GREEN BAY — If there’s one thing we have learned about Brian Gutekunst and his approach to bringing players to Lambeau Field for pre-draft visits, it’s that the Green Bay Packers general manager doesn’t waste any of his allotted 30 invitations on players he’s not genuinely interested in.
With a track record of picking (or later acquiring) players who came to Titletown in advance of one of his seven NFL Drafts as GM, Gutekunst clearly values those visits.
Which means that Gutekunst must be serious about the idea of taking a wide receiver with his first-round draft pick (No. 23) this year, a selection that would mark the first time the organization has used its first-rounder on a wide receiver since then-head coach/GM Mike Sherman traded up in the 2002 NFL Draft to select Florida State’s Javon Walker 20th overall.
Why else would Gutekunst have reportedly brought Texas’ Matthew Golden, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka and Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan to Lambeau Field in advance of the draft, which kicks off April 24 in Green Bay in the shadow of the historic stadium?
Speaking earlier this offseason, Gutekunst insisted that the Packers’ history of not using first-round selections on wide receivers is not the result of any policy set forth by his two GM mentors — Pro Football Hall of Famer Ron Wolf, the GM from 1991 through 2001, and Packers Hall of Famer Ted Thompson, who held the job from 2005 until 2018.
“In no time in my 20-some years within this organization, whether it was Ron or Ted, did I hear them talk about that as a philosophy,” said Gutekunst, who is heading into his 27th season as a Packers full-time employee. “‘We don’t look at (wide receivers in the first round).’
“I know Ron talked a lot about being mad he didn’t take Randy Moss (in 1998). But no one’s ever really talked about it. (And) I never really looked at it that way. I don’t think we’d ever hesitate to take a receiver in the first round if the right one was there.
“We certainly talked about it at different times in the last seven years since I’ve been in this spot, trying to make that happen. So, I don’t really look at it as a philosophical thing.”
In the Super Bowl era, the Packers have drafted a wide receiver in the first round only four times: Florida State’s Barry Smith in 1973 (No. 21 overall); Stanford’s James Lofton in 1978 (No, 6); South Carolina’s Sterling Sharpe in 1988 (No. 7 overall); and Walker.
Lofton and Sharpe went on to Pro Football Hall of Fame careers, while Smith caught just 41 passes for 604 yards and four touchdowns across three seasons in Green Bay.
Walker made his first Pro Bowl in his third season with the Packers with a magnificent 2004 season (89 receptions for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns) but boycotted the team’s offseason program in 2005 because he wanted a new contract. He ultimately reported to training camp that summer, only to suffer a torn ACL in his right knee in the 2005 season opener.
Thompson then traded him to the Denver Broncos for a second-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, using that pick on wide receiver Greg Jennings, who went to two Pro Bowls, had three 1,000-yard seasons and was a key player in the 2010 team’s Super Bowl XLV championship.
Whether McMillan, Egbuka or Golden will break the Packers’ two-decade streak of not taking wideouts in the first round obviously remains to be seen, but their visits send a clear message that the Packers are more than open to using the No. 23 overall pick on the position.
And that’s with good reason, given the state of the Packers’ wide receiver depth chart.
“There was a time where it was really hard to come into the league at the receiver position and make an impact,” Gutekunst said. “I think that’s changing — we’ve seen that change.
“Just the way these guys are coming up through high school and college football (now) is different than it used to be that allows these guys to make a bigger impact earlier.”
With Christian Watson having suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the regular-season finale, Romeo Doubs coming off a difficult year in which he was suspended for one game and sustained two concussions late in the season, and Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks having failed to make the Year 2 jumps they were expected to make, picking a wideout would make sense — even if the coaching staff still believes in the current group
“That’s something that we took a deep dive at,” head coach Matt LaFleur said of the receiver group’s inconsistency. “We had a ton of drops, and that’s an area that we have to clean up. But I think that we’ve got a pretty good plan going into next season.”
That plan could include Egbuka (who left Ohio State as the Buckeyes’ all-time leading receiver with 205 receptions and 2,868 yards), McMillan (who is No. 1 all-time at Arizona in receiving yards with 3,423 despite playing only three seasons) or Golden (who played two seasons at Houston before catching 58 passes for 987 yards and four TDs for Texas last season).
In a draft that isn’t as deep as previous years at the position, they’re the best of the bunch — at least after Colorado’s Travis Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner who played offense and defense in college and plans to do so again in the NFL.
Packers depth chart
9 Christian Watson 6-4 208 25 4 North Dakota State
87 Romeo Doubs 6-2 204 25 4 Nevada
11 Jayden Reed 5-11 187 24 3 Michigan State
13 Dontayvion Wicks 6-1 206 23 3 Virginia
80 Bo Melton 5-11 189 25 3 Rutgers
18 Malik Heath 6-2 213 25 3 Mississippi
6 Mecole Hardman 5-10 187 27 6 Georgia
81 Julian Hicks 6-2 201 25 1 Albany
83 Cornelius Johnson 6-3 212 24 1 Michigan
Tulu Griffin 5-10 181 24 1 Mississippi State
Best in class | Travis Hunter, Colorado.
