Quarless, D.J. Williams, Ryan Taylor, Richard Rodgers, Kennard Backman, Jace Sternberger and Josiah Deguara.
The Wednesday afternoon edition of my draft preview covers a position the Packers made a lot of noise with a year ago, quarterback.
Some final thoughts on the Pack’s round one deliberation will come tomorrow before the picking begins.
