With free agency starting next week and the Green Bay Packers in salary cap hell, it has become clear how critical the 2021 NFL Draft will be in the land of cheese. Even if they can wiggle free space, it won’t be enough to bring in multiple big-name pieces. There’s a good chance they lose Aaron Jones, Corey Linsley, and others.
This puts all the more emphasis on the draft, especially the early picks, where Green Bay has found great success in recent years. How have they done recently? Here’s how I rank their last five first-round picks:
1. Jaire Alexander (18th overall, 2018)
Alexander has turned into one of the best lockdown cornerbacks in the league. The numbers back up the eye test.
Jaire not only consistently slowed down the opposing No. 1 wide receiver this year, he more times than not completely shut them down. A true No. 1 corner is hard to come by these days. The conversation has become “Jalen Ramsey and Jaire Alexander, then everyone else.”
Only one cornerback was taken ahead of Alexander in 2018, Denzel Ward at No. 4 to the Cleveland Browns. While Ward has been pretty solid so far in his career, Alexander has been next-level great. At age 24, he is poised to be a shutdown corner for years to come.
2. Kenny Clark (27th overall, 2016)
The big fella in the middle of the defensive line has been rock solid since entering the league in 2016. He elevated his game to such a level in the last couple of seasons that opposing offenses have been forced to slide over extra help at times to contain him.
When someone like Clark becomes a star, they sometimes need a Robin to their Batman to alleviate the chaos around them, and the Packers have yet to find a complement for him. At times it seems like Clark has taken on a task made more for two players than one. While he’s been tremendous, Green Bay could really use a tag-team partner to elevate his play further. Teams have started to pay so much attention to Clark up front that they are more than content letting whoever has lined up next to him roam around in one-on-one battles.
When you look at some of the players taken directly in front of Clark, like Laquon Treadwell (lol Vikings), Josh Doctson, and Paxton Lynch, it becomes even clearer how much of a home run the Packers hit with this pick. Get Clark a formidable option next to him and watch his game grow even more.
3. Darnell Savage (21st overall, 2019)
If you could only pick one candidate to have a breakout season for the Packers next year, Savage might be at the top of the list.
He developed into a great coverage safety in just his second season, with tremendous range and dynamic playmaking ability. Watching Savage, you just get the sense that you’re looking at a dude who’s going to be excellent for a long time. Because of what Savage put on display in 2020, he and fellow safety Adrian Amos have become one of the best duos in the league.
By the way: Jaire Alexander. Kenny Clark. Darnell Savage. All defensive players on this list. The Packers also have the aforementioned Amos, Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith. The list keeps going. AND MIKE PETTINE COULDN’T TURN THIS INTO A TOP 5 DEFENSE? IN WHAT WORLD? (Please be the answer at defensive coordinator, Joe Barry, we’re begging you.)
Back to Savage.
Not only was Savage the first safety taken in the draft at No. 21, but he was also the first secondary player taken in the draft — a bit odd considering he was a late first-round pick. The Packers seem to have struck gold here as well. There’s no doubt in the mind of many that Savage has the potential to be a future Pro-Bowler, and if he hits his ceiling, he could land on an All-Pro squad more than a couple of times.
4. Rashan Gary (12th overall, 2019)
This was the toughest decision in the ranking process. Ultimately, Gary goes below Savage for really only one reason. That reason is no fault of Gary’s, but we’ve seen a much larger sample size from Savage so far.
With Preston Smith locked and loaded at the same spot, snaps were hard to come by for Gary for about a season and a half. In the second half of 2020, we got a glimpse of what the Packers saw when they selected him 12th overall in 2019. Gary showed so much that many are suggesting Preston Smith become a cap casualty this offseason. He even took over starter duties from Smith in the last few games of 2020.
There’s no doubt that this year Gary will get plenty of opportunities and a full season to show exactly how much of a force he can be. The sample size is fairly small, but Gary has the Packers giddy.
5. Jordan Love (26th overall, 2020)
It’s quite simple.
Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback right now, and he just won the MVP. We haven’t seen anything from Jordan Love yet, but he has the potential to climb this list drastically in the future.
It has become apparent the Packers will need to address many of their needs via the draft. Whether or not the front office can keep the good vibes going and strike again will be determined in the years to come.
