2026 NFL Draft Discussion

[patrickgpe]

I think this was one of Gutey's best drafts, even considering that he had no first roung pick. Addressed all needs, no massive reaches. Dennis-Sutton is probably my favorite pick. Also moving up to get the best kicker in the draft with ballsy. Gives McMannus real competition. 

[GAME05]

Moving 6ths and 7ths to get a guy they really like seems great to me. Usually we read these long write-ups about the guys after the draft and that's the last we ever read their names.

The run-stopper DL we got seems like he'll be a nice compliment to free up Wyatt to rush the passer more often.

Really impressive work from LouisEly yet again. And that you have the ability to match up picks with how they fit the Packers' schemes is a really great addition.

[JosephC]

Congratulations to Chris McIntosh and Luke Fickell.  First time since 1978 that a Badger has not been drafted.  At least we have one of them out of town.

[BrewerFan]

Packers UDFA's

https://packerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2026/04/25/tracking-packers-undrafted-free-agent-signings-following-2026-draft/89735418007/

[LouisEly]

8 minutes ago, JosephC said:

Congratulations to Chris McIntosh and Luke Fickell.  First time since 1978 that a Badger has not been drafted.  At least we have one of them out of town.

Yep, all of those true juniors and redshirt sophomores that Fickell should have had drafted.  Chryst had nothing to do with that at all.

[JosephC]

11 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Yep, all of those true juniors and redshirt sophomores that Fickell should have had drafted.  Chryst had nothing to do with that at all.

Two of Chryst's recruits were drafted.

[Jopal78]

8 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Yeah, sorry, but no. It means a ton. It's a high value asset that provided 0 return for 2 years. That's not meaningless. 

When you use a first round pick on a guy who hasn't played for half of the cheapest contract he's ever going to have, that's a bad pick as of the summer before his third season. I literally said "his journey isn't over yet" before you even jumped into the conversation. This isn't a controversial take.

I am basing it on much more than my own opinion and thoughts but you are choosing to be obtuse. I told you they were ranked in the top 1/3 of the league that year, with less investment which I documented for you, than last year's group which was considerably more expensive and ranked below 20th in rushing and passing. None of that is opinion. 

I'm shocked it's even remotely hot to suggest they've done a bad job developing their OL. The drafting has been mediocre to bad. The coaching which allegedly had guys playing the wrong position, has been bad and a waste of time for several of the guys. The one free agent splash was bad. It's all been pretty bad. 

No it doesn’t mean a thing. The Packers don’t typically draft players, regardless of round, who they expect to plug in as full time starters from day 1. Plus you’re forgetting. Morgan went on IR with an injury his rookie year after playing in six games.. this last year he played and played all the snaps in most of the games. He was just moved around in a different position every week. Maybe  your expectations are too high for an inexperienced guy to come out gangbusters while playing different spots or your memories wrong I don’t know.

I do know that where their rushing game finished with one group of lineman in one season and where it finished with a different group of lineman in different season has no bearing on each other and indicates nothing about developing talent. . You know that too. For example, maybe the passer was better in one year and opponents had to play pass coverage more and  the running game was better for it, or vice versa. Maybe the running back in one year was not good enough and was tremendous in another. Maybe one year’s slate of opponents were better at defending run than other years’ opponents that’s why I say it’s subjective because you believe it’s true not because there is empirical evidence which says so. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

They had no first round pick and 52nd overall was their first selection. I don't think anything they did was going to be "impressive," at least not in the immediate aftermath. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

59 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

No it doesn’t mean a thing. The Packers don’t typically draft players, regardless of round, who they expect to plug in as full time starters from day 1. Plus you’re forgetting. Morgan went on IR with an injury his rookie year after playing in six games.. this last year he played and played all the snaps in most of the games. He was just moved around in a different position every week. Maybe  your expectations are too high for an inexperienced guy to come out gangbusters while playing different spots or your memories wrong I don’t know.

I do know that where their rushing game finished with one group of lineman in one season and where it finished with a different group of lineman in different season has no bearing on each other and indicates nothing about developing talent. . You know that too. For example, maybe the passer was better in one year and opponents had to play pass coverage more and  the running game was better for it, or vice versa. Maybe the running back in one year was not good enough and was tremendous in another. Maybe one year’s slate of opponents were better at defending run than other years’ opponents that’s why I say it’s subjective because you believe it’s true not because there is empirical evidence which says so. 

It literally does mean something. It means exactly what I said. That their first round pick has not contributed on the field in any meaningful way through the first 2 years of the cheapest contract he will ever sign. That is significant for what's intended to be  contending team that claims it's in "win now" mode, and I'm sorry buddy, but no matter how many times you repeat it means nothing or zero or zilch, it doesn't make you correct or the authority on what meaningful is.  

