A panel of 11 analysts wasn’t totally sold on the work done by GM Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers during the 2019 NFL draft. The composite score of grades handed out by the 11 analysts ranked the Packers with the 22nd best draft class in the NFL in 2019, according to Football Outsiders. The analysts include Mel Kiper of ESPN, Evan Silva of Rotoworld, Chad Reuter of NFL.com, Nate Davis of USA TODAY and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire. Take draft grades for what they are: A way-too-early and nearly impossible breakdown of a collection of college players that have never played a down in the NFL. The draft remains the ultimate crapshoot. As hard as it is to evaluate players, it’s equally hard to predict which players will handle the transition to the NFL and develop into good players. Teams get the process wrong every year. So do analysts. The quality of draft classes almost never match day-after grades, especially when two or three years of development are involved. Most of the analysts knocked the Packers for taking boom-or-bust prospect Rashan Gary at No. 12 and then trading up to No. 21 for safety Darnell Savage, who not everyone saw as a first-rounder. We’ll know if they’re onto something in a season or two. The Packers’ rookie class could be franchise-changing if Gary and Savage and one or two of the other picks hit big. It has the potential to be a disaster if neither Gary nor Savage turns into a good player. The simple interpretation here: Analysts don’t have a high level of confidence in the Packers’ draft class becoming one of the best in the class. It’s on the players – and all the coaches and other personnel at Lambeau Field – to prove the analysts wrong, as they often are when grading draft classes.<doc-sep>With 10 selections in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers drafted eight from Power Five college conferences in addition to one from independent powerhouse Notre Dame. But curiously, there was one Power Five conference not represented in Green Bay’s draft choices: the Pac-12. As the draft concluded, it marked the end of an eight-year streak of the Packers selecting at least one player from the Western-most power conference. In fact, Green Bay did not go west of Fort Worth, Texas with any of its picks in 2019 after drafting Cole Madison (Washington State) and James Looney (California) a year ago. The Packers have turned their attention often to the Pac-12 as seen in the chart below. Packers’ Pac-12 Selections in Eight-Year Streak Year Round Player College Position Year Round Player College Position 2018 5 Cole Madison Washington State OL 2018 7 James Looney California DL 2017 2 Kevin King Washington CB 2016 1 Kenny Clark UCLA DL 2016 4 Blake Martinez Stanford LB 2016 5 Trevor Davis California WR 2016 6 Kyle Murphy Stanford OL 2015 1 Damarious Randall Arizona State CB 2015 3 Ty Montgomery Stanford WR/RB 2015 5 Brett Hundley UCLA QB 2014 3 Richard Rodgers California TE 2014 4 Carl Bradford Arizona State LB 2013 1 Datone Jones UCLA DE 2013 4 David Bakhtiari Colorado OT 2013 4 Johnathan Franklin UCLA RB 2012 1 Nick Perry USC DE/LB 2011 6 Ricky Elmore Arizona LB 2011 7 Lawrence Guy Arizona State DL Coincidence or not, 2019 marked the first draft since long-time Packers West regional scout Sam Seale was promoted to national scout. Seale had held that area scouting post since 2012 and there is little doubt he held plenty of influence in the war room with the Packers’ string of selections and eventual promotion since that time. Might that move have made a difference this April? The Packers did, however, draft three players from the Southeastern Conference, a continuation of interest in the conference for Green Bay over the past three years. When Green Bay picked Montravius Adams and Malachi Dupre in the 2017 NFL Draft, it was the first time the Packers had selected SEC players since Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in 2014. Green Bay had actually only taken nine combined players from the conference since 2012. But since then, the team has selected three players from the SEC in each of the 2018 and 2019 drafts. Packers’ SEC selections since 2017 Year Round Player College Position Year Round Player College Position 2019 2 Elgton Jenkins Mississippi State OL 2019 3 Jace Sternberger Texas A&M TE 2019 5 Kingsley Keke Texas A&M DL 2018 3 Oren Burks Vanderbilt LB 2018 5 JK Scott Alabama P 2018 7 Hunter Bradley Mississippi State LS 2017 3 Montravius Adams Auburn DL 2017 7 Malachi Dupre LSU WR With Seale now in a national scouting role, it will be intriguing to see if this emerging SEC drafting trend continues next year. Perhaps the 2019 Pac-12-less draft is just a one-year blip in the radar for a Green Bay franchise that has certainly valued that region. But as one long-standing draft streak ended, has another begun?