Quick-reacting draft grades are something like NFL cover candy. They’ll rot your teeth, but it flies off the shelves. According to a 2020 analysis by Football Outsiders, grades fluctuate widely depending on the rater and have little to no predictive power for future class success.
But the consumption of tentative grades is more about feeling hopeful for the future than anything rooted in predictive power, anyway. That being said, here’s how writers nationwide think the Green Bay Packers and general manager Brian Gutekunst did in 2023. As a reminder, the Packers’ draft picks are listed below.
Packers draft pick
- #13: Lukas Van Ness, OLB, Iowa
- #42: Luke Musgrave, TE, Oregon State
- #50: Jayden Reed, WR, Michigan State
- #78: Tucker Kraft, TE, State of South Dakota
- #116: Wooden Colby, DE, Auburn
- #149: Sean Clifford, QB, Penn State
- #159: Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Virginia
- #179: Karl Brooks, DE, Bowling Green
- #207: Anders Carlson, K, Auburn
- #232: Carrington Valentine, BC, Kentucky
- #235: Lew Nichols III, RB, Central Michigan
- #242: Anthony Johnson Jr., SAF, Iowa State
- #256: Grant DuBose, WR, Charlotte
Draft grades of packers
Note of the day 1: A
Note of the day 2: B
Note of the day 3: A
Analysis: I like Van Ness’ potential as a powerful defender who can play 5 techniques. Musgrave (won with the Jets’ acquired pick in exchange for Aaron Rodgers), Reed (chosen a little earlier than expected) and Kraft (chosen a little later) give new quarterback Jordan Love three young targets to play with. will be able to familiarize themselves with this off-season.
Wooden and Brooks will greatly help a lean defensive line depth chart. Clifford has third-day intangibles and some physical traits to be a strong backup, although his accuracy has been inconsistent throughout his career. Wicks, DuBose (my favorite pick of the group) and Nichols continue the team’s efforts to develop talent on offense. Carlson has good leg strength but has missed 12 field goal attempts over the past two seasons. Valentine and Johnson were clutch picks for a secondary in need of help.
The Packers did what the Packers always do in the first round, choosing another defensive player in Iowa, Lukas Van Ness. The former Hawkeyes star is a passing thrower in the mold of Rashan Gary and Preston Smith, and should factor in the team’s rotation early on. On day two, the team finally answered the calls of their fans, bolstering their skillful squad in support of Jordan Love by grabbing a pair of versatile tight ends from Luke Musgrave (Oregon State) and Tucker Kraft (South Dakota State), as well as a nervous receiver and playmaker in Jayden Reed (Michigan State). General manager Brian Gutekunst added another receiver in Virginia Tech’s Dontayvion Wicks in the fifth round — a draft that should be a boon for the team’s new caller. Green Bay also added former Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford in the fifth round — a huge upset early in the draft, and possibly the result of last year’s Mr. Irrelevant success, Brock Purdy. Clifford is hilariously three months older than Love, who was drafted in 2020.
Overview: D-Line help and weapon upgrades for Jordan Love were the theme of this nuts and bolts draft. Compared to Grant Wistrom and Patrick Kerney by NFL scouts, Van Ness can win inside and out and hold the offensive point. Musgrave and Kraft made a worthy double from TE; Musgrave offers legitimate star quality if he figures out how to stay healthy, while Kraft is a tight end combo who is very athletic, can block and has caught 92 balls over the past two years for the Jackrabbits. Wooden was productive enough in college and performed well enough in Indy to generate buzz on Day 2 before the draft. Reed was productive in all four years of his career and especially in the return game, bringing home three punts for touchdowns and showing momentum with the ball in his hands. Fifth round Clifford defeated No. 33 pick Will Levis at Penn State, forcing Levis to be traded to Kentucky. DuBose was the favorite wide receiver sleeper on #EstablishTheRun pre-draft Mike Renner Podcast. While I remain skeptical of Love as a long-term quarterback for Green Bay, I believe general manager Brian Gutekunst has set up Love for success.
Analysis: Brian Gutekunst, the Packers’ first draft without Aaron Rodgers was interesting given the burden of receiving help from Musgrave, Reed, Kraft and Wicks, but it was a bit too heavy on skill positions, missing some selections needed for the offensive line. Clifford was a terrible wasted pick as the far from draftable QB behind Jordan Love. Van Ness and Wooden need a lot of work to help the defense. Brooks and Johnson were clearly their top picks, value or otherwise
Scroll down and leave your rating for Green Bay Draft Class in the comments. We’ll be running polls later in the week to determine which picks were most and least popular among Packers fans.
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