Five Things to Look for from the Packers in 2023 NFL Draft
By GilMartin
The 2023 NFL Draft starts tonight, and the next three days will be critical ones for the Green Bay Packers. The team has now officially moved on from Aaron Rodgers and the Jordan Love Era starts this season.
GM Brian Gutekunst got a fair haul for Rodgers under the circumstances but now he needs to turn those picks into important pieces of the team’s future.
The Packers have a lot of needs to fill and this draft will be an important part of that.
Here are five things to expect from the Packers in the 2023 NFL Draft:
1. The Packers Will Trade Down for More Picks
It may not happen in the first round, but in the first three rounds, Gutekunst will make at least one trade back to add more picks.
This team has a lot of needs and not a lot of cap space to fill them with so adding picks to get more bites at the apple makes the most sense. It will also make the team younger.
Entering the draft, the team has one pick in the first round, two in the second round and one in the third. Gutekunst will look to add more early round picks by trading back on at least one of them.
2. The Packers Will Draft Two Tight Ends
It may not be in the first round depending on how the draft unfolds, but the Packers will add a tight end in the first three rounds of the draft and another on day three.
Right now, Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis are the only experienced tight ends on the roster, and neither is fit to be the team’s primary receiving tight end.
This is a deep draft at the tight end position, the need is strong and Gutekunst will address it.
The sweet spot for tight ends is in the second round and the Pack has two picks there.
3. Is This the Year the Packers Take a Wide Receiver in Round One?
The Packers haven’t selected a wide receiver in the first round of the draft since they added Javon Walker back in 2002. This may be the year this long drought ends.
Ohio State wideout Jaxson Smith-Njigba would be a great compliment to Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson and provide the Packers with a great slot receiver for a long time to come.
By moving up in the draft from the 15th pick to the 13th, the Packers increased their chances of landing JSN. If he’s available, the Packers could have a first-round receiver for the first time in more than two decades. If not, the drought will continue and the odds of trading back in the first round increase.
It would be very ironic if the Packers select a receiver in the first round after they trade Rodgers away after hearing so many complaints that they never used a first- round pick on a weapon for Rodgers during his 15 years as the team’s starter.
4. The Packers Will Draft a Backup Quarterback
The Packers probably could use a veteran backup behind Love who has only started one game, but even if they do add one, Gutekunst is likely to take a flier on a quarterback on day three of the draft.
The Packers met with two quarterbacks who are projected as day three picks or priority undrafted free agents in Sean Clifford of Penn State and Tanner Morgan of Minnesota. Whether they draft one of them or another quarterback in the final rounds of the draft, look for another signal caller to be added late in the draft.
5. A New Kicker Is Coming to Green Bay
Look for the Packers to draft a kicker late in the draft to replace Mason Crosby. A great option is Michigan’s Jake Moody who should be available in the sixth round.
Moody has a strong and accurate leg and is used to kicking in the cold and windy Midwest. It will take him some time to learn the wind conditions of Lambeau Field, but Moody is consistent and would give the Packers a big advantage on kickoffs from day one.
Crosby has been the Packers kicker since 2007 when they selected him in the sixth round. They haven’t drafted a kicker since then but that will likely change this year.
You can follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers
Comments (22)
mnbadger
April 27, 2023 at 12:14 pm
Here's my schefty special: in other words, straight from by back pocket: Trade next year's conditional 2nd/1st for a third and a fourth this year!
Hang on to your cheeseheads as it could be a crazy weekend!
I'm still hoping for an offensive or defensive trench player at 13.
GPG!
GGG!
T7Steve
April 27, 2023 at 01:24 pm
mnbadger, you have it!
Build from the trenches out. O or D.
Stout lines makes Pro-bowlers out of rest of the team and hide allot of deficiencies.
GregC
April 27, 2023 at 01:25 pm
Oh goodness no! Hang onto that extra high pick next year. It's not like the Packers are trying to win a championship this year.
