2025 Packer's Draft Day

[HarryDoyle]

Dike drafted by the Titans, making that one more ex Badger drafted than current Badgers.

[LouisEly]

15 hours ago, HarveysWBs said:

They’re not giving the bag to both Walker and Tom, so a major investment in the O-line makes sense in a better a year early than late sort of way. But I hope both Morgan and Belton contribute this year, since we’re in a state of “urgency” per our GM. The time for impact is right now.

I'm wondering if the Belton pick was because the Packers and Tom are far apart on extension talks.  I wonder if the Eagles game has the Packers questioning how much they are willing to give and guarantee Tom.

Anyone else surprised by how many guards got picked in the top 50?  It's a copycat league, and I'm wondering if the strategy is to copy the Eagles of having massive guards opening up holes up the middle.  It explains guards getting picked high as well as the run on DT.

Makes the signing of Banks a lot less surprising.  A lot of teams are investing heavily in guards, be it the Packers in free agency or other teams in very high draft picks.

[LouisEly]

There goes Thornton.  Wouldn't have made it to the Packers 4th round pick.

[Strike4]

With the new emphasis on bigger OL I wonder if Mbow gets any consideration if he drops to the Packers

[HarryDoyle]

That was neat. Nice to get an edge rusher finally. And Golden's college teammate. What a steal.

[HarveysWBs]

Sounds like Sorrell can rush inside or outside, which is a helpful trait. I wonder if Sawyer would have been the pick there if still available. I have no opinion on the matter, just a curiosity.

[Matt Breen]

2 minutes ago, HarveysWBs said:

Sounds like Sorrell can rush inside or outside, which is a helpful trait. I wonder if Sawyer would have been the pick there if still available. I have no opinion on the matter, just a curiosity.

I wanted Sawyer there. Figures Pittsburgh would take him right before us. Oh well. Getting some depth on the line is important.

[LouisEly]

10 minutes ago, HarveysWBs said:

Sounds like Sorrell can rush inside or outside, which is a helpful trait. I wonder if Sawyer would have been the pick there if still available. I have no opinion on the matter, just a curiosity.

He's only 6'3", 256, so I doubt that he can rush inside.

Excellent 3-cone, short shuttle, and bench press numbers.  Lacks length.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Imagine falling to 144 only to still get drafted by the Browns. 

[HarveysWBs]

18 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Imagine falling to 144 only to still get drafted by the Browns. 

I know it’s the Browns, so of course they did this, but at some point, how can the franchise make the same mistake over and over and over again without learning anything? Manziel? Mayfield (who became serviceable elsewhere but was fairly immature coming out of college)? Watson? Now Sanders? Just being a starting QB in the NFL is enough of a circus already, choosing to add extra drama is just an unforced error, and they keep doing it to themselves. It’s insane.

[HarryDoyle]

27 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Imagine falling to 144 only to still get drafted by the Browns. 

If Cleveland had drafted him at #5, he'd have pouted and held out.

[LouisEly]

Collin Oliver is an interesting pick.  I looked at him, but thought he wasn't a good fit for a 4-3 due to lack of length and size and the he was a likely 3-4 OLB.  But scouting reports say that he's athletic enough to cover in space, and add to that his experience pass rushing, and he has some upside as an off-ball LB who can be a very effective blitzer. 

[bigred]

3 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Dike drafted by the Titans, making that one more ex Badger drafted than current Badgers.

Because sadly, the current Badgers are terrible. Lol

[bigred]

Imo, I bet one of the reasons Sanders fell so far, is teams didn't want to deal with the massive headaches/drama Deion will certainly cause. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

3 hours ago, LouisEly said:

I'm wondering if the Belton pick was because the Packers and Tom are far apart on extension talks.  I wonder if the Eagles game has the Packers questioning how much they are willing to give and guarantee Tom.

Anyone else surprised by how many guards got picked in the top 50?  It's a copycat league, and I'm wondering if the strategy is to copy the Eagles of having massive guards opening up holes up the middle.  It explains guards getting picked high as well as the run on DT.

Makes the signing of Banks a lot less surprising.  A lot of teams are investing heavily in guards, be it the Packers in free agency or other teams in very high draft picks.

This kind of thing happens a lot, where a position gets so neglected for a while, someone starts using it again, and it comes back in style. Guard has been seen as a secondary position for a long time. Tight end was an extra blocker for a long time, now it's hard to be one if you can't get downfield. Fullback disappeared, now it's slowly coming back as there are smaller players in the box.

