It's time...to say yes to the D.I.C.

(I'm a veteran...this humor will never go away - and I'm this close to Nags making a shirt in the shop)

We're 9 games in now...the proverbial halfway point for the season and it's safe to say we're all disappointed on how it's gone. But 2024 breathes new life, hope, and impeccable storylines starting in April in Detroit. That's right we are less than 6 months away from the 2024 NFL Draft.

Now some of you may be wondering just what direction GM Brian Gutekunst goes with a team that is amongst the youngest in the NFL? Surely he can't go younger, maybe sign some experienced vets instead through Free Agency? Welp, unfortunately, there are no vets in the Draft, so he'll be looking to find the athletes that best help this team to recapture the magic we've all become accustomed to these past 30 or so years. Looking to the future Gutekunst has got some real options on the table, as the Packers have 8 picks total, with 6 of them coming in the first 4 rounds; but when you take into account the Packers' possible compensatory picks, the Packers could have a whopping 11 with 7 in the first 4 rounds. That's some real draft capital right there, possibly the most Gutekunst has ever had. I won't speculate on the infinite trade scenarios here, but you can expect his customary "move around the board" line eventually when the time comes.

8 picks...11 picks...either way it's a lot of picks. We won't go into specifics on possible players just yet (I'm revising my scouting approach and we might have something special planned for yall later), but we'll cover just the most pressing needs as the season toils on (some more obvious than others).

#1 - Offensive Tackle

Well duh!!! It's no surprise with the loss of David Bakhtiari after just one game that the Packers' offensive line would have some struggles this year. Granted, some of that is to be blamed on Head Coach Matt LaFleur and his blatant refusal to play his best players (Yosh Nijman and Sean Rhyan) in spots that set the offense up for success. However, I don't want to pretend this group is completely abysmal, as they are currently the 4th best pass-blocking unit, but when it comes to the run game, a key tenet of LaFleur's offense, they're 25th - per PFF.

With the Packers probably all but guaranteed a Top-5 pick, they most likely will own the rights to the best OT in the Draft. Now food for thought, and maybe a bit of a darkhorse opinion here...but the best OT in the Draft's best position could be at Right Tackle, and that's perfectly fine! It's still a massive upgrade because it allows Zach Tom to move to Center, which basically fixes two positions of need with one selection. Yosh Nijman is an above-average Left Tackle, and he probably won't improve any further than he already has, but with the right selection at RT, we could easily see the Packers going from 4th and 25th in 2023, to possibly 2nd and 13th for 2024. That's huge dividends for Jordan Love and the other skill players.

I could also see a scenario where due to how the Draft falls, two OTs could be taken between Day 1 and Day 2. Both Yosh and Rasheed Walker are under contract for 2024, and while Walker has a long way to go for development, I can live with him possibly coming in and playing RT only in a pinch to get us through a game. But Yosh Nijman, Rasheed Walker, and the popular Caleb Jones for our reserve tackle group is an acceptable situation.

#2 - Running Back

Some of you probably saw this coming, and if you didn't when Gutekunst admitted he was actively in discussion with the Colts for Johnathan Taylor, then shame on you. Aaron Jones is in his age-29 season, A.J. Dillon is in the last year of his contract. We knew the clock was ticking on Jones, but it's safe to say that Dillon hasn't proven he's the RB of the future either. I'm not a contracts aficionado so I'll defer to my fellow writers on that aspect but I fully see Jones back next year for one last dance and to ensure a proper "handoff" to Green Bay's future RB1. I can see A.J. coming back as well but they're going to force-feed him the hometown discount but I definitely expect at least 2-3 teams to be willing to overpay.

I will give a small applause to Gutuekunst because if there was a class to want a RB, the '24 class is it....and he's held on to both Jones and Dillon long enough to make the transition. There are some top flight options to have on Day 2 and if there was definitely a 3rd Round choice where you could feel "safe" like it wasn't going to blow up in the Packers' faces this would be it. My only concern is there will probably be a run on the position in the middle of the 2nd Round so it may require Gutey to burn the 2nd Rounder from the Jets to get who he wants.