And by the way, moving him around to a position he isn't good at is part of the development process, it was bad coaching, and a waste of his time. It's great that the Packers love versitile OL, but it's ok sometimes to just let a guy play at the position he's, you know, actually used to playing. Just like their Jenkins to C brilliance, it didn't work. That's part of developing your players. 

And for the record, the rankings I cited were never based on rushing or passing totals, they were composite advanced metrics on pass and rush blocking. I don't know how else to get this through your head, but it was an example used to illustrate a very simple concept: historically, the Packers have done a lot more with less investment on their OL. They have a long established history of having a good OL without a lot of assets invested in it. I can give you a lot of examples of that but you'd call it subjective. Right now, they have expensive assets tied up in a group that isn't very good at all. 

I find this runaround funny because it started with you claiming I was subjective when only one of us has used ANY actual data and that wasn't you. You're the one giving lectures on the definition of meaningful, which is as subjective as it gets. 

[CheezWizHed]

5 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

The right side of the their line and the center are average enough or better. Not so sure Banks is a starter quality player even though the Packers paid him to be one. He might be, and it's a testament to how bad line play has become. As of right now, his signing was a bad one. I would probably agree that Morgan won't be worse than Walker, mostly because Walker was atrocious last season and it's a little disturbing to me that it wasn't obvious to them from day one that Morgan should have been in there. 

Is Morgan a bust? Idk. He's a huge question mark though at an extremely important position and that they did nothing to solidify it makes me think he's coming along just fine. 

He can have a bright future and be a bad pick as of this moment. There's no ROI through 2 years on a first round pick, at a position they are weak. It's not like Rodgers sitting behind Favre for 3 years. 

Banks has been an average-ish for the 49ers.  He started very poorly for the Pack, but finished better.  I would suspect him to be "OK" as long as he is healthy.

The Morgan/Walker thing was challenging.  Coaches miscast Morgan as the flexible T/G type, and I don't think he did well at G.  Meanwhile, Walker steps into the LT role and does well with it initially.  In 2024, he was pretty good, which made it hard to replace him until Walker really struggled in 2025.  A weird situation that I put on the coaches more than the player. 

[CheezWizHed]

I was annoyed to see two 7th round picks used to move up in the 6th for a kicker... but then I remembered that 7th round picks are pretty much the same as an UDFA.  

Interesting that they seemed to be OK with Brandon, but they made it clear there will be a TC battle. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

9 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

I was annoyed to see two 7th round picks used to move up in the 6th for a kicker... but then I remembered that 7th round picks are pretty much the same as an UDFA.  

Interesting that they seemed to be OK with Brandon, but they made it clear there will be a TC battle. 

They paid him a $1m roster bonus in March so I figured he was 100% their kicker. I can't really imagine they drafted a K in the 6th to cut him. Maybe they trade McManus when someone else has a kicking disaster in at the end of the preseason, provided Smack is Smacking it.

[JosephC]

Watch them keep both kickers on the active roster until about week 12 of the season, when injuries and lack of depth force them to make a move.  Would this really surprise anyone?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

10 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Banks has been an average-ish for the 49ers.  He started very poorly for the Pack, but finished better.  I would suspect him to be "OK" as long as he is healthy.

It's easy to look average next to Trent Williams and I fear that is exactly what happened. The 49ers fans were content letting him go. Sometimes, a signing at which the masses laugh, does end up just being a really bad signing.

That said, lots of lines have a mediocre guard if the rest of it is solidified. We paid him way too much, and I think he is almost a guarantee to be cut next spring. Burton will replace him (played more snaps at guard than center in college) or Rhyan will go back to G.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Anders went 34/40 and 6/8 from 50+ in the NFL and is kicking for the Birmingham Stallions. 

Extra points did him in. Made them at the same clip of 85%, atrocious.

[JosephC]

Mason Rieger to Dolphins

Vinny Anthony to Falcons

Austin Brown to Colts

Riley Mahlman to Falcons

Lance Mason to Seahawks

Darryl Peterson to Rams

[LouisEly]

16 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

I was annoyed to see two 7th round picks used to move up in the 6th for a kicker... but then I remembered that 7th round picks are pretty much the same as an UDFA.  

Interesting that they seemed to be OK with Brandon, but they made it clear there will be a TC battle. 

Lots of people were calling for competition at K and griping that they didn't sign a FA K.  Well, they got their competition.

One of the 7ths they gave up was the 2nd to last pick in the draft.  So it really was the same as a UDFA.

[LouisEly]

Given that they didn't have a pick until #52, overall I'm very satisfied with what they did.  They picked players at positions of need who seemed to be a good value at where they picked them.