[HarveysWBs]

So, welcome back, Jaire! Maybe you’ll clear 50% participation rate this year…

[HarryDoyle]

Can someone explain to my how Badger (or ex Badger) quarterbacks always manage to get drafted?

[NeedMoreFans]

14 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

Can someone explain to my how Badger (or ex Badger) quarterbacks always manage to get drafted?

Poor QB coaching across two different coaching regimes.  

[LouisEly]

5 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

Can someone explain to my how Badger (or ex Badger) quarterbacks always manage to get drafted?

Wisconsin historically has played pro-style offenses.  Even Longo's offense was pro-style in that it required the QBs and WRs to read defenses and make decisions on routes and throws.  Makes the transition to the pros much easier than the en-vogue offenses where teams run up to the line, look at giant cards being held up on the sidelines, and do whatever the card says.  UW QBs have a 4-5 year head start on learning how to read defenses.

That, and over the last 15 or so years kids that would be college QBs are taking $1M to play pro baseball out of high school, diluting the college QB talent pool.  UWs QBs may not be great, but if you watch enough college football, you'll see that most teams either don't have a good QB or they play a system that inflates the QBs numbers and makes them look better than they really are.

[homer]

2 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Can someone explain to my how Badger (or ex Badger) quarterbacks always manage to get drafted?

Always? It's pretty rare. There have been 11 total. 3 since Alvarez was hired. Mertz is the first since Wilson in 2012 unless there is some guy that transfered out of UW I am missing. There have probably been some undrafted free agents.

[BrewerFan]

10 hours ago, JosephC said:

I like Belton and think he's under-rated.  Guys get to a certain size and the experts just assume they can't play left tackle.  I think he could stick there and be pretty good.  Interesting to hear Gutekunst talk about him.  He just would say "can play all the spots except center."  I almost get the vibe that they picked Belton to play guard. On more than one occasion Gutekunst said, he can handle guys inside.  But again, they could have taken him to play left tackle but Gutekunst doesn't want to say it because that makes his last year's #1 pick look not so good.  In any event, he certainly should be insurance for tackle considering both have free agency coming up.

I'm not a fan of Savion Williams at all.  Size and straight-line speed but not much else.  Stiff as a board and is a gear-down player when changing directions in his routes.  Fairly nasty piece from Acme Packing Company (linked below) where their writer just pretty much says Williams cannot play the position.  IMO, that's going too far, but when reading various reports he does seem to be that size/speed guy where people think speed = athleticism but in this case it does not.

https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/green-bay-packers-draft/2025/4/23/24414725/nfl-draft-2025-most-overrated-wide-receivers-luther-burden-savion-williams-isaiah-bond

So yesterday I wrote a little note about the Panthers and Bryce Young.  I looked at the picks last night and just couldn't help but think, has Gutekunst realized his 55 million average per year quarterback is really just an "above-average" starting NFL quarterback, so now he is going to throw all of his resources into players that hopefully will elevate the play of this guy?  Kind of looks like it to me.  And Big-Time credit to the media in Green Bay...the very first question Gutekunst got yesterday was a roundabout way of asking this.  Instead of being so direct, the reporter did the old, "you have a still developing quarterback, how much did that influence these picks."  Gutekunst did the typical GM-speak, "that's the way the board fell."  

I think you're wasting his talent if you don't try him out at LT...or RT. I still think it makes more sense to just start Tom at LT now, but either way, elite teams have both OT spots locked down. 

I would hope they're just talking about him playing OG because they didn't want fans to get upset they passed on other positions with Morgan, Walker, Tom at OT, but again, I'd have been good going OT in Rd1. 

I don't like Savion Williams as an outside WR, I do think he is a Cordelle Patterson Gadget player. Maybe a poor man's Deebo... but I don't think they made that pick because they don't believe in Love. I think Watson is hurt, Doubs has concussion issues and...he just doesn't seem like he wants to be here. I'm probably reading too much into his game day disposition, but he looks...disinterested when playing. Either way, they're both due to be FAs. I wouldn't write Watson off, but I don't see Doubs re-signing. Watson, it'd take him coming back and showing something and then signing a pretty conservative contract and at that point, I'm sure a team that has 80-90M of cap space will probably overpay him. Chargers, Raiders, Titans, all have over 100M in cap space as of now for the '26 draft. 