#3 - Cornerback

No brainer here, the loss of Rasul Douglas leaves a glaring hole in the secondary. We haven't seen Eric Stokes hardly at all this year, and may not see him the rest of the season so he can be healthy for 2024. Carrington Valentine and Corey Ballentine have looked serviceable, which I love for our depth as a group. But I'm not comfortable trotting them out there week to week and we don't know if Keisean Nixon will return to play Nickel; his contract is very expendable but for Special Teams value he should remain. Either way, this group needs some kind of upgrade.

I don't know when Gutekunst will select a CB, but I think most likely the back end of Day 2, however, if a guy with a 1st Round Grade is available with the first of the two 2nd Round Picks, I could see that happening as well. I'm not super impressed with the class this year so the majority of my rankings will probably be guys with a RAS of 9.75 or better and ball production that averages around 2 interceptions per year (I know...leave me be). Whether that's on the boundary or in the slot remains to be seen.

#4 - Interior Offensive Line

Some of you may be saying this is the 2nd largest need, but I say again, with the selection of a Tier 1 Right Tackle, this offensive line is destined for some serious improvement. In my previous article mentioning Sean Rhyan and how good he looked, I think the combination of Jenkins-Tom-Rhyan deserves a potential 1-year run. However, I'm not naive, maybe Rhyan just flashed for one game and that's it. But even still, this is effectively a second rookie year for him, so even if he's not a starter for 2024, he deserves some serious snaps going forward. You don't want to discard a player simply for an isolated bad case of judgment only for them to go be a Pro Bowler somewhere else. If Sean Rhyan went in the middle of the 3rd Round, it's safe to say there were probably 4-7 other teams who probably wanted him there too; and probably 10+ teams who prayed he'd slide to the 4th, but Gutekunst snatched him up first. We need to see this story play out fully.

Honestly, this pick is designed to get rid of two players to free up some cap room: Royce Newman and Josh Myers. If Zach Tom is the starting Center for 2024, we are set for years to come. I'm okay with another Right Guard in the 3rd or 4th Round who can probably challenge Rhyan, but without a doubt render Newman obsolete. Truthfully, that player is already on the roster in Jon Runyan, who I'd love to see back in a reserve/spot-starter role. If Gutekunst were to double or even triple-dip for 2024 I imagine it'd be at this position group right here.

#5 - Safety

Some of you were wondering if I'd ever get here, weren't you? I'm REALLY hoping I somehow find a way to chat with Gutey in person for 2025 so I can pick his brain, but this is the "game within the game" selection if you ask me. Truthfully, as long as Joe Barry is the Defensive Coordinator, Safety play will always be lacking. His scheme/concepts/approach just lends to them looking bad. Is it all him? No...Rudy Ford has done as well as you can ask in the Strong Safety position. Darnell Savage has been "Darnell Average", and I think a DC change brings him up a bit (but a good amount is also on him). Honestly, this pick is more about raising the "floor" of this group than it is about raising the "ceiling". I like Leavitt but he seems to be more of a special teamer. I think we'll finally get a taste of Anthony Johnson next year, and Jonathan Owens has looked like an average spot starter as advertised at the Free Safety. Zayne? Umm....yeah.

This year's Safety class is better than last year's, but still mostly high-cut. I can easily see CB and S flip-flopping depending on how the Draft falls. Barry's system was supposed to rely on some kind of 3-safety system, but we never saw that materialize; truthfully we don't really have the personnel for it either. Maybe in the future, it could be Owens-Ford-Johnson Jr, but I'd rather pray for a new Defensive Coordinator with a new approach, right now we're getting probably 65% of the secondary's potential and probably 75% of the defense's potential overall. A better DC could make the pairing of Owens and Ford alone look pretty good if they coach it up right. So until we see the necessary change, it's hard to mock another safety so high, but I do expect a selection no later than the second of our two 4th Round Picks.

Talking the NFL Draft is always fun, we'll check back in towards the end of the season(probably around elimination time) with some projected players.

#GPG.