Good overview. Gute does seem to like to double up at a position or by pairing a high pick with a FA acquisition.

Gary was a surprise, but picking an edge or an OLB was not unexpected. Jaire played 70% of snaps in his first game as a rookie, though he did not start, and then played 77% of possible snaps in game two, though again he was not the starter. Jaire started game three and game four, but got hurt and missed three weeks, returning in week 8. Yeah, sometimes the first-round pick gets thrown into the skillet right away.

Gutey falls in Love with players. TT didn't. Gutey doesn't care about costs. TT did. Gutey No longer takes a player to set his draft. Gutey has No patience. He says one thing and does another. Sound like a woman? My belief is Gutey lost his Balls. The draft is No picnic. We all gave Gute 3 years to win a super-bowl. Sure he got a closer. But the last 2 years just show he's heading in another direction. What changed. He's gotten away from the strength of the draft. The BPA isn't what he's looking for. The releases don't match the fix. More picks are siting the bench instead of playing. The bottom line is What does Gutey want this team to become? Champions or a toy he can play with?

I’m not sure it’s Gute who decides when to blood players once they are on the roster. That seems out of his zone of authority. It also seems pretty clear that Murphy has given LaFleur much more influence on the shape of drafts than MM had in order to implement LaFleur’s vision. Last year’s draft was (Love aside) a kit for a 49er type offense conversion.

Gute certainly has been willing to trade up to grab players considered a plus (if not necessarily immediately). He’s also been willing to trade down if he doesn’t see value. To me, it seems from what the Packers have been doing as if this year the focus will be more on playing now (to supplement player retention). For that reason, I would not be surprised if we focus more on immediate need CB and maybe DL, and look to move accordingly.

I do expect us to refil the WR pipeline later and the CB room early and often. I wouldn’t be surprised if we take ILB/hybrid/DBs in the mold that Barry wants to man the middle either. Since we basically have nothing obvious behind two second year ILBs, Sullivan and the two starting safeties.

The other factor is Gute’s use of the PS to accumulate prospects, which has been a theme of his. Who on futures contracts etc ( practice squad holdovers plus a few others) is seen as a genuine prospect? I suspect that there is a DL (Rush), TE (Nuata), RB (Taylor/Williams), OLB (Tipa), OL (Johnson/Hansen) and at least one CB (in addition to Ento) who are considered genuine roster prospects (I may have names wrong, just my guesses).

This is not TTs practice squad but something Gute uses to stock and upgrade all year around. That could be a significant factor overlooked above in the likely shape of the final roster. Not all those mentioned of course, but a few.

I am not sure about Gutekunst "not falling in love" with players. He has pushed the panic button to move up and get guys that he claims were targets of other teams. Love and Savage were trade ups at high prices. Gutekunst also overdrafts IMO. Dillon and Degaura were reaches last year, again IMO. I am hoping that he controls his urges this year and lets the draft come to him a little more. Trade down would be my preference as the messed up college season and opt-outs have pushed a fair amount of talent into the mid rounds.

Corner is a must but you can't start a rookie corner opposite Alexander he would get picked on all game, God forbid Alexander gets hurt there is no replacement, I see Gute having to use two picks on corners ,no depth now on the D line ,no depth on inside linebacker, this is a critical draft .

Great draft analysis....."They spend premium picks on the premium positions and Gutey has done the same with cornerback, edge rusher, safety, and quarterback being his first-round picks so far. The Packers' biggest needs heading into this year’s draft include cornerback, interior defensive tackle, and offensive tackle--I'd bet that one of those position is what's selected."

This is one reason GB is in the playoffs year after year after year. They get it, spend your resources on the key positions. You can't pay all positions highly, the SC won't allow it so, as a GM, you must make those decisions and GB gets it!

If I expect the unexpected then it’s no longer unexpected.

More than anything drafting in rd 1 it has always been about positional value. QB, OT (specifically LT) CB, Pass Rushers (either Edge or DT). Those positions affect the game far more than others. Safety isn't of highest priority but would fall in the next tier with WR.

It started when Wolf took over as GM and has continued thru Thompson and now Gutey. Been preaching it for more than a decade now, mostly fans have deaf ears and listen to the media and mock drafts unfortunately for them.

This year I expect either OT or CB. DL is possible but its a poor draft for DL.

Drafting at #29, means your likely drafting 2nd rd talent. Most drafts have about 25 players with 1st rd grades, which partly explains Gutey moving up from late rd 1 to take Jaire, Savage and Love, since he was trying to pluck off one of the last players with a 1st rd grade!

Brian Gutekunst in his end of the season pressers, has always answered question about Packer moves. Never has he engaged in GM speak. Not once. So when he said he was looking at RB and TE and OL last year in his presser, the Packer media and most of the fan base thought he was playing typical BS mind games that GM's do. So what does he do, he drafts for those positions, and the fan base and media goes nuts. From day one as Packer GM, Gutekunst has always laid out the Packer plan going forward. So when he says he has a plan, he has a plan. (His first presser he said he wanted to draft Gray and a CB, that CB was a need. And he did just that)