The Good & the Bad from Green Bay Packers 2020 NFL Draft

With the 2020 NFL Draft now in the books, let’s take a look at the good and the bad for the Green Bay Packers.

When it comes to the Green Bay Packers draft, many would describe it as interesting, unusual, and unexpected. Another term that I’m sure many fans are throwing around is ‘bad’ or at least some variation of that term, and I can understand why.

As I mentioned the draft didn’t go as hoped and there were some head-scratching decisions, especially early on, and I’ll be sure to get to those moments shortly. But, believe it or not, there was some good that came from this draft as well.

So after having some time to digest what has happened over the previous three days, I have the good and the bad from the Green Bay Packers 2020 NFL Draft.

The Good

Jordan Love

I won’t pretend like I didn’t want to see the Packers end up with a receiver, tackle or interior defensive lineman in the first round, but Aaron Rodgers could very well be in the final three or four years of his career, and GM Brian Gutekunst selected a player that both he and Matt LaFleur really liked at the most important position in sports.

When you flip on the tape of Love it is easy to see what Gutey and LaFleur love about him – no pun intended – so much. He’s got very good size, he’s a good athlete with a huge harm that allows him to make just about any throw on the field. The potential is certainly there.

Admittedly he has parts of his game that need some real work as well. But the good news is that Love doesn’t have to be the starting quarterback any time soon. The Packers made the move to get who they think could be their next franchise quarterback for 15 or more seasons. And we can’t really fault them for that.

The 6th Round Offensive Linemen

The Green Bay Packers will have some question marks along the offensive line entering the 2021 offseason. David Bakhtiari is a free agent – although he should be back – and so is Corey Linsley. However, his future status is a bit unknown. Meanwhile if needed, Green Bay can get out of both Billy Turner and Rick Wagner’s contracts next offseason as well.

So addressing the offensive line at some point in this draft was a must, and they did a very good job of that in Round 6. According to Pro Football Focus, Simon Stepaniak allowed just one sack in 458 pass-blocking attempts in 2019.

Then we have Jon Runyan who allowed only 3 sacks and 3 QB hits combined from 2018 to 2019. While Jake Hanson gave up only 2 sacks and 3 quarterback hits from 2017 to 2019. Although prospects at this stage of the draft are lottery tickets, you have to feel good about these three picks.

LaFleur gets his guys

Green Bay didn’t get the dynamic receiving weapon as everyone had hoped for, but Matt LaFleur did get his guys early on. Last season’s offense was a combination of what LaFleur likes to do along with what Mike McCarthy had established over the years. However, this year they appear to be going all-in on LaFleur’s approach.

On Day 2 of the draft, it was reported by Jim Owczarski of Packers News that Green Bay was looking to be a more “run-oriented” offense moving forward. And in order to do that successfully, they drafted A.J. Dillon who brings a similar presence to what Eddie Lacy did, Josiah Deguara who will fill the Kyle Juszczyk role here in Green Bay, and they bolstered the offensive line depth.

Contrary to what many think, LaFleur and Gutey do have a plan and to give this plan the opportunity to succeed, they need the right personnel. Which is what LaFleur got in this draft.

The Bad

No WR early on

In what many considered a loaded wide receiver class, the Green Bay Packers didn’t end up with a single one of them. Part of this was due to how the board fell where they just didn’t have the opportunity to get someone who they really liked and part of it was that they just valued these players differently than what the draft media and fans did.

Now, I will say that not taking a receiver on Day 3 of the draft makes sense. At that point the odds of finding someone who will step in and be more effective than Marquez Valdes-Scantling or Equanimeous St. Brown are quite slim. However, when it comes to Rounds 1 through 3, landing a Brandon Aiyuk or Denzel Mims type player certainly would have helped this offense.

Losing a 4th round pick

In order to select Jordan Love, the Green Bay Packers had to trade up – or at least that’s what they thought- and they had to give up their fourth-round pick to do so. As I’ve already said, Rounds 5 through 7 are lottery tickets and while there is obviously no guarantee that a fourth-rounder will pan out, they certainly have a better chance.

And considering that in the first three rounds the Packers didn’t address any of their major positional needs, having that fourth-round selection could have come in real handy.

Key positions of need weren’t addressed right away

Entering the draft most would agree that the Green Bay Packers had several pressing needs to take care of early on in the draft. That list would include receiver, for obvious reasons, getting Kenny Clark some help inside, finding their right tackle of the future, and selecting a linebacker that ideally works well in open space.

But as we all saw, that isn’t how things played out. Green Bay wouldn’t select a receiver or an interior defensive lineman the entire draft. While a linebacker wasn’t selected until Day 3 and even though they took three offensive linemen, at the NFL level they will all be guards.

No immediate impact players

For general managers, the draft is a balance between finding immediate help and planning for the future. Well, in this draft unless there is an unexpected contribution from one of their Day 3 selections, none of these players will have a significant impact in 2020.

Love – barring an Aaron Rodgers’ injury – is the backup, Dillon is RB3, and Deguara is an H-back who certainly has value, but he isn’t going to be a game-changer. At least not right away. Then there are the picks in Rounds 5 through 7 which as I’ve already said, shouldn’t be expected to contribute much in 2020. And if they do, well, then that’s a nice surprise.

As is the case in most instances, I’m sure that there is more good and more bad that could be added to this list, but these seven items are what jumped out to me the most after the Green Bay Packers’ draft.