The one position they didn't pick, which Gutey acknowledged was the one position he wanted to pick but didn't, was TE.  I guess 2026 was for TEs what 2025 was for iDL, and 2024 was for OL, and 2022 was for WR.  It was just the position-du-jour this year.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

4 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Lots of people were calling for competition at K and griping that they didn't sign a FA K.  Well, they got their competition.

One of the 7ths they gave up was the 2nd to last pick in the draft.  So it really was the same as a UDFA.

I get what you're saying but just to point out that the mandatory 4-year contract is a big difference between the 7th and UDFAs. If the guy makes the team and especially if he becomes a starter, that's a huge difference. 

[BrewerFan]

On 4/25/2026 at 10:23 PM, CheezWizHed said:

I was annoyed to see two 7th round picks used to move up in the 6th for a kicker... but then I remembered that 7th round picks are pretty much the same as an UDFA.  

Interesting that they seemed to be OK with Brandon, but they made it clear there will be a TC battle. 

They also just paid him a 1M roster bonus last month. 
 

I'd have liked to see those 7th rd picks used on a guy like Pounds or World but they may have only had one kicker with a draftable grade. 

[patrickgpe]

7 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

I'd have liked to see those 7th rd picks used on a guy like Pounds or World but they may have only had one kicker with a draftable grade. 

Smack was the only kicker drafted, I'm sure the Packers didn't want to wait. 

[LouisEly]

17 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I get what you're saying but just to point out that the mandatory 4-year contract is a big difference between the 7th and UDFAs. If the guy makes the team and especially if he becomes a starter, that's a huge difference. 

Not really.  After two accrued seasons they are still an ERFA and teams can tender the minimum, and if they don't accrue a full season (at least six games on the active roster/IR/PUP), it extends until they have 3 accrued seasons.  After 3 accrued seasons they are a RFA so they can retain them if they want to.  Teams still have control for four seasons.

UDFAs are easier to sneak onto the practice squad and thus increasing the chance that they don't accrue a full season that first year, assuming they need development time.

[jay87shot]

I am very pleased with this draft. Only getting 6 guys is a bummer but I really like everyone we got.

Cisse- I was estacic we got him, great value and it fit our biggest need. I don't think he will be a shutdown guy but I think he should be better than anyone we had last year.

McCllelan- I love the fit, big and strong enough to play nose tackle and very good pass rushing skills. I think his first step seemed slow but he is super quick when engaging in blocks. I would have liked the club not to have traded up for him but I can't complain that we got a solid player that fit another need.

Sutton- This probably the best pick in our draft, I would have been pretty happy if we took him in the 2nd round and the 4th is a steal. He has great size and atleticism for an edge player and be a great complement to Micah. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts as a rookie right away especially with Micah out.

Burton- Lots of experience and can play G or C. This seems like a great depth pick and with his strength and light feet he would seem to have good upside. I don't have much faith in Rhyan at center so with Burton and Monk on board I feel much better than 1 of the 3 should work out.

Jackson- Another pick with great value, Jackson has the size and speed to be successful. I wouldn't be to surprised if he and Cisse ended the year as the top 2 corners.

Smack- I don't necessarily like trading up for a kicker and I seriously question getting a kicker born in Maryland and played in Florida to kick late season games in Lambeau. However if the club feels like he is the guy I am more than ok with that.

Other thoughts- I was disappointed we didn't add a T or depth at RB/TE however some of the UDFA signings has helped that concern. Overall I would give the draft an A- just because we only managed to get 6 players and had depth needs across the board. I do think that every player drafted has a chance to be a contributor by years end so that is solid.

[CheezWizHed]

On 4/27/2026 at 12:51 AM, BrewerFan said:

They also just paid him a 1M roster bonus last month. 
 

I'd have liked to see those 7th rd picks used on a guy like Pounds or World but they may have only had one kicker with a draftable grade. 

I was rooting for Pounds too... but the last 7th round pick was 2 picks from the end of the draft, so we really only gave up having exclusive rights to one UDFA.  

[LouisEly]

On 4/26/2026 at 8:10 AM, JosephC said:

Mason Rieger to Dolphins

Vinny Anthony to Falcons

Austin Brown to Colts

Riley Mahlman to Falcons

Lance Mason to Seahawks

Darryl Peterson to Rams

Jay'viar Suggs to Saints

Parker Peterson to Panthers

Jackson Acker to Bills

Nyzier Fourquerean to Rams

Ben Barten to Giants

Minicamp tryouts: Nathaniel Vakos (Bucs), Jayden Ballard (Colts), Davis Heinzen (Saints)