Its been done on numerous occasions all over the league in years past! Why not again.?

I would disagree on finding an impactful rookie this year, in fact I think we could find multiple players who could actually start or play alot in 2026. I think there are multiple positions that if we select the right players, they could play right away. The 2 position groups are Edge and CB. First, the Edge position group is missing 3 guys that played alot of snaps last year, and the guys behind them contributed very little, not that they couldn't though. I have identified a player that could start @ Edge day 1 in GB, Dani Dennis-Sutton. He has all the tools, size, speed, rush technique, and pedigree from starting 3 years @ Penn State. And he is projected to be available into the 3rd round. Some other Edges that could start right away are Gabe Jacas, Malachi Lawrence, Zion Young & Derrick Moore, so there are multiple options into the 3rd round.

CB is the second group that could see immediate playing time, and there are a nice group that could be available in the 2nd & 3rd round. My favorite is Davison Igbinosun, if you can beat out the competition in the Buckeye DG room, you are usually good enough to compete in the NFL right away. If a team needs a CB or WR they can't go wrong selecting 1 from Ohio State.

Other solid CBs who could be available from #52 to #102 would include Chris Johnson, Julian Neal, Will Lee, Malik Muhammed, Tredan Stukes, Keionte Scott, Tacario Davis, Daylen Everette, Charlie Demmings, & Devin Moore. It's a really good year to add multiple CBs in the draft, even later in the draft. The bottom line is that even though we jettisoned the worthless Hobbs and added a solid CB in ST Juste, our CB room is really lacking talent. That's why a good CB could play alot right away.

Anyone we draft for the OL, LB, WR, TE position groups could play, but not an impactful amount unless injuries happen again. Yes we need a solid NT but even if we draft 1 he isn't going to play more than 30% of the time. I think we will sign a FA after the draft, maybe Calais Campbell.

The only thing that would change my thinking on immediate playing time for an Edge would be if we signed a solid FA like Clowney to a 1 year deal, which I would be thrilled about if after the draft so no loss of comp pick.

I think we are all accustomed to rookies needing “time to figure it out”, but I wonder…if GB was desperate for receiver help, could they have “forced” Golden in there? And how would he have fared? Maybe I’m too ignorant to know better, but it seems to me he could have contributed a lot more.

There are opportunities at several positions this year. Let’s have at it!

I believe I speak for the masses when I say “please, no high RAS projects!”

Given our history of first round picks over the last 15 years, we'll have as good a chance finding a 2nd round impact player as we would if we had a 1st round pick. I hope a quality offensive lineman is on the board at pick 52. We have plenty of needs, but If our OL play isn't improved significantly, we'll struggle on offensive at times as we did last year. I think Josh Jacobs has plenty left in the tank, but the man had nowhere to run last year and Love was pressured way too often.

I'm going to be that person again who says, "what do you mean by...," in this case "an 'impact' rookie." I'm not a fan of the "enough snaps for PFF to give a toot" metric. I think most people mean a guy who becomes a team leader out of the gate, but someone like Belton certainly played a major role in '25 when the OL got beat up. Without him, I think things go meaningfully worse. Cooper, Bullard, and Evan Williams all played a lot in '24 right off the bat and made a big difference for the Packers. Reed, Kraft/Musgrave, Valentine (don't scoff...they needed him) in '23?

The Packers haven't been afraid to play rookies and this year they need to draft a handful who can play. They might not start--I think it's hard to find a spot except maybe CB on the roster where you can expect a rookie in round 2 or beyond to jump into a starting role. But they can raise the talent floor on the two deep and bring something to the table when injuries call on them to play.

This article is an unwelcome dose of reality for a lot of fans, who tend to think the Packers are the worst team in the league at using rookies. It often seems that way because the only rookies we hear about on other teams are the ones who play a lot and play well. Even when that happens, it is often because the rookie plays for a bad team, which allows him to get lots of playing time.

