I mostly agree Al, but I'm not feeling certain that the Packers won't pick a WR--even possibly EARLY--in this draft. Maybe I'm being deluded by Gute's smoke-and-mirrors, but they brought in WRs with their limited Top 30; that seems suspicious...

Wicks was that good of an R5 value pick. Rare return indeed in trade value for a Packers team looking to stack chips with a loaded WR Room.

I agree PEO. WR could easily wind up being the pick at 52 - depending upon their board stack. Top talents always drop, and Gutekunst has landed some with great success.

Tucker Kraft was Athlon’s #18 Player overall from that same 2023 draft class, and Gutekunst snapped him up at #78.

Gannon has key players he needs to run his D, and Gutekunst might benefit from a trade out from 52 to get an additional player or two that Gannon might deem essential. I’m trusting Gutekunst’s best efforts either way.

For all we know, OG might be the more important selection early. We’ll see.

Thanks for the Draft Guide, CHTV! Enjoy that six pack!

I think it’s best to be ready for almost anything, and I agree with you Al that trading out of pick 52 to gain more selections is probably the most likely, if he makes a move at all. Staying put at 52 is where I’d put my money.
As to who Gutey will choose and at which position? Total crapshoot.
Get your popcorn 🍿 ready.

A trade back in the second round seems more likely than a trade up, but what if a player they really like drops into the late 40s? The deficiency of this draft is not the number of picks (they have eight), it's the lack of a first round pick, which makes it a lot harder to get a potential blue chip player. So if they can sacrifice a pick to get a player like that (especially if it is a CB or DT), they just might do it.

One thing I like about the Packers not having a first round pick is that I get to go to bed early. I doubt the Packers will trade up to get back into the first. Even if they did it would be really late and I am not staying up to watch it. Being as I said that Gute will probably do it.

I like the Wicks trade. When I first saw it I thought both picks were 2026 but then later I looked and saw that it was one 26 and one 27. Still a good trade. I'm sure Gute tried to get more. It is better at this point of a rebuild to get what you can.

I expect Gute to draft a WR. There are three positions a GM should draft every year if they have at least 7 picks. Those are OL, WR, and CB.

I’d love to hear what GB thinks about the tiers this year, like;
There are 7 blue chip, can’t miss players.
There are 18 in the next tier.
There are 50 in the tier below that,
Or whatever, know what I mean? So does he maneuver to get that 2nd tier player who’s dropping? Or try to get more than just one out of that third tier group?

I don't agree with any trade up in rd 1 now.
Gute filled those positions that departed.
(Rather it be by back-up, Free agency or trades)
Seems to me we took all his bait.
And now I believe we lost nothing.
So whats best for the future?
A higher ceiling BPA or Need.
Depth and competition is one thing.
And yes we "need it" on paper.
But why give away picks when more
chances are the answer.
Especially after seeing Gute work magic and
leave little doubt among his faithful.
If the super-Bowl is near.
The idea of trading up for a project,
is like one idea fighting another.
When the truth is; he only needs money
to blow and not draft picks.

Again Al, thanks to you and your contributors for the CHTV Draft Guide. Excellent resource and obviously required a lot of hard work.

I also agree with your view to trade down in the 2nd a few spots to get another 4th. In fact, Gutey could also trade both 5th rounders and get a 3rd 4th rounder. Could get #119 or #121 to go with the Packers #120...but need Carolina or Pittsburg to want to play. 106, 119 (or 121), & 120? Go for it!

Three 4th round selections next week makes sense for two reasons:

1. I read this draft is not strong at the top but has solid depth and value in the mid rounds.
2. Gutey is quite good drafting in the 4th now. His first four years were blah. 2018 Moore, no 4ths in '19 or '20 then in 2021 Newman (ugh).

Since then, Gutey is hitting his "four iron" to the green. '22 Tom and Doubs. '23 Wooden. '24 Evan Williams. '25 Sorrell. That's 4 starters and a perhaps another at Edge...Sorrell looks to be getting a lot of snaps this season...especially until Parsons returns.

His 5th rounders have been backups and a some solid rotational players in Slaton, Enagbare, Wicks. Oladapo and Oliver could be good backups.

Harvest time in the 4th round?

AL - CHTV draft guide is great for non-draftnik like myself. Great job by everyone who is part of putting it together. As for what Gute will do in the draft anything is possible. Thanks, Since '61

How about we just keep those 2 fifth round picks and select a TE or WR and another CB instead. 30 spots won't make that much difference in the quality of the player we pick @ #153 & #160.

How about a different outside the box trade Idea. move 1 of the 2027 4th round picks for 2 more 5ths this year, or a 5th and a 6th this year? If someone was willing to do that, we would gain picks this year when we really need them.

Let's not forget Savion Williams, while a bit injury prone , he put up big #s in his senior yr both receiving and running. Caught 60 scored 6 TDs, Ran for 322, at a 6.3 clip and 6 TDS all while playing in the competitive Big 12.

One factor that has flown under the radar is the possible discontent among some team members(receivers?) last year. The thinning of the ranks will give more opportunity if you look at the return of Kraft as another factor. Wicks was rumored(everything you see on the internet is always true!-snicker) to be dissatisfied with his role. So if Mannion saw an opportunity to land Wicks it helps Philly, and it removes another dissatisfied voice from the Packers.

We aren't in the locker room so we will never know for sure but the move makes sense for both teams, something that a trade should do.

The Packers now have 8 picks and all of them are needed but you must keep in mind an NFL analysis showed 50 percent of the draft picks won't make it three years.

Good luck Gutey, you will need it.

So when many writers say that the Packers have a hole in the WR room because Doubs left, then why did they trade Wicks and make that hole bigger? Here are my thoughts: Lafluer said a few months ago that there were issues with players and he needed to correct that. I think that this issue is an underlying cause to trade Wicks. There were too many WR's last year. The rotation used all 6 WR's and gave none of them enough reps. And for the life of me, I couldn't understand in the second half of games Lafluer used Melton and Malik in the rotations. Use your best guys to put the game away! Thinning out the WR's makes a lot of sense to me.

And another polluted thought. They just hired an assistant strength and conditioning coach. He better do better than last year. When Parsons says that guys were out of shape and you see Gary fade in the second half of the year and the whole defense fading in the second half of games, I say that Parsons was right-on.

These things are attitude killers.

Lafluer and Gute I hope are fixing their issues.

The Wicks trade was beneficial for both sides: the Packers for the reasons you mentioned, and the Eagles get another desperately needed weapon for their offense. If you watched the Eagles passing game last season, it was about as stagnant and predictable as you could get; anyone complaining about the Packers offense should watch a few 2025 Eagles games first. Also, the Eagles get a small amount of insurance for the sometimes problematic A.J. Brown should they decide to move him. I would have liked the Packers to have gotten a little more for Wicks, but overall it was a win-win deal.

Don't count Riverboat Gute out just yet. Page Six reportedly has pics of Ralph Vacciano and Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur holding hands and staring into each others eyes at a fancy resort in Sedona.