After months of speculation, the 2022 NFL Draft is just around the corner.
While the draft is always the best avenue for team building, this is a particularly big year for the Green Bay Packers. Armed with four top-60 selections and the need for pass-catching playmakers, the Packers have some big decisions to maximize the remainder of Aaron Rodgers‘ career and have a well-stocked roster after he calls it quits.
Like all teams, Green Bay is making the most of its pre-draft process by using all the available tools, including pre-draft visits. Every team can bring in 30 prospects for a more direct, personal look. These official visits can give a team valuable information, whether it’s to get a sense of the person under the helmet, assess an injury, build on a less-familiar prospect, or check for a good culture fit.
The Packers are one of the least predictable front offices, and the extra picks only add to the chaos. Can their pre-draft visits give us any hints about what the team might do?
In the Ted Thompson era, there wasn’t a lot of insight to be gained based on these visits. Thompson would host late-round or potential UDFA prospects to get the jump on the competition and fill out the bottom of his roster.
Brian Gutekunst takes a much more modern approach. Unlike his predecessor, he’s much more likely to fill out the bottom of the roster with veterans, so he uses more visits on prospects likely to be drafted early.
In 2018, six of these visits spent time as Packers, including third-round pick Oren Burks and fourth-round selection J’Mon Moore. The following season, three former visitors wore the Green and Gold, including third-rounder Jace Sternberger. Then 2020 brought in two more, with first-rounder Jordan Love and another third-rounder in Josiah Deguara. None of their pre-draft visitors joined the team in 2021.
While Love is the only first-round selection from this group, Gutekunst found multiple mid-round players, including three third-rounders (though his track record isn’t great in that round). Numerous players the Packers drafted in the first round had visits in Green Bay over the past four seasons. The board didn’t always fall in a way to take those players, or the Packers chose to pass.
In 2022, Gutekunst has continued to look at potential top-100 picks, including Georgia DL Devonte Wyatt, Arkansas WR Treylon Burks, Georgia WR George Pickens, Washington State OT Abraham Lucas, and NDSU WR Christian Watson. We don’t know if any of these players will be selected by Green Bay this weekend, but there are a few things we can learn.
Just from the small sample size of players mentioned above, you’ll see a lot of wide receivers. Green Bay needs receivers. We all know this. That’s why seven of their visits have been with wideouts. The team is doing their due diligence on the top options and some intriguing mid-round options like Tennessee’s Velus Jones Jr.
In addition, we know the team spoke with Chris Olave and other top options at the combine. Gutekunst will undoubtedly draft a few wide receivers. It’s just a matter of who and when.
The Packers also love big men, so they’ve hosted seven offensive tackles. We’ve widely speculated that Elgton Jenkins is the long-term answer at right tackle, but the team hasn’t made that clear. An interest in some of the draft’s top talent at the position may mean that isn’t the case. An early tackle selection may mean a return to the interior for Jenkins.
Of course, the Packers need depth at the position anyway, and they’ve historically loved turning collegiate tackles into NFL guards. Green Bay might be looking for depth or potential starting guards. But it’s clear the offensive line is a top priority.
The next largest group is interior defensive linemen, with five. For years, Kenny Clark needing help on the defensive line has been an evergreen comment. While bringing in Jarran Reed helps, bolstering the defensive trench is still a priority. Green Bay probably waits until the middle rounds to address the position, but bringing in Wyatt means a first-round interior lineman isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Players aside, these visits give us a clear picture of where Green Bay’s priorities lie — the trenches and wide receiver. Honestly, that is what those of us outside the organization have assumed anyway. The Packers are certainly doing thorough research on areas of need, but that’s to be expected.
Gutekunst also hasn’t shied away from drafting players he’s had little contact with. Jaire Alexander was a surprising pick, and he famously had little contact with the organization. Eric Stokes also didn’t appear to be widely connected to Green Bay when they selected him. Gutekunst is a madlad. He’ll do what he wants.
In an interview with CheeseheadTV’s Aaron Nagler, Packers director of football operations Milt Hendrickson mentioned how important it is to get an idea of the person off of the field. “How they interact with their teammates, how they interact with the coaching staff, how they handle criticism, how they respond to a really tough practice,” he said. “I just think those are the types of things that are so valuable, being on the road, that don’t necessarily come through on tape.”
But ultimately, Hendrickson said what scouts see on tape decides whether or not a player goes on the board. “The thing is, for most guys, you watch the tape and form your opinions, you go through the combine and the pro days, and nine out of ten times throughout my career, I come right back around to what I was thinking about a guy did in October when I was on a school visit.”
Pre-draft visits can help put the pieces together and form a more complete picture of a player, but it all comes down to the tape.
Some of the players Green Bay spoke with this spring will become Packers. Most won’t. We can get an idea of what positions Gutekunst and his staff prioritize, but it isn’t exactly a revelation with what we know outside of the building. We still have no idea what Green Bay will do this weekend, but that’s part of the fun.