There is no player in the draft like Hunter. Heck, there’s no player in the NFL like him. He’s truly a unicorn — and wants to make sure he stays that way.
Speaking with CBS Sports this week, Hunter said none of the teams who have spoken with him leading up to the draft have told him he won’t be allowed to play both offense and defense. That’s probably a good thing, given what Hunter said he’d do if forced to choose.
“It's never playing football again,” he told CBS. “Because I've been doing it my whole life, and I love being on the football field. I feel like I could dominate on each side of the ball, so I really enjoy doing it.”
The 21-year-old Hunter played 713 snaps on offense last season and 748 on defense for the Buffaloes. He caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns last season on offense and four interceptions, 11 pass breakups and one forced fumble on defense.
“He's a special player,” Tennessee Titans GM Mike Borgonzi said of Hunter. “I don't know if there's anybody that's actually done what he's done in the modern-day football, playing both offense and defense during the course of a season. So he's definitely a special player.”
Best of the rest | Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State; Matthew Golden, Texas; Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona; Luther Burden III, Missouri; Jayden Higgins, Iowa State; Jaylin Noel, Iowa State.
Pick to click | Jack Bech, TCU.
Bech grew up emulating his older brother, Tiger. Now, on the precipice of the NFL, he’ll be focused on making his older brother proud — and going though his professional football journey believing Tiger will be with him every step of the way.
“I know his wings are going to be on me from now until the end of time,” Bech said of his older brother, who was one of 14 people killed in a terrorist attack in New Orleans’ French Quarter on New Year’s Day. “It’s pushed me to new heights, and even though I’ve worked hard my whole life and done things others aren’t willing to do, I feel like I’ve taken a whole new step doing that. And I know, he’ll be with me. He’ll have the best seat in the house from here on out.”
Tiger, who was five years older than Jack, was a wide receiver and kick returner at Princeton. While Jack’s football career surpassed his — Jack finished his senior season at TCU having caught 62 passes for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns — Jack intends to do everything he can to honor his brother’s memory with his play.
“I just know,” Jack said, “my brother’s got me.”
History lesson | While the streak of no first-round receivers since Walker in 2002 is discussed annually leading into the draft, the Packers’ remarkable track record with second-round picks should be talked about, too — given how many good wideouts they’ve taken in that round, from Jennings (2006) and Jordy Nelson (2008), to Randall Cobb (2011) and Davante Adams (2014), to Watson (2022) and Reed (2023).
Reed has led the team in receptions and receiving yards each of the last two seasons, but it’s not always easy for rookie wideouts to be productive from the jump. Starting with the Walker selection in 2002, the Packers have selected a wide receiver in the third round or higher 11 times over the past 20-plus years. Here is what each of them did as rookies, in order of most catches to fewest:
• Jayden Reed (second round, 2023): 64 receptions, 793 yards, eight TDs.
• James Jones (third round, 2007): 47 receptions, 676 yards, two TDs.
• Greg Jennings (second round, 2006): 45 receptions, 632 yards, three TDs.
• Christian Watson (second round, 2022): 41 receptions, 611 yards, seven TDs.
• Davante Adams (second round, 2014): 38 receptions, 446 yards, three TDs.
• Jordy Nelson (second round, 2008): 33 receptions, 366 yards, two TDs.
• Randall Cobb (second round, 2011): 25 receptions, 375 yards, one TD.
• Javon Walker (first round, 2002): 23 receptions, 319 yards, one TD.
• Ty Montgomery (third round, 2015): 15 receptions, 136 yards, two TDs.
• Terrence Murphy (second round, 2005): Five receptions, 36 yards, no TDs.
• Amari Rodgers (third round, 2021): Four receptions, 45 yards, no TDs.
One more historical point worth mentioning: It’s not as if Gutekunst hasn’t contemplated first-round wide receivers before. In 2020, he was expected to take a wide receiver in the first round but instead he took Utah State quarterback Jordan Love after trading up to No. 26). In that draft, LSU’s Justin Jefferson went No. 22 overall to Minnesota and Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk went No. 25 to San Francisco, the pick before Gutekunst took Love. After that, Clemson’s Tee Higgins went No. 33 to Cincinnati.
In 2021, Gutekunst took Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes at No. 29 in the first round, after watching wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, Kadarius Toney and Rashod Bateman come off the board.
And in 2022, an early run on receivers meant the six top wideouts were gone before Gutekunst took Georgia inside linebacker Quay Walker at No. 22. Gutekunst did try to trade up with Minnesota to take Watson with the final pick of the first round that year, and when that deal didn’t come together, he swung a deal with the Vikings for their second-round pick, No. 34 overall, to take Watson instead.
Next: Tight ends.
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