The Good, Bad And Ugly From An Unforgettable Packers’ Draft

The Green Bay Packers spent the first two days of the NFL Draft addressing its offense, using all three of its picks on that side of the ball.

On Saturday’s final day of the draft, the Packers went heavy on defense and used four of their five picks on that side.

When it all ended, Green Bay selected four offensive and four defensive players with its eight picks this weekend. The breakdown went like this: two receivers, two offensive linemen, three defensive linemen and one cornerback.

“I think we helped our football team,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “We’re excited about the guys we brought in.”

Here’s the Good, Bad and Ugly from the Packers’ draft.

THE GOOD

WIDE RECEIVER MAKEOVER: When Gutekunst sees a problem, he really attacks it.

Gutekunst took three offensive linemen in 2021, 2022 and 2024. He took three safeties last year. And he took three wide receivers in 2018 and 2022.

After the Packers’ wideouts were the most disappointing group on the roster last year, Gutekunst was hell-bent on fixing the problem. So Gutekunst used two top-100 picks on receivers.

The Packers used their first round pick on Texas wideout Matthew Golden. That marked the first time Green Bay took a wide receiver in Round 1 since 2002 when the Packers took Javon Walker.

Gutekunst then used his third rounder — the 87^th overall pick — on TCU wideout Savion Williams.

“It was just kind of how the board fell to be honest,” Gutekunst said.

Please!

The Packers’ receivers were a colossal disappointment in 2024, and that room was dramatically upgraded over the weekend.

Golden ran the 40-yard dash in 4.29 seconds at this year’s NFL Combine, fastest among all the wideouts. While Golden is just 5-foot-11, 191 pounds, speed certainly kills. And the Packers suddenly have a burner that they desperately needed in their wide receiver room.

“Anytime a guy is breaking sub 4.3s, you know he’s legitimately fast,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think what’s so attractive about a guy like Golden is not only is he fast, but he’s got, I’d say elite hands. He can run through a football.”

Williams has terrific size, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 222 pounds. During his five years at TCU, Williams played in 52 games, caught 137 passes for 1,655 yards (12.1) and had 14 touchdowns. Williams also ran the ball 62 times for 384 yards (6.2) and six TDs.

Many scouts compared Williams to Cordarrelle Patterson, a versatile, jack-of-all-trades who’s carved out a 12-year career with six NFL teams.

“I just do whatever my team needs me to do,” Williams said. “Mostly, teams, they want me to play receiver, but they like the fact they can move all around the formation doing things like that.”

The Packers’ top three returning wideouts — Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks — were mediocre in 2024. And wideout Christian Watson isn’t expected back until at least midseason after tearing an ACL in Week 18.

But the additions of Golden and Williams give this unit a chance to take a major jump.

“It’s going to be really competitive to get on the field and get snaps and get targets and all those things,” Gutekunst said. “But that’s the way you want to want it, right? To win in this league, you have to have playmakers and right now, across the board, really at all the skill positions, I feel pretty good about our playmakers.”

WHAT A WEEKEND: The city of Green Bay shined as it hosted the NFL Draft for the first time ever. And the NFL should have been ecstatic.

Approximately 600,000 people attended the draft over the three days — and that included a rain-soaked afternoon on Friday.

The first round on Thursday drew a reported 205,000. Friday’s second day drew 175,000, and on a sun-splashed Saturday, the crowd was estimated at a three-day high of 220,000.

Fans capped off the weekend with a concert by country star Brad Paisley.

“What an atmosphere, having the draft here,” Gutekunst said. “There’s so many cool things that happened that quite frankly I didn’t expect. Yeah, I thought it might just be a nuisance but it was such a cool environment, such a cool thing.”

Detroit set the attendance record of 775,000 last year. Green Bay’s total of 600,000 fans tied Nashville, Tenn. (2019) for the second-largest total ever.

Traffic in the NFL’s smallest city wasn’t an issue. Crowds were festive — but peaceful. And the three-day party couldn’t have gone much better.

“I thought as far as the operation, I can’t imagine any NFL draft being better than the one we hosted here,” LaFleur said. “What a great experience. Some really cool moments.”

A MOMENT TO REMEMBER: Far too much of the draft coverage focused on overhyped players like Shadeur Sanders instead of terrific stories like the one of Packers’ defensive end Barryn Sorrell.

Sorrell was one of 16 players invited to the green room this weekend — an area off the stage where potential draftees wait to hear their name called. Sorrell wasn’t drafted until the fourth round, and afterwards, broke down and wept when addressing the state media.

When Sorrell stopped crying, he talked about his journey and his joyous walk across the draft stage where euphoric Packer fans celebrated him.

