What Were the Packers Thinking?

Sam Schmid, Staff Writer, Advanced Journalism

During these pandemic times, it’s hard to look at anything as normal in Wisconsin, with jobs and schools put on hold for, at the earliest, May 26. 

But one thing that stays the same, especially in Green Bay, is the love for the Packers.

The NFL Draft was April 23 through April 25, a chance for teams to improve on their rosters and build some young talent for years to come.

In the first round, fans saw LSU QB Joe Burrow taken at pick 1, and DE Chase Young out of LSU at pick 2, and so forth.

The Packers didn’t at first have a first-round pick to start off the draft, but that didn’t stop GM Brian Gutekunst to aggressively trade up to the 26th pick.

With this pick, Gutekunst infamously took QB Jordan Love. You hear it right, quarterback. 

CBS Sports evaluated, before the draft, the Packers’ team needs, and it goes as follows: Wide receiver, Offensive tackle, Linebacker, Tight end, Interior offensive line, Defensive line, Running back, Cornerback. 

In every mock draft, there wasn’t one pick that had the Packers taking a quarterback; but there was still hope.

The second round is typically where the Packers secure their receivers, as in years past, they’ve gotten receivers like Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams and Randall Cobb.

But again, the Packers did not take a receiver, instead, going with running back AJ Dillion, who will, at best, be a third option at his position behind Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams.

Again, fans were still hopeful going into the 3rd round although, with a whopping 25 of the 37 receivers still able to be selected.

And yet again, fans were left frustrated. As throughout the draft days, the Packers didn’t take a single wide receiver.

But that’s not the end of it, as fans believe Aaron Rodgers, rightfully so, could get upset with the organization for drafting his future replacement and giving him no immediate help. 

Brett Favre even weighed in on the conversation saying that he thinks Rodgers will finish his career somewhere other than Green Bay.

A statistic arose that really puts this whole situation into perspective. 

Out of all of Rodgers’ 15-year career, only one TD pass out of his 364 has been thrown to a first-round pick.

Fellow quarterbacks like Drew Brees, Tom Brady have over 100. Even Brett Favre has 127 passes thrown to a first-round pick. 

Packers fans should be troubled by the organization’s management of the team as this single draft could set the team back years.