Packers POST Draft Talk 2026

[OldSchool101]

I don't have much to say about the draft, other than it looks like we addressed needs, or tried to. Also, it seems like a short list of presents this year, especially since some years we had as many as 11 picks.

Yeah it was not a traditional draft. Just 8 picks and trades ending in 6 players
I liked that Brian seemed to make them count though. He went after I’d say 3 of our top 4 positions of need. CB, DT, Edge, RB.
Cisse was a consensus Top 50 athlete and at a position we need. I think St Juste and Cisse combined are good enough to either steal Valentines spot or both be our starters in 2027

Brian really went after players that fit the current mold instead of long term projects.

 

[rmontro]

Yeah it was not a traditional draft. Just 8 picks and trades ending in 6 players
I liked that Brian seemed to make them count though.

We'll have to wait and see, but let's hope so. I've been optimistic about draft picks before, only to be disappointed.
I remember in past forums, posters would complain about picking for need instead of best player available. Obviously there's some wiggle room there though. If there's no clear outstanding player, it only makes sense to go for need.

 

[OldSchool101]

We'll have to wait and see, but let's hope so. I've been optimistic about draft picks before, only to be disappointed.
I remember in past forums, posters would complain about picking for need instead of best player available. Obviously there's some wiggle room there though. If there's no clear outstanding player, it only makes sense to go for need.

See that’s in the past where we went after medium low floor but high ceiling. As we could develop those players behind good, bonafide starters. I’d put Cisse in Bullard territory with a real shot at starting.

Brian went after higher floor players with medium high ceiling. Not all will ultimately succeed. Yet if you told me by 2027 we just got 3 starters I’m not surprised.

 

[Heyjoe4]

We'll have to wait and see, but let's hope so. I've been optimistic about draft picks before, only to be disappointed.
I remember in past forums, posters would complain about picking for need instead of best player available. Obviously there's some wiggle room there though. If there's no clear outstanding player, it only makes sense to go for need.

Good point. IMO once the draft gets past the first round, maybe earlier, it’s a very subjective call to say a player was picked for need or because he was the BPA.

Anyway I really like the draft, FAs, and trades. Time will tell if that’s right.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

Defensive scheme will be a little different in 2026. Not sure we will just keep everything in front. You might see some taking chances and jumping routes.

I was a little surprised by that 7 ints statistic, considering we had parsons out there raising hell.... Lots of hurried passes that could potentially be jumped.

I'm not going to complain. Getting burnt deep and hemorrhaging yards/points is the one way an offense can negate a strong defensive front 7....

I'm guessing the injuries. The lack of experience. The scheme had to compensate....

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

Eh...

 

[DoURant]

I was a little surprised by that 7 ints statistic, considering we had parsons out there raising hell.... Lots of hurried passes that could potentially be jumped.

I'm not going to complain. Getting burnt deep and hemorrhaging yards/points is the one way an offense can negate a strong defensive front 7....

I'm guessing the injuries. The lack of experience. The scheme had to compensate....

I feel like we had more dropped Interceptions, than Interceptions. It was frustrating to watch.

 

[Schultz]

See that’s in the past where we went after medium low floor but high ceiling. As we could develop those players behind good, bonafide starters. I’d put Cisse in Bullard territory with a real shot at starting.

Brian went after higher floor players with medium high ceiling. Not all will ultimately succeed. Yet if you told me by 2027 we just got 3 starters I’m not surprised.

I do not quite see it the same as you. Cisse is much more of an athlete than a football player right now. I believe he was drafted for his ceiling. Not criticizing the pick, love CBs who are physical and are willing tacklers. I could see Bomani getting as many snaps as Cisse this year. MCM is really growing on me. DDS hopefully is the steal of the draft. The high floor lower ceiling C pick IMO would have been Parker over Jagr.

 

[OldSchool101]

I was a little surprised by that 7 ints statistic, considering we had parsons out there raising hell.... Lots of hurried passes that could potentially be jumped.

Yes. Although where I saw the rubber meet the Road was earlier in season. Opponents were averaging 3.5-4.0 per play which is awful. They were dumping the ball out quick and out DB’s LB’s were cleaning up the slop.

 

[OldSchool101]

I do not quite see it the same as you. Cisse is much more of an athlete than a football player right now. I believe he was drafted for his ceiling. Not criticizing the pick, love CBs who are physical and are willing tacklers. I could see Bomani getting as many snaps as Cisse this year. MCM is really growing on me. DDS hopefully is the steal of the draft. The high floor lower ceiling C pick IMO would have been Parker over Jagr.

Agree to disagree that fine. Yet we all asked for upgrades at CB and we invested in a FA #74 overall then both RD2 and RD6. That room was the most improved and it’s not even close.