“Man, just an unreal feeling,” said the 6-foot-3, 256-pound Sorrell. “I really don’t have any words to describe it. It’s definitely going to be one of the best memories I’ve had in my life. This day has been great. Just the energy that these fans bring.”

Sorrell wasn’t expecting to be a first round pick, but came to the draft anyway.

“It sounds like he paid his way here,” said Milt Hendrickson, the Packers director of football operations. “Just wanted to be a part of it. If that isn’t enough of an anecdote to tell you what kind of kid that is, I don’t know what else there is.”

Sorrell arrived in Green Bay Wednesday and watched Thursday’s first round with several NFL legends back at his hotel. He went to the green room Friday, but wasn’t selected in either the second or third round.

“I just had to switch that perspective and realize that it’s a blessing to even be there,” Sorrell said of being in the green room. “Not everybody gets drafted and definitely not a lot of people go to the green room. So, just grateful for the opportunity.”

Sorrell was even happier when he heard his name called Saturday.

The Packers made him the 124^th selection overall and he rejoiced on stage in front of another big crowd outside of Packer headquarters. Sorrell then went to Lambeau Field and did a Lambeau leap in front of a few thousand fans.

“Just walking out on the field I could feel the energy,” Sorrell said. “I could feel the fans’ energy and I’m just ready to reciprocate that on game day. I’m ready to come here and make that type of impact. And then the Lambeau Leap, man, it’s just the energy and the way they embrace it. Man, that was a great experience.”

Making it well worth the wait.

LINE DANCING: Gutekunst is always loading — and reloading — on the offensive line. In fact he took three linemen in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

Gutekunst was back at it this year taking offensive tackle/guard Anthony Belton in the second round and guard John Williams in the seventh.

The Packers have three offensive linemen — Zach Tom, Rasheed Walker and Sean Rhyan — heading into contract years. In addition, center Elgton Jenkins will turn 30 this season and his salary cap number balloons to $24.8 million in 2026.

But the Packers helped themselves in the short term — and the long term — by addressing offensive line again.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to upgrade and/or bring in more competition,” LaFleur said of the Packers’ offensive line. “I think that’s exactly what we did.”

THIS AND THAT: Sixth round defensive tackle Warren Brinson (6-5, 315) could be the space-eating defensive tackle the Packers lost when free agent T.J. Slaton signed with Cincinnati. “I think the coaching staff, and I know I believe, he can play up and down the line,” Gutekunst said of Brinson. “He’s not just a one position player on the defensive line. So that was one of the thongs that attracted us to him. … Seventh round cornerback Micah Robinson from Tulane ran the 40-yard dash in 4,42 seconds. “He’s got great feet, he can play off-man coverage, which is one of the harder things to do,” Gutekunst said of Robinson.

THE BAD

DYNAMIC DIVISION: The Packers appear to have improved themselves, adding a pair of playmaking wide receivers and an offensive lineman who could become a force.

The problem is the rest of the NFC North — which was football’s best division in 2024 — appears better, as well.

Defending division champion Detroit beefed up both lines of scrimmage with defensive tackle Tyleik Williams and guard Tate Rutledge. Minnesota, which finished second in the division last year, added a potentially dominant offensive lineman Donovan Jackson and gifted wideout Tai Felton.

And Chicago, which had a terrific free agency, added tight end Colston Loveland, wideout Luther Burden and tackle Ozzy Trapilo in the first two rounds.

The Packers went just 1-5 in the NFC North last year, and the division appears to be even better.

“If you want more and you want to go further, you’ve got to be willing to give more,” LaFleur said. “That’s what we’ve got to do. It’s going to be a collective effort. We need everybody to have that mindset, to come in with that mindset, and get to work.”

THE UGLY

THE ALEXANDER DRAMA: For now, disgruntled cornerback Jaire Alexander remains on the roster. Whether that’s the case later this summer remains unclear.

LaFleur said that Alexander took part in the first week of the voluntary offseason program — which was done virtually because the draft was being held in Green Bay. Gutekunst said “he is on our roster right now and that’s how we’ll proceed. But we’ll figure that as we go along.”

While that’s not a ringing endorsement, it also doesn’t close the door on a return.

Do the Packers really want to go down Alexander Road again?

Alexander has played just 34 of the last 68 regular season games for the Green Bay Packers.

He ran out for the coin toss — and called it — in a 2023 game vs. Carolina, even though he wasn’t a captain.

And during a “prove it” season in 2024, Alexander once again spent more time on the sideline than on the field and missed 11 of 18 games.

Somehow, though, when last season ended, Alexander had the audacity to say, “You don’t want to hear what I’ve got to say. … I don’t have anything good to say.”

Gutekunst had hoped to trade Alexander by now, but haven’t been able to receive what he deems adequate compensation. So for now, Alexander remains a Packer.

Based on past history, keeping him around is risky business.