Using a PFF grade of 70 as a benchmark for quality play is questionable, but maybe it's about the best we can do. I have a more modest standard for a successful rookie season, which is to play a fair amount and to at least be average, with maybe a few splash plays here and there. For a lot of rookies, that's the best you can hope for. Javon Bullard is an example of a player who did that. He was not what you would call an impact player, but he was probably a lot better than whoever was behind him on the depth chart, and he set himself up for a really good second season. I'm hoping we can at least get a few players like that in the 2026 draft. A true impact rookie would be a bonus.

The last three Super Bowl champions drafted very impactful rookies in the second round, so don't act like it can't be done... The Packers under Ted nabbed a few OL rookie starters and another one with Gute. Let's not pave the way for disappointment before the draft even gets here. Borrowing from the previous article, less "Packersy" and more impactful is what we're looking for here--it's not a fool's errand.

Corey Linsley 5 th round started every game as rookie
Bakhtiari 4th round started 16 games as a rookie
James Jones 3rd round close to 700 yds as a rookie

There are some guys. They may trade WR for a pick to package and move up to get a higher pick. You never know.

dobber hitting the nail on the head. Opportunities.

There are going to be some draftees (AND UDFAs) with wide open runways for take off this season in GB. Big reps should be available at a number of positions. Some with top level talents returning from injury on varying timetables. Other openings realized in the Packers switch to a 3-4 Defense. Add in those positions Gutekunst is having to cover for with underperforming/overpriced players released.

There will be plenty of opportunities at ED, DT, NT, CB, LB, RB, OG, OC, TE... K... and, who knows what other positions? A little CYA at ED, 3T and TE wouldn't hurt regarding positions to stack talents. I'm not sold on Aaron Banks, Sean Rhyan, Keishean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and depth at both OT positions. Much improvement needs to be shown by those players.

Too soon to say the job opposite Micah Parsons upon his return is set with LVN, Sorrell or Cox, Jr. Karl Brooks has some proving to do as does Warren Brinson. There is definitely room for another baller in-line blocking TE on this Packers roster too.

Position battles abound in GB. Opportunities galore for the new players coming into 1265.

When conflating empirical probability, hit-rate analysis and Gutekunst's drafting record - there is an extremely low probability of the Packers finding an impact rookie. Especially as the odds of drafting an impact player decrease significantly after the first round (which historically has been Gutekunst's poorest drafting round). On the other hand - Gutekunst does OK on Day 2 and extraordinary on Day 3.

Still impact hope remains - as the second year is widely considered the biggest jump year for NFL players. That being so - I am looking for some degree of impact from the sophomores - Mathew Golden, Anthony Belton, Savion Williams, Barryn Sorrell, Collin Oliver and possible others.

Also in play with each draft - is the "Improbability Theory" - which in the context of NFL players refers to unexpected career trajectories. E.g. Evan Williams - 4th round pick 111.

It's kind of sad Greengold, that there are so many weak spots on GBs 53-man roster right now. We are weak in alot of position groups, and I honestly thought we only needed about 5 upgrade players before last year's free agency and draft. Right now, we need to overhaul the CB room. The Edge room is down 3 guys who played a ton last year, although I won't miss Enagbare or Gary at all. We need a solid NT. Our TE2 plays like a TE3 or 4. Our O-line has no solid backups. And we currently have no RB2 unless a practice Squad RB is promoted, or the ever-missing Marshawn Lloyd turns a corner. That's a lot of holes.

Maybe I am unrealistic but is it too much to ask that if we draft 3 players in the first 3 rounds of any draft, at the greatest positions of need, that they would be expected to start or play a lot of meaningful minutes. I guess when I do my mocks that is the number 1 priority, draft players that will be solid contributors if not upgrade starters.

If we select an Edge and a CB with our first 2 picks, in either order, we should have 2 potential starters right there. Every pick after that need to be solid upgrades to backups. I am holding out hope for Calais Campbell and Clowney after the draft somehow. Maybe get a deal in place now even if it means an extra Million dollars to lock them up. That would at least eliminate 2 big weak spots right away. Depending on who we draft, a veteran, cheap CB & TE would fill 2 more holes. That would be a solid effort and make us better than last year. The 2027 draft will upgrade alot of areas and make us the complete team I thought we could be in 2025.