The Green Bay Packers entered the 2023 NFL Draft with 11 selections. Somehow, they came away with 13 picks. Knowing his team needs cheaper rookie contracts at multiple positions, Brian Gutekunst played the board for value. By trading back from pick No. 45 twice, Gutekunst got two more selections, eventually using them on Virginia WR Dontayvion Wicks and Bowling Green’s DL Karl Brooks.
Thirteen players means a crowded class, making it hard to stand out. But Green Bay has some exciting options on Day 3 that could play big roles in 2023. Brooks is one of my favorite picks in this class — a player at a position of need who dominated the competition. Brooks may not be an athletic monster like some of his draftmates, but he’s an absolute terror on the defensive line and might be Green Bay’s best value pick in this draft.
Maybe I’m biased since Brooks attended the best college in the world, Bowling Green State University, nestled in idyllic Northwest Ohio. When your alma mater isn’t in a Power Five conference, seeing any player from your school getting drafted is exciting. But it goes beyond that. Brooks was a perfect blend of talent, need, and value.
Brooks was a man among boys in the MAC. Playing primarily at edge, Brooks showed great technique at rushing the passer and was stout against the run. The former Falcon finished last season eighth in the nation with 10 sacks and ninth in the nation with 18 tackles for loss. He was PFF’s No. 1-ranked run defender and their sixth in pass-rush win rate.
With Brooks’ size (6’3”, 300 lbs.), he’ll move inside at the NFL, but that should be no issue for one of the MAC’s best defenders. Brooks has the positional versatility the Packers love, able to play anywhere on the defensive line.
Brooks provides Green Bay with a well-developed set of pass-rush moves. The Packers have struggled to generate pressure from the inside. Once Brooks adjusts to playing inside full-time, he’ll add a unique skill set to the group while still being an excellent run defender.
And the need inside is definitely there. The Packers lost a huge chunk of their interior defensive line snaps with the departures of Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry. Kenny Clark needs some help — as is often the case. Last year’s first-round pick Devonte Wyatt should see a huge leap in snaps, as should T.J. Slaton. But expect to see Brooks and fourth-round pick Colby Wooden to see snaps early.
The biggest knocks on Brooks are the level of completion he faced and his relatively average athletic ability (5.73 RAS). But that meant little to Green Bay, and a good deal of the draft community as well.
Director of Player Personnel Milt Hendrickson said of Brooks, “The tape still is the tape. What he was able to display, even against the knock, there’s something you turn on the tape and he’s a man amongst boys.”
Brooks wasn’t just good against his competition — he ate them for breakfast. In every game in which Brooks played, he was one of the best players on the field because of pure talent and skill. Brooks was a team captain at BGSU and earned first-team All-Mac. If you’re going to play for a smaller school, being the best in your conference is a great way to get noticed.
He views every snap as a chance to destroy the offense. On his approach, Brooks said, “A lot goes through my mind. Down and distance. Personnel that the offense is in. What’s the situation in the game. But always, my No. 1 thing is to get off the ball. Be the hammer, not the nail. I wanna attack offensive linemen. I wanna get off the ball first. I wanna strike, and I wanna play in the backfield.”
Brooks had opportunities to go elsewhere but chose to stay at Bowling Green out of a sense of loyalty. “I did have opportunities to get into the transfer portal after my junior year,” Brooks said shortly after being drafted. “But I just felt I owed my loyalty to Bowling Green. They were a team that stuck with me from the beginning.”
And why anyone would want to leave a town with Campus Pollyeyes and Nate and Wally’s Fishbowl is beyond me.
Even with the small school “knock,” many draft boards still saw Brooks as a top 100 player. Per Packer Report, Brooks was the 99th player on both PFF and the Athletic’s big boards. He was absolute theft for Green Bay at No. 179.
Day 3 is all about finding “diamond-in-the-rough” type players, but there isn’t much “rough” with Brooks. He likely could have been drafted much higher, he fills a huge need for Green Bay, and he has demonstrated performance while still providing room to grow. That’s exactly what you want on Draft Saturday.
As a sixth-round pick, there won’t be a lot of pressure on Brooks right away. But don’t be surprised to see him flash early on as he adjusts to life in the NFL. This former Falcon has the potential to soar.
