Green Bay Packers Last 10 Drafts Ranked: No. 6 Class of 2020
By Kenny Jilek
Tier 2 – Kamal Martin, Jon Runyan Jr., Jake Hanson
At times last season, it really looked like the Green Bay Packers got a steal in the fifth round in Kamal Martin. He always plays at 100 miles per hour, and after seeing Blake Martinez make tackles five yards downfield for years, it was a breath of fresh air to see Martin shooting gaps and making tackles in the backfield and at the line of scrimmage. He had three tackles for loss in six starts, and while his downhill mentality sometimes got him out of position, he could see big improvements after having offseason activities and a chance to learn the whole defense better so he can do his job and be aggressive in the context of the larger defensive scheme.
Jon Runyan Jr., the first of three sixth-round offensive linemen, also looked great in spurts last year. He played on offense in eight games and played 15 snaps or more four times, including back-to-back games playing 50 snaps, good for 83 and 70 percent of the offensive snaps in those weeks. He’ll have his chance to start on the offensive line this season, with Corey Linsley gone and David Bakhtiari out to start the year.
Jake Hanson didn’t see any time on the field in 2020. When Linsley departed, it looked like he had a fairly clear path to being the starting center, but the front office wanted someone else and took Josh Myers in the second round, which put a huge boulder directly in that path. Now, instead of looking good for a starting spot, he’ll have to fight for his spot on the team.