Many criticized Green Bay for not taking an offensive weapon in the first round. On Day 2, they turned in cards for three of them.
Green Bay Packers fans who were unhappy that the team passed on their choice of receivers and tight ends on Thursday must have been happy when general manager Brian Gutekunst turned in three straight picks for pass-catchers on Day 2 of the draft.
Luke Musgrave, a tight end from Oregon State, was picked by Green Bay with the 42nd overall selection — a choice they received from the New York Jets in the trade for Aaron Rodgers. Musgrave is a high-upside F tight end who can be split out wide just as often as he lines up in the formation. Think of him as a dice roll on getting a Darren Waller type of player without paying him like a high-end tight end.
After trading down twice to turn the 45th pick into the 50th pick and two Day 3 draft choices, Gutekunst made his second selection of the day: Jayden Reed, a receiver from Michigan State. Reed, notably, was coached by Tim Lester as a true freshman at Western Michigan — where he earned Freshman All-American honors. Lester now works for the Packers as an analyst. Reed is a fast receiver who can play both in the slot and as an outside receiver. His calling card might be punt returns, though, as many considered him the best return man in the class.
The final selection the team made on Friday was Tucker Kraft of South Dakota State, the Packers’ second tight end selection of the day. Kraft, who is plenty athletic enough to contribute as a pass-catcher himself, is more of a true Y tight end than Musgrave — which means he could be the hand-in-dirt player at the position when the offense is in 12 personnel looks.
Acme Packing Company’s Tex Western, Tyler Brooke and Justis Mosqueda reconvened following Friday’s results to discuss the players the Packers picked, players they wish the team would have moved up for and what to look for on Day 3 of the draft. The draft usually drops off after a few rounds, just Justis made a list of 27 players who are worth keeping an eye on for Day 3 — either because they were Packers visits or because they have interesting projections.
27 players Justis still cares about in the 2023 Draft
- Keaton Mitchell, RB, ECU (Packers visit)
- A.T. Perry, WR, Wake Forest
- Dontavyion Wicks, WR, Virginia (Packers visit)
- Kayshon Boutte, WR, LSU
- Puka Nacua, WR, BYU
- Blake Freeland, OT, BYU
- Jake Witt, OT, Northern Michigan
- Chandler Zavala, OG, NC State
- Atonio Mafi, OG, UCLA (Packers visit)
- Moro Ojomo, DL, Texas
- Karl Brooks, DL, Bowling Green (Packers visit)
- Scott Matlock, DL, Boise State (Packers visit)
- Jaquelin Roy, DL, LSU (Packers visit)
- Adetomiwa Adebawore, EDGE/DL, Northwestern (Packers visit)
- Robert Beal, EDGE Georgia
- Habakkuk Baldonado, EDGE, Pittsburgh
- MJ Anderson, EDGE, Iowa State
- Nick Hampton, EDGE/LB, Appalachian State
- Kelee Ringo, CB/SAF, Georgia
- Antonio Johnson, SAF, Texas A&M
- JL Skinner, SAF, Boise State
- Christopher Smith, SAF, Georgia
- Jay Ward, SAF/CB/Nickel, LSU
- Jammie Robinson, SAF/Nickel, Florida State (Packers visit)
- Anthony Johnson Jr., SAF, Iowa State
- Jordan Howden, SAF, Minnesota (Packers visit)
- Brandon Joseph, SAF, Notre Dame
Timestamps
- 0:00: Day 2 Packers draft review
- 27:30: Day 3 players to care about going into Saturday
We’ll be going live at the end of each round on Twitter Spaces to talk about which selections the Packers have made. Going into Day 3, Green Bay is slated to be on the clock nine times on Saturday. You can find us on our Twitter here to join in on the conversation.
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