<doc-sep>Gary is enormous, fast (4.58 40), strong (26 bench press reps) and able to jump (38-inch vertical, 120-inch broad). He’s aggressive and disruptive and he seems like he should be dominant. But after three years of Gary simply trying to plow his way through the line — a strategy that resulted in just 9.5 total sacks — it is safe to say that his technique could use some refinement. The disparity between what it seems like he should do and what he has done created a fairly enormous rift in which some evaluators considered him a top-10 player while others had him in the late teens or early 20s. How he fits: The Packers continue to avoid first-round skill players at all costs — the team hasn’t drafted one since Aaron Rodgers in 2005 — and go with Gary, a combine star who has never played as well as people have expected him to. Coach Matt LaFleur will be worried about installing a new offense, but Green Bay will have to find a way to coach Gary in a way that unlocks his enormous athletic potential. 13: Miami Dolphins: Christian Wilkins, DT Clemson 6-foot-3, 315 pounds A quick player who rarely makes the wrong move, Wilkins is limited by his need to stick in the scheme he prefers, with another tackle taking up space to make up for Wilkins’s lack of length and overall strength. But in the right spot he can make an enormous impact, often making head’s-up plays to swat down passes — a skill you’d expect to see in a taller player with longer arms. Wilkins graduated college in just two and a half years and has the personality to be embraced by a fan base and locker room, but first he needs to prove he can play. How he fits: Dwayne Haskins is in a bowling alley currently and he likely is very confused. The Dolphins, a team that badly need a long-term solution at quarterback passed up the best thrower in this draft, choosing to go with Wilkins, a terrific interior defender who is a worthy selection in the first half of the night but doesn’t fill nearly as big of a need as Haskins would have. 14. Atlanta Falcons: Chris Lindstrom, G Boston College 6-foot-4, 308 pounds From a family of offensive linemen, Lindstrom is big enough to handle life in the pros but is far more athletic than a typical guard. One could quibble with his length, and he could stand to increase his overall strength, but he has experience as a tackle, adding some versatility, and everything at the scouting combine suggested that his tape is an accurate portrayal of a guard who will thrive any time he is asked to move into space.<doc-sep>
The Green Bay Packers had a strong draft class and it could lead to big things for them this fall. However, there may have been plenty of other teams who had a better draft class than the Packers. NFL.com recently ranked each team's 2019 draft class and the Packers came in at No. 18 with a "B" overall grade. Here's a look at the Packers draft class: 1 (12): DL Rashan Gary - Michigan 1 (21): S Darnell Savage - Maryland 2 (44): OL Elgton Jenkins - Mississippi State 3 (75): TE Jace Sternberger - Texas A&M 5 (150): DL Kingsley Keke - Texas A&M 6 (185): CB Ka'dar Hollman - Toledo 6 (194): RB Dexter Williams - Notre Dame 7 (226): LB Ty Summers - TCU The Green Bay Packers will begin OTAs next week. Make sure you’re in the loop – take five seconds to Sign up for our FREE Green Bay Packers newsletter now! And here's a look at what Gennaro Filice of NFL.com had to say about the draft class: "Gary was one of the most polarizing prospects in this class. Some people saw a 277-pounder who ran a 4.58 40-yard dash, oozing elite traits and untapped potential. Others saw an edge rusher who logged 10 sacks in three college seasons and was consistently overshadowed on the Michigan defense by Devin Bush and Chase Winovich. Count this draft grader among those in the latter group. But alas, the report card got a major boost from the next four picks! Savage, a hyper-rangy playmaker who flies to the football and through the ball carrier, is the perfect complement at safety to the more box-friendly Adrian Amos. Jenkins played all across the offensive line at Mississippi State, but his professional home will be on the interior -- an area where Green Bay definitely needed some help. Sternberger, who led all FBS tight ends with 10 touchdowns last season while averaging a whopping 17.3 yards per catch, looks like the mismatch weapon the Pack thought they were getting in Jimmy Graham. And Keke, who showed flashes as a versatile D-lineman in College Station, is exactly the kind of raw, traitsy project that makes sense in Round 5." Gary was an interesting pick for the Packers and we'll see if he can play outside linebacker. The Packers believe Gary has the speed and the length to be an elite edge rusher despite not producing big numbers at Michigan. The one pick that is not concerning to any expert is Savage who moved up the draft boards the final weeks leading up to the draft. In 2017, Savage recorded 59 tackles, three interceptions, eight passes defended and one interception returned for a touchdown. In 2018, Savage posted 59 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions two passes defended and one interception returned for a touchdown. Out of the eight players in the draft class, the Packers could have six that see significant action this season. Along with the rookies and the free agents the Packers brought in this offseason, they are determined to not have their third consecutive losing season which hasn't happened since 1986-1988.