Quote

 He projects as more of a “joker” weapon and needs a creative play caller who can utilize him in different ways (similar to Cordarrelle Patterson).

That's...fine. That's what I was hoping for in Thornton later on...and you were past that top tier of CBs after Nohl Williams got drafted(though...Riley was there). 

 

I'm a little confused at the end of the day with some of these picks(for instance, if you wanted another versatile OT, there was a really good one fro Oregon St available in Grey)....but Gute is pretty good at his job. I'll trust him. 

Dumas-Johnson signing an UDFA deal is good for them. I think he's got a good chance to make the team and play on early downs. 

 

One pick that was really interesting is Oliver. I'm hoping he's used kinda like Micah Parsons was a rookie before he moved full time to edge. Off-Ball base, then 3rd 10, let him go. Or as a Spy at times. 

Good spot for another player who fits Hafley's scheme at least insofar as he likes to disguise fronts and coverages. Oliver is athletic enough I could see you with Oliver/Wyatt/LVN/Gary/Cooper/Bullard/Wiliams all up on the LOS and then dropping out 2 and just creating confusion. Easier to do that with Oliver than McDuffie.

 

Still...not sure what we're looking at for CB unless Jaire is staying put. If he's gone, we're going to need to make a move in SOME way to add depth or play a lot of zone. We did it last year, we had a solid overall defense. The offense could be really exciting with these additions, Lloyd hopefully adding another look, Musgrave if he can stay healthy is a big threat and...Golden, improved OL play...

We'll see. It's usually the rookies from last year making a big jump and I think there's plenty of room for that. 

Kinda a meh draft overall IMO, but we'll see. We may have really upgraded the pass rush from 124 to 160 and added a nice replacement for Slaton in Rd6. 

[jay87shot]

I have to say I am not a huge fan of our haul overall. I don't dislike any of the players but we really didn't add much help for this year. I get we like to take guys in later rounds to fill holes for future years but I don't see tons of obvious upgrades. Here is my pick by pick analysis.

1) Golden A-, The value and upside is great. I would have preferred a more posseion based receiver but had Golden ranked 12th overall. If Lafluer can find a way to utilize the speed of Golden and Reed without overlapping talents the speed is extremely valuable. 

2) Belton B/C, My issue here is that I don't think he can play guard. If he has more versatility than I think, I will give this a B, if not C. I don't like that he is 24 and probably won't play much this year. I guess if we drafted a younger guy who will have a bit more upside that would have made more sense. I do like that this, with Banks, looks like a nod to a path for a sustained power running game.

3) Savion Williams C+,  I liked Williams as a sleeper but the 3rd is a touch high. If Watson is out most of the year and maybe we trade Doubs I like this pick a bunch. If we keep Doubs and Watson only misses a few games we drafted him as a 6/7/8 (Hardman/Heath) in the 3rd. His size and athletism should allow him inside or outside eventually in my opinion, maybe not right away but he has a year or two to develop.

4) Barryn Sorrell B  Sorrell is another player I like but the depth chart makes me wonder how much he will play. If he can beat out Kingsley this is a great pick, but Mosby and Cox could have something to say.

5)Collin Oliver B+.   I am guessing he will be used as an off ball LB instead of a edge rusher. It's hard to dislike someone who had 11.5 sacks as a freshman in a power 5 school. As a 5th rounder I am fine with the value compared to the upside and not needing him much to play this year.

6/7/7)Brinson, Robinson, Williams. B-    None of these guys were really on my radar but I can see the upside and won't complain about any of them.

Overall= C.   I really would have liked to see a TJ Slaton replacement at some point and not getting a CB earlier is a mistake. Even if Jaire is back it would have been a good idea to get another corner. I think the biggest disappointment is that after Golden I don't see anyone helping much this year.

[BrewerFan]

53 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

I have to say I am not a huge fan of our haul overall. I don't dislike any of the players but we really didn't add much help for this year. I get we like to take guys in later rounds to fill holes for future years but I don't see tons of obvious upgrades. Here is my pick by pick analysis.

1) Golden A-, The value and upside is great. I would have preferred a more posseion based receiver but had Golden ranked 12th overall. If Lafluer can find a way to utilize the speed of Golden and Reed without overlapping talents the speed is extremely valuable. 

