Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst doesn’t care about your draft expectations.
Most of the football cognoscenti expected the Packers to draft a wide receiver in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft this Thursday after they traded Davante Adams to the Raiders and watched Marquez Valdes-Scantling sign with the Chiefs.
Instead, Green Bay nabbed two Georgia defenders to upgrade a unit that grew in 2021.
With pick No. 22, the Packers selected linebacker Quay Walker. Six picks later, they snagged fellow Bulldog, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt.
Walker combines size and athleticism to shut down the run and has the upside to be a three-down linebacker with range in space. Meanwhile, Wyatt was perhaps the best defensive tackle in the draft, and owns size, speed, and an array of moves to win inside.
The duo should be immediate difference-makers.
Meanwhile, receiver remains a question mark heading into Day 2 of the draft.
With a run on receivers early -- six in the first 18 picks -- there simply wasn’t the value for Green Bay once it got to its first selection. Stockpiling defensive difference-makers was the smart move by Gutekunst. Instead of reaching for a position of need, he got two Bulldogs who could contribute immediately.
While many might expect quarterback Aaron Rodgers to be peeved by the lack of getting a receiver yet again, the MVP understood how the draft unfolded.
Reacting live on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers said he communicated with the Packers, who haven't taken a receiver in the first round since 2002, throughout the process and said that with the top six receivers on their board selected, he understood the decision to draft D, per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.
Rodgers also noted the value of the second- and third-round receivers he’s worked with in the past.
With three picks on Friday, the Packers could still find a rookie starter before the weekend is out.