Btw interesting just saw DDS was picked by Yates from ESPN as in his top 35 steals of the draft. He had him at #70 on his board, 50 spots before his RD4 pick

 

[El Guapo]

Btw interesting just saw DDS was picked by Yates from ESPN as in his top 35 steals of the draft. He had him at #70 on his board, 50 spots before his RD4 pick

I find those lists to be humorous. At this point draft position is meaningless (except for contract purposes). The real analysis is how many guys drafted by each team will become important additions to the roster.

 

[rmontro]

I find those lists to be humorous. At this point draft position is meaningless (except for contract purposes). The real analysis is how many guys drafted by each team will become important additions to the roster.

And how they perform against the rest of the league.

 

[DoURant]

I find those lists to be humorous. At this point draft position is meaningless (except for contract purposes). The real analysis is how many guys drafted by each team will become important additions to the roster.

Which is another reason why the word "reach" is the most overused term on Draft weekend. Reach to who? Obviously not the team drafting the prospect. They have a vision for the player.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Defensive scheme will be a little different in 2026. Not sure we will just keep everything in front. You might see some taking chances and jumping routes.

Agreed. I'm hoping with Cisse that Gannon adds corner blitzes. The corner needs to be big and fast (check) and a willing tackler (check).

The Hags used the corner blitz quite a bit in the SB and it helped their D dominate. I think it would be fun to see Gannon take calculated risks and use the corner blitz.

 

[DoURant]

Here is the breakdown of all the Packers Draft Picks by conference under the 8 yrs of GM Brian Gutekunst. The SEC and BIG10 are far and away the two Conferences he likes to Draft from the most. No coincidence, they are also the strongest College Conferences. This year 5 of the 6 picks were from the SEC.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

 

[rmontro]

Here is the breakdown of all the Packers Draft Picks by conference under the 8 yrs of GM Brian Gutekunst.

Seems hard to believe he's been GM for eight years already.

 

[El Guapo]

Agreed. I'm hoping with Cisse that Gannon adds corber blitzes.

For a moment, you had me reaching for my mouse to look up this new-fangled "Corber" blitz. I thought that there was something new for me to learn about...

 

[Magooch]

One thing I always find interesting is the way the public-facing "big boards" differ from how teams actually operate. So just for fun, I pulled these from Mock Draft Database "Consensus Big Board" which uses like 150 or something aggregated big boards to get one big consensus rankings. I have no interest in going through every pick, but here are the players we scouted as top 30 visits as well as our own draft picks, ranked in order of biggest "steals" and "reaches" (number of spots before/after their "big board" ranking)

(Not including UDFAs or guys who ended up drafted but didn't have a consensus ranking)

"Steals"

PLAYER	POSITION	TEAM/PICK	BIG BOARD RANKING	DIFFERENCE
Mike Washington, Jr.	RB	Raiders / 4.122	64	-58
Dani Dennis-Sutton	EDGE	Packers / 4.120	73	-47
Chris Brazzell II	WR	Panthers / 3.83	83	-26
AJ Haulcy	S	Colts / 3.78	58	-20
Ted Hurst	WR	Bucs / 3.84	84	-12
Charles Demmings	CB	Vikings / 5.163	153	-10
Brandon Cisse	CB	Packers / 2.52	45	-7
Domani Jackson	CB	Packers / 6.201	195	-6
Will Lee III	CB	Panthers / 4.129	125	-4

"Reaches"

Karon Prunty	CB	Patriots / 5.171	395	+224
Anterio Thompson	DL	Falcons / 6.208	401	+193
Jaden Duggar	LB	49ers / 5.154	313	+159
Trey Smack	K	Packers / 6.216	348	+132
Ethan Onianwa	OL	Falcons / 7.231	343	+112
Kaelon Black	RB	49ers / 3.90	182	+92
Chris McClellan	DL	Packers / 3.77	130	+53
Behren Morton	QB	Patriots / 7.234	284	+50
Austin Barber	OL	Browns / 3.86	116	+30
Markel Bell	OL	Eagles / 3.68	96	+28
Jager Burton	OL	Packers / 5.153	179	+26
Kaleb Proctor	DL	Cardinals / 4.104	122	+18
Jordan Van Den Berg	DL	Bears / 6.213	225	+12

Top-30 visits Christen Miller (proj. 47/actual 42), Lee Hunter (proj. 55, actual 49), Romello Height (proj. 77, actual 70), and Chris Johnson (proj. 34, actual 27) were all drafted within 10 spots of their big board rankings.

Anyways, like I said, just for fun! Interesting to take a peek at I think. I do feel like it's hard to do "straight across" just because like... pick value doesn't scale so linearly IMO. Picking someone in the 6th or 7th round who is 100 spots ahead of their projected spot doesn't really seem like as much of a "reach" as taking someone in the 2nd or 3rd round who is 50 spots ahead of their projection, if you know what I mean

 

[Heyjoe4]

For a moment, you had me reaching for my mouse to look up this new-fangled "Corber" blitz. I thought that there was something new for me to learn about...

My bad EG. Corner blitzes. Not sure why auto correct didn't pick that up.......