Don’t Be Surprised if Green Bay Packers Pass on WR Early On

Given the depth of the WR class in this year’s draft along with the needs that the Green Bay Packers have elsewhere, don’t be surprised if they don’t select one right away.

This offseason the Green Bay Packers find themselves in a bit of an odd spot as they were on the cusp of reaching the Super Bowl in 2019, however, right now it feels like they have a number of positions that they could address in the draft.

And although there may be multiple positions to fill on this roster, I’m sure that wide receiver is the one that most fans want to see taken care of right away.

Despite going 13-3 last season, the Green Bay Packers passing attack was very underwhelming for much of the season. That, of course, does not include Davante Adams and fortunately, we saw the emergence of Allen Lazard as well as more Aaron Jones to help negate some of the lack-luster play we were seeing from others.

While another receiver or even two should be added to the mix this offseason to hopefully provide this offense with some more juice, given the depth of the position in this year’s class along with the needs that the Packers have elsewhere, I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if they don’t take a receiver in the first round or two.

For one there are other positions like tackle and interior defensive lineman that don’t have that same depth and they are certainly two areas that the Packers could prioritize. They still need to find a long-term solution at right tackle and after being gashed by the run game in 2019, it’s time to find Kenny Clark some help inside.

So if the Packers do in fact wait on selecting a receiver, there is certainly the possibility that they aren’t going to end up with many of the popular names that they have been linked to this offseason. This list includes Jalen Reagor, Denzel Mims, Justin Jefferson, and Brandon Aiyuk among others.

However, waiting doesn’t mean that they won’t end up with an impact player in Rounds 3 or 4 of the draft.

Eric DeCosta the GM of the Baltimore Ravens is on the record saying that he believes there is enough wide receiver talent that teams can find an immediate impact player all the way into Round 5.

Now, does that mean the Packers should wait until Round 5 to select one? Of course not. But with having that much talent available, they also shouldn’t feel like they have to take one in the first or second round either.

On top of that, Jim Nagy who is the Executive Director of the Senior Bowl, a former NFL scout, and a draft analyst at ESPN echoed similar sentiments. Recently he tweeted out that many teams feel that they can find a starting-caliber receiver into Round 4 of the draft.

If this is how things actually play out on draft weekend and the Green Bay Packers don’t select a receiver until Round 3 for example,  I can imagine that many won’t be happy. And of course, how the board falls is going to dictate a lot of what they do.

But considering that it’s easy to justify the Packers addressing tackle, interior defensive lineman, linebacker, or cornerback within the first four rounds of the draft, given the depth of the receiver position, we shouldn’t be that surprised if they don’t select one in Rounds 1 or 2.