Packers’ visits could hint at their 2023 draft strategy

Green Bay’s position clusters tell a clear story

Last season, six of the Green Bay Packers’ allowed 30 visits ended up being drafted by the squad in the 2022 draft. Under general manager Brian Gutekunst, the team’s usage of these pre-draft visits has evolved from a recruitment arm of undrafted free agency to a legitimate final look at draftable prospects before the draft.

As of Friday night, 28 of the Packers’ 2023 visits have been reported and/or confirmed. Below are the players who are expected to be drafted in the top 100 selections, per the consensus draft board.

• 21st: Darnell Wright, OL, Tennessee
• 24th: Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame
• 27th: Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah
• 30th: Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia
• 32nd: Will McDonald IV, EDGE, Iowa State
• 38th: Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee
• 41st: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, EDGE, Kansas State
• 43rd: Adetomiwa Adeboware, EDGE, Northwestern
• 48th: Keion White, EDGE, Georgia Tech
• 71st: Tyrique Stevenson, CB, Miami
• 74th: Rashee Rice, WR, SMU
• 85th: Jartavius Martin, SAF, Illinois
• 92nd: Jammie Robinson, SAF, Florida State

Let’s break down these players by which round of the draft that they’re expected to be drafted in.

Round 1

• 21st: Darnell Wright, OL, Tennessee
• 24th: Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame
• 27th: Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah
• 30th: Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia

I want to say on the front end that it doesn’t seem like the Packers are spending visits on players who would be in real contention to be selected with the 15th overall pick. Outside of Tennessee tackle Darnell Wright, I would be fairly surprised if Green Bay turned the 15th overall choice in the draft for one of these visits.

The remaining three “first-round” visitors are all tight ends who are expected to be taken in the 20s or 30s. Unfortunately, Green Bay doesn’t own any selections in that range of the draft.

If you’re reading between the lines here, it seems like Green Bay is keeping its options open for either a trade down from 15 or a trade up from 45 with these visits. It seems like this is around the range where the team wants to draft a tight end, as their only other visitor at the position is Baylor’s Ben Sims, who is ranked 379th on the consensus draft board.

Round 2

• 32nd: Will McDonald IV, EDGE, Iowa State
• 38th: Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee
• 41st: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, EDGE, Kansas State
• 43rd: Adetomiwa Adeboware, EDGE, Northwestern
• 48th: Keion White, EDGE, Georgia Tech

Do you think the Packers are interested in a pass-rusher in the second round? Four of their five visits in this range have come at the position, with the exception being surging Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker. The range of bodies at this position should be noted, too. Will McDonald played football in the 230-pound range while both Adetomiwa Adeboware and Keion White are considered hybrid edge rushers and interior linemen. For what it’s worth, White was actually invited to be in the green room at the NFL Draft next week in Kansas City.

If I were a betting man, I would guess that the 45th overall pick was going to be spent on an edge rusher. The fact that the team seems interested in picking the position high in the draft could mean that Clemson’s Myles Murphy and Iowa’s Lukas Van Ness could be in play with the 15th pick, too. Maybe that’s the scenario where Green Bay decides to trade up into the 20s or 30s for a tight end. As a reminder, starting edge rusher Rashan Gary is expected to miss at least the start of the season as he recovered from a torn ACL while Preston Smith recently signed a deal that could make him a cap casualty as early as 2024.

Round 3

• 71st: Tyrique Stevenson, CB, Miami
• 74th: Rashee Rice, WR, SMU
• 85th: Jartavius Martin, SAF, Illinois
• 92nd: Jammie Robinson, SAF, Florida State

Three of the four players brought in on visits who are expected to be drafted in the third round are hybrid defensive backs. Miami’s Tyrique Stevenson was originally a nickel corner at Georgia before transferring to the Hurricanes to get outside corner film. Jartavius Martin was a post safety for Illinois but ran well enough at the combine that some now believe that he can hang at outside corner at the next level. Jammie Robinson was a hybrid safety and nickelback at Florida State and best fits in the nickel spot at the next level.

This is the range where we see the first visit spent on a receiver, too: SMU’s Rashee Rice. The only other draftable receiver who was brought in to Green Bay during the pre-draft process is Virginia’s Dontayvion Wicks, who is ranked 163rd on the consensus draft board. The Packers did bring in two receivers as potential undrafted free agent recruits, though: Cole Tucker of Northern Illinois and Ryan Miller of Furman.

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If we’re allowing these visits to inform us of the Packers’ draft day strategy, which would have made us look like geniuses in the 2022 draft, then this is how you’d expect Green Bay’s 2023 draft to pan out:

• The team drafts a tight end if they trade back from 15 or trade up from 45.
• The team drafts an edge rusher in the second round.
• The team drafts a hybrid defensive back in the third round.

Two positions remain fairly large question marks, though. The first is receiver, where only Rice was brought in as a potential top-100 selection. At the moment, the Packers desperately need a second or third receiver to pair with sophomores Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs at the position.

The second is the interior defensive line, where the team didn’t bring a single top-100 prospect in for a visit. Maybe you’d count Adeboware or White, but both are better suited to play as full-time edge rushers (in the designated pass-rusher role) than 3-4 defensive ends. While the Packers spent a first-round pick (Devonte Wyatt) at the position in the 2022 draft, the loss of Dean Lowry and Jarran Reed in free agency has freed up plenty of snaps at 3-4 defensive end going into the 2023 season. Currently, you can only feel good about three defensive linemen on the roster: Wyatt, Kenny Clark and T.J. Slaton. Both Clark and Slaton primarily play 3-4 nose tackle.