2) Belton B/C, My issue here is that I don't think he can play guard. If he has more versatility than I think, I will give this a B, if not C. I don't like that he is 24 and probably won't play much this year. I guess if we drafted a younger guy who will have a bit more upside that would have made more sense. I do like that this, with Banks, looks like a nod to a path for a sustained power running game.

3) Savion Williams C+,  I liked Williams as a sleeper but the 3rd is a touch high. If Watson is out most of the year and maybe we trade Doubs I like this pick a bunch. If we keep Doubs and Watson only misses a few games we drafted him as a 6/7/8 (Hardman/Heath) in the 3rd. His size and athletism should allow him inside or outside eventually in my opinion, maybe not right away but he has a year or two to develop.

4) Barryn Sorrell B  Sorrell is another player I like but the depth chart makes me wonder how much he will play. If he can beat out Kingsley this is a great pick, but Mosby and Cox could have something to say.

5)Collin Oliver B+.   I am guessing he will be used as an off ball LB instead of a edge rusher. It's hard to dislike someone who had 11.5 sacks as a freshman in a power 5 school. As a 5th rounder I am fine with the value compared to the upside and not needing him much to play this year.

6/7/7)Brinson, Robinson, Williams. B-    None of these guys were really on my radar but I can see the upside and won't complain about any of them.

Overall= C.   I really would have liked to see a TJ Slaton replacement at some point and not getting a CB earlier is a mistake. Even if Jaire is back it would have been a good idea to get another corner. I think the biggest disappointment is that after Golden I don't see anyone helping much this year.

I mostly agree. I just...don't really understand a few things. 

1-Golden
He will be a possession WR. A guy that can get open and make contested catches keeps the chains moving. But a "possession" WR was the last thing I wanted. A deep threat makes those 3rd down conversations so much easier. It makes getting into 3rd and short easier, it makes...everything easier. The whole offense runs smoother. 

It's like a great pass rush for the defense, it makes everyone else's job easier. Christian Watson wasn't a superstar last year. He was a nice player, but we were ~4 yard better per play with him on the field. And Golden is really good at going up and getting the ball in contested catch situations...as Reed is. Obviously he won't be as good as Julio or a 6'3 big body, but a possession WR is Romeo Doubs, Wicks was the quintessential 3rd down WR/Possession WR in '23. Last year...he struggled. Kraft, Musgrave,....all possession WRs. What we were missing was that HR threat. 

 

2-Belton-Why would you doubt he can play inside? Especially given that we've moved away from the ZBS? The edge may be an issue, we'll have to see, but I don't think there's any doubt he'll be able to kick inside and play Guard. 

1 hour ago, jay87shot said:

If we keep Doubs and Watson only misses a few games we drafted him as a 6/7/8

Watson is going to miss more than a few games...on top of that, he's a FA. 
But I am with you, that was a head scratcher to me. I like him...but he's a luxury. 

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/green-bay-packers-still-expected-012340124.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

With the Packers still expected to cut Jaire(or trade)...what are we doing? Going after Ramsey? I mean...seriously, that has to be on the table. 

We have zero depth at CB. We're not going to have a choice but to sit back in soft zone and hope we can create pressure and then lean heavily on our Safeties. 

 

1 hour ago, jay87shot said:

Overall= C.   I really would have liked to see a TJ Slaton replacement at some point and not getting a CB earlier is a mistake. Even if Jaire is back it would have been a good idea to get another corner. I think the biggest disappointment is that after Golden I don't see anyone helping much this year

I'm with ya. But...I didn't scout the GA DT. They have such insane depth, they have guys who are projected to be 1st rd picks next year, so a guy being a rotational player could still make him an NFL caliber player. 

So MAYBE that's Slaton's replacement? I wish Ford was still on this roster. Suddenly, 6.5M for a DT doesn't look so bad. Not with Kenny Clark on the downside of his career. 

We DID sign Nazir Stackhouse. He could certainly plug up the middle. Not much else, but...again, those Bulldogs have just waves of players coming at you!

Dumas Johnson, Stackhouse, Brinson...they could all help vs the run. 