WD
April 27, 2023 at 12:37 pm
I cringe when I see mocks that draft a Safety or WR with the 13th pick in the draft. This is a poor year for both positions. If we draft anything on offense with the first pick it should be one of the premier OL talents which might likely to be there at 13. Or, consider trading down a bit. Secondly, I believe the second round looks at the best TE or Edge available(if not drafted at 13). Or, maybe a DE that can play both Edge/DL. There is also likely to be one of the four or five premier Edge rushers available at 13 and I would pick one there in a heartbeat. So, day one and two of the draft are the most critical. The third day will offer a number of Safeties and WRs to choose from. There is not much of a difference between the first four or five top WRs, None are even close to what we have in Christian Watson. So Ideally it goes 1) Edge/DE, 2)TE, 3) Safety 4) WR and 5-7 best player available at any position including kicker.
stockholder
April 27, 2023 at 12:39 pm
!. Stay Put- If you trade/swap picks.
It must be for the 2024 Draft.
2. Two TEs. I can buy that.
Just don’t wait for injuries to heel.
3. If they take a Wr in Rd. 1.
You won’t have to worry about the first rd. Option.
4. 5th rd. Or later for a QB. Too many holes.
If you draft one before that.
The faith is Love is worthless.
5. Moody Bible college is in Chicago.
Don’t confuse Kicking with praying.
CheesyTex
April 27, 2023 at 01:04 pm
Injuries to the heel are usually Achilles tendon which take a long time to heal.
CheesyTex
April 27, 2023 at 01:04 pm
Duplicate
TKWorldWide
April 27, 2023 at 02:21 pm
And Fido is still learning to heel. Low Wonderlic.
Leatherhead
April 27, 2023 at 01:14 pm
I need something explained to me. I'd welcome a serious answer.
Last year, former UDFA TE Robert Tonyan was our #1 TE, and Marcedes Lewis was our #2 TE, and he was primarily a blocker. getting 7 targets for 66 yards on the season. Both of them are out of the picture now. Deguara got the second most targets, 15, and he caught 13. Tyler Davis got 7 targets, like Lewis.
Those were our 4 last year. Now we have Deguara, and Davis, and we've added Austen Allen and NickGuggemmos, thats 4 now.
So here's the question: Obviously,Tonyan was our #1 receiving threat from the TE spot, and he had a better season than a rookie is likely to have, and we let him go to the Bears for $2.6 million, which really isn't a heckuva lot more than the vet minimum. But now, the same people that let him go are going to spend premium draft capital to replace a UDFA they could have kept???
If you wanted TE to be a big factor in the passing game, why wouldn't you keep Tonyan and draft Kincaid or somebody? Run double TE sets. Or draft a blocker on Day 3 to replace Lewis?
I'll probably be wrong here, but IMO, this doesn't make sense. What makes more sense is that the Packers are comfortable running an offense where the TE is not going to be a featured receiver and we'll move the ball down the field using the WRs and RBs most of the time, and we'll put 6 blockers on the offensive line . That's what I think the operating assumptions are at 1265.
TKWorldWide
April 27, 2023 at 02:25 pm
I think if premium draft capital is used on a tight end, that player will be expected to be a much greater receiving threat than Big Bob. Not immediately, but given a little time to develop. I think GB is in a good spot, roster-wise, to have this kind of patience.
Although I ALMOST stopped reading after your second sentence. 😉
Guam
April 27, 2023 at 04:19 pm
I'm not sure letting Tonyan go is the best example of the Packers preferences in TEs. Tonyan appeared to have lost something to the leg injury he suffered year before last - this past year he just was never able to separate or garner YAC like he could before the injury. I think letting him go was more a judgement on his injury than the importance of the TE position.
The Packers with Rodgers never used TEs very much due to Rodgers' preference for the perimeter passing game. With Rodgers gone, IDK. LaFleur comes from the Shanahan coaching tree and Shanahan seems to love TE's and H-backs. I think the draft will be telling about the kind of offense the Packers will run next year. If they go high for a TE, the offense will be different. If they don't look for more perimeter passing.
stockholder
April 27, 2023 at 04:53 pm
My feeling is he didn't want anyone tied to Rodgers.
Bob did look slower. PER his injury.
But Love has to build his own chemistry.
