Six Final Thoughts About the 2024 NFL Draft
Even though I did my final podcast on the NFL Draft already, I can’t stop thinking about the various permutations of the event itself. It’s a strange thing: I don’t know if I’ve ever been less confident in how a draft was going to go, but I also expect to be completely surprised.
Tomorrow night is too far away, so instead of going and being productive somewhere else, I want to drop a few more thoughts about this year’s NFL Draft, how it could play out, and who the Packers should be targeting.
1 - I said on Tuesday’s podcast that I’m about 60% certain the Packers will trade up, and I still feel pretty confident in that number. Offensive line is such a premium position, and a lot of the bad teams in the league got that way because they’re terrible in the trenches. Plenty of people will be looking to move up, and I think the Packers will be among them.
If they do trade up, this will be the closest thing I think we’ve seen to a “true” trade up in the Gutekunst era. In 2018 he traded up to get Jaire Alexander, but only after first trading down. In 2019, he traded up to get Darnell Savage, but only because he already had surplus draft capital in the form of the first-round pick he’d all but stolen from the Saints in his trade down in 2018.
This year, he still has surplus capital, but it’s less than in 2019. A move up could be costly, but if the scouting reports about this year’s offensive line class are to be believed, it may be worth it.
2 - I can’t shake the idea of adding talent at wide receiver. Yes, the depth chart is as stacked as its been in some time, but in addition to trying to avoid assuming too much about player growth, we can’t forget that both Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs are entering the back halves of their respective contracts. The Packers need to keep the pipeline stocked so that they continue to support Jordan Love with capable pass catchers as the receiver room weathers the inevitable storms of roster attrition or just plain developmental failure.
3 - If they’re going to draft a receiver, I’d love for it to be Xavier Legette. He checks so many boxes for what the Packers have done at receiver historically, he fits the big bodied mold that they don’t really have on the roster right now (even with respect to both Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks), and he’s just a whole lot of fun with the ball in his hands.
4 - I hope the Packers add talent at both linebacker and running back, but if they do, I hope it’s not before the third round. In our pre-draft previews, we identified a total of 14 players at those two positions who we at least had some interest in based on our various thresholds. Of those 14, only Edgerrin Cooper is projected as even a second-round possibility. The remaining 13 players are all projected to go in the third round or later and many of them are expected to go much later than that. If the Packers are going to dip into those pools of prospects, let’s hope it happens on day three.
5 - Here’s a linebacker name we haven’t previously discussed: Darius Muasau out of UCLA. He’s projected by many as a late day three pick if not an undrafted free agent, but according to our conversation with Justis Mosqueda, he’s well-regarded by NFL evaluators. And digging into his data a bit, you can see why. Purely by our numbers, he’s one of the best playmakers at the position in the class. His 41.5 total ballhawks were tops among the 18 linebackers in our sample, and ranking second in sacks, third in interceptions, third in passes defensed, and first in fumbles forced. He’s definitely a little bit small; he’s one of just three linebackers we looked at who measured under six feet tall and he weighs just 225 pounds. He also didn’t light up the scoreboard with his testing numbers, managing just a 4.7-second 40-yard dash and putting up a 5.99 Relative Athletic Score. But Dane Brugler of The Athletic pencils him in as a potential sixth-round pick, saying “Overall, Muasau might not be elite in any one area, but he is a well-rounded linebacker with the play recognition and tackling skills that will translate to any level.” That’s good enough for me.
6 - At running back, I can’t help myself: I’m infatuated with both Trey Benson and Jaylen Wright. Both have their concerns, but both possess crazy speed and could be interesting sidekicks for Josh Jacobs. I almost find myself cackling when I watch Benson crash his way into the open field in his highlights, and Wright’s open-field elusiveness is a joy to behold. Running backs are just fun, okay? Plus, maybe Wright will become the first Packers player to wear 0. That would be fun, too!