 

AS for not helping much this year...it takes rookies a year, but I'd say
-Golden will have a big impact
-Belton will start somewhere, likely inside to start...but maybe he doesn't start until next year when Walker and Rhyan are gone.
-Williams will have a role. They'll want to get him touches...but I don't think he'll have an impact at WR.
-Sorrell-Limited, STs.
-Oliver-I think he'll be used sparingly, but I think he'll make an impact.
-Brinson...I'd guess Stackhouse is more likely to make an impact at this point. Really be nice to still have Ford. 
-Robinson may need to...
-Williams very little

CB-Easily the most baffling. Particularly with the instance on letting Jaire go. Which I get. I don't love it, but I get it...but you had to do more. Now you're desperate. Dallas, KC, they have depth there. Not sure where else...but you NEED to make a move. Asante Samuel Jr? Kendall Fuller...Rasul Douglas?

 

I think we got much better on offense and gave Hafley some creative weapons, but no core pieces for the other side of the ball...though, I hope I'm wrong. Edge and Off-ball/PR specialist in Rd4/5 could be nice, but we still have needs. 

[bigred]

51 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

I mostly agree. I just...don't really understand a few things. 

1-Golden
He will be a possession WR. A guy that can get open and make contested catches keeps the chains moving. But a "possession" WR was the last thing I wanted. A deep threat makes those 3rd down conversations so much easier. It makes getting into 3rd and short easier, it makes...everything easier. The whole offense runs smoother. 

It's like a great pass rush for the defense, it makes everyone else's job easier. Christian Watson wasn't a superstar last year. He was a nice player, but we were ~4 yard better per play with him on the field. And Golden is really good at going up and getting the ball in contested catch situations...as Reed is. Obviously he won't be as good as Julio or a 6'3 big body, but a possession WR is Romeo Doubs, Wicks was the quintessential 3rd down WR/Possession WR in '23. Last year...he struggled. Kraft, Musgrave,....all possession WRs. What we were missing was that HR threat. 

 

2-Belton-Why would you doubt he can play inside? Especially given that we've moved away from the ZBS? The edge may be an issue, we'll have to see, but I don't think there's any doubt he'll be able to kick inside and play Guard. 

Watson is going to miss more than a few games...on top of that, he's a FA. 
But I am with you, that was a head scratcher to me. I like him...but he's a luxury. 

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/green-bay-packers-still-expected-012340124.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

With the Packers still expected to cut Jaire(or trade)...what are we doing? Going after Ramsey? I mean...seriously, that has to be on the table. 

We have zero depth at CB. We're not going to have a choice but to sit back in soft zone and hope we can create pressure and then lean heavily on our Safeties. 

 

I'm with ya. But...I didn't scout the GA DT. They have such insane depth, they have guys who are projected to be 1st rd picks next year, so a guy being a rotational player could still make him an NFL caliber player. 

So MAYBE that's Slaton's replacement? I wish Ford was still on this roster. Suddenly, 6.5M for a DT doesn't look so bad. Not with Kenny Clark on the downside of his career. 

We DID sign Nazir Stackhouse. He could certainly plug up the middle. Not much else, but...again, those Bulldogs have just waves of players coming at you!

Dumas Johnson, Stackhouse, Brinson...they could all help vs the run. 

 

AS for not helping much this year...it takes rookies a year, but I'd say
-Golden will have a big impact
-Belton will start somewhere, likely inside to start...but maybe he doesn't start until next year when Walker and Rhyan are gone.
-Williams will have a role. They'll want to get him touches...but I don't think he'll have an impact at WR.
-Sorrell-Limited, STs.
-Oliver-I think he'll be used sparingly, but I think he'll make an impact.
-Brinson...I'd guess Stackhouse is more likely to make an impact at this point. Really be nice to still have Ford. 
-Robinson may need to...
-Williams very little

CB-Easily the most baffling. Particularly with the instance on letting Jaire go. Which I get. I don't love it, but I get it...but you had to do more. Now you're desperate. Dallas, KC, they have depth there. Not sure where else...but you NEED to make a move. Asante Samuel Jr? Kendall Fuller...Rasul Douglas?

 

I think we got much better on offense and gave Hafley some creative weapons, but no core pieces for the other side of the ball...though, I hope I'm wrong. Edge and Off-ball/PR specialist in Rd4/5 could be nice, but we still have needs. 

Golden has 4.29 speed, and is a good route runner. That's not a deep threat? 

[BrewerFan]

15 minutes ago, bigred said:

Golden has 4.29 speed, and is a good route runner. That's not a deep threat? 

Yup. Obviously. Which is why I said I wanted Golden days before the draft...

Who said he wasn't a deep threat?