And he wanted new RECEIVERS/
murf7777
April 27, 2023 at 06:24 pm
Did Lewis get picked up by some team? If not, he might still bring him in as a vet min.
splitpea1
April 27, 2023 at 01:17 pm
Miscellaneous thoughts:
You never know what to expect from Gute. He has a history of mostly trading up, not down. There was a humorous comment a couple of years ago that maybe Gute likes to think of himself as a "mover and shaker"--I don't know, it might no be so far off from the truth. At any rate, let's hope this history reverses itself. And please let one of the TE prospects and the safety prospect have a reasonably high floor so we can get them out on the field ASAP.
The third and fourth rounds should be sweet spots for both WRs and safeties. Tillman, Rice, Mingo...Battle, Robinson, J. Martin--anyone of them could help us.
I would think it would be pretty tough for Gute to pass on one of the top OT prospects in the first round.
The only thing about Moody is that he's only 4 out of 10 from beyond 50 yards in his college career. He has a big leg and can make clutch kicks, but he has to improve here; the NFL accuracy for kicks between 50-59 yards is over 71%.
I really hope we don't wait until the seventh round to address the backup QB prospect. We need to seize a good opportunity prior to that.
Finally, the worst part of the draft: having to listen to the complete sentence, "With the (n)th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, (x) team selects...." every goddam time. All we need is the pick number, team, and player--everyone knows they're watching the draft, Roger!
RCPackerFan
April 27, 2023 at 01:20 pm
1. The Packers Will Trade Down for More Picks
I believe they do trade back at least 1 time in the first 2 rounds. I believe it will be round 1, and they will look to acquire another round 2 or 3 pick this year. But wouldn't be surprised if they traded back in round 2 to get another 3rd round pick.
2. The Packers Will Draft Two Tight Ends
My bold prediction is that I believe they come out of this draft with any combination of at least 4 WR's and TE's. I think they will draft at least 2 TE's. But wouldn't be at all surprised if they took a flier in the 7th round on a 3rd one.
3. Is This the Year the Packers Take a Wide Receiver in Round One?
Sorry, but no. I think they will draft a WR in the 2nd or 3rd round. Like number 2 though I think they will draft multiple WR's.
4. The Packers Will Draft a Backup Quarterback
Yes. I believe they will draft a QB. I think it will be the 5th round or later.
5. A New Kicker Is Coming to Green Bay
I think they do take a kicker. If they don't draft one, I'm sure they will sign some undrafted free agents. And at that point I could see Crosby back.
Swisch
April 27, 2023 at 02:06 pm
Maybe draft Darnell Washington at #13, then somewhere in rounds 4-7 take another tight end who is more experienced as a pass catcher.
We're so thin at tight end that it would be great if both came through for the Packers.
***
It seems the first few picks would be good at TE, Edge, WR, DT, Safety, OL, then another tight end and back-up quarterback.
vin0770
April 27, 2023 at 04:42 pm
Trading down for more picks? So they can bring in 17 drafted rookies 🤪. They will draft a manageable number but maybe swap out a couple picks this year to a team that gives them theirs for next year.
The exciting part is they should get 3 starters in the first two rounds.
Qoojo
April 27, 2023 at 05:17 pm
I hope I am wrong but I suspect he will trade up in first or second round.
Thegreatreynoldo
April 27, 2023 at 07:22 pm
I suspect 4 teams are okay with trading down. I am not too concerned as I think there is not only a lot of parity between the 13th best prospect and the 35th, and I think the quality stays high well into the thirties. GB should get 3 nice prospect.
I'd love it if Paris Johnson dropped. Mayer, Wright, JSN, Jones, and Van Ness, these guys are interchangeable in terms of quality. Perhaps one of the turns out great, but I wouldn't spend a nickel betting on one of them over the others.
Johnblood27
April 27, 2023 at 07:33 pm
I am feeling a CB, DL or Edge in round 1 for GB, regardless of any trade downs.
Just a feeling...
SoCalJim
April 27, 2023 at 07:42 pm
I’m feeling full from a pork tamale, refried beans, and avocado. I still think it’s Paris Johnson, Jr., or trade down.
SoCalJim
April 27, 2023 at 07:59 pm
I hate the Cardinals.