Grading the 2020 Packers Draft

[lupedafiasco]

They say it takes 3 years to grade a draft class and going into that offseason you have to decide whether that player is worth their 5th year option or not. Lets talk about it.

Round 1: Jordan Love (F)
It is almost impossible to get less out of a player. Considering this cost us a 1st and a 4th round pick I dont know how we can grade this pick as anymore than an F. His only start he lost and looked putrid while doing it. I would say his trade value considering he is in his option year with next to nothing positive going for him is a day 3 pick at this point. Potential players we could have had include Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr, Brandon Aiyuk, Xavier McKinney, Kyle Dugger, Jonathan Taylor, Antoine Winfield Jr, Trevon Diggs, and most damning of all... Jalen Hurts. I still have trouble seeing how you dont draft a WR here. Imagine pairing a receiver like Christian Watson with Adams when he was still here instead of an Allen Lazard. Ive heard all the excuses like his first year didnt count because it was Covid so really his second year was his first year and a bunch of other coping mechanism but the truth is those years counted against his contract. This is unequivocally an F until he can play.

Round 2: AJ Dillon (C-)
I think Dillon is a fine RB. With that being said we invested a pretty high pick into a player that plays second fiddle to a better player. Every time Dillon is on the field we are a worse offense. He isnt a better receiver than any other back on the team or WR. He isnt a better blocker than any other TE we have. He isnt a better runner than Jones. I dont see the value in this pick and with that I cant grade it highly.

Round 3: Josiah Degaura (F)
5 starts and 2 career TDs. Hes never bested 25 receptions or 245 yards in a season. He cant beat out a TE clearly still recovering from an ACL injury or one who is 38 years old. This is a bust.

Round 4: Traded for Love (F)

Round 5: Kamal Martin (F)
Martin made it just one season in GB before being cut. This is quite easily the worst pick of this draft considering he was at a position of need and we still gave him the boot.

Round 6a: Jon Runyan (B+)
I thought this was the best pick at the time. I had him in most mocks. Honestly I still believe his best position is RT because he doesnt have the strength or power in the run game for guard. Hes a pretty average guard but finding a starter in the 6th round is still a good find.

Round 6b: Jake Hanson (C-)
Not sure really what the Packers see here. Its clear they had intentions to start him. He turns 26 this year. Honestly finding a versatile interior lineman isnt horrible.

Round 7a: Vernon Scott (F)
Hes never done anything meaningful or worthwhile for the Packers. A player with his speed and of his position should have developed to be a core STs player. That never happened.

Round 7b: Jonathon Garvin (F)
Every chance the Packers have had to replace Garvin theyve taken. He hasnt developed on the edge despite constantly having players injured at the position and their being an opportunity.

Overall this is a major F draft from the Packers. In year 3 you should be getting huge leaps from your players on the field and having them make impacts. This is where you get true value from a players contracts for the amount talent they should be displaying. It should not come as a surprise we finished with the record we had this season and having the cap they way it is after having a draft like this. And for it to come as closely to a draft like the 2018 class where we came away with 1 player and you have a true &%$@ show on your hands.

The 2021 class is beginning to also look very bad. Gutenbumst had what I called a possible career saving draft back before the season but the key word is possible. I dont know if even that was enough to undo the damage hes already done on this teams roster.

[Yoop]

the Love pick always seemed like retaliation against the way Rodger acted when Lafleur was hired, when Rodgers was grumpy for not being told by Guty and hearing it first from the media, then wanted some of McCarthy's old plays put in Lafleurs play book, and instead taking another player that might help Rodgers, he drafted his replacement.

Guty had a good first draft, and 2022, the two in between, not so good, and I agree 2020 was a miss top to bottom, unless Love pans out.

[Captain_Ben]

They say it takes 3 years to grade a draft class and going into that offseason you have to decide whether that player is worth their 5th year option or not. Lets talk about it.

Round 1: Jordan Love (F)
It is almost impossible to get less out of a player. Considering this cost us a 1st and a 4th round pick I dont know how we can grade this pick as anymore than an F. His only start he lost and looked putrid while doing it. I would say his trade value considering he is in his option year with next to nothing positive going for him is a day 3 pick at this point. Potential players we could have had include Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr, Brandon Aiyuk, Xavier McKinney, Kyle Dugger, Jonathan Taylor, Antoine Winfield Jr, Trevon Diggs, and most damning of all... Jalen Hurts. I still have trouble seeing how you dont draft a WR here. Imagine pairing a receiver like Christian Watson with Adams when he was still here instead of an Allen Lazard. Ive heard all the excuses like his first year didnt count because it was Covid so really his second year was his first year and a bunch of other coping mechanism but the truth is those years counted against his contract. This is unequivocally an F until he can play.

Round 2: AJ Dillon (C-)
I think Dillon is a fine RB. With that being said we invested a pretty high pick into a player that plays second fiddle to a better player. Every time Dillon is on the field we are a worse offense. He isnt a better receiver than any other back on the team or WR. He isnt a better blocker than any other TE we have. He isnt a better runner than Jones. I dont see the value in this pick and with that I cant grade it highly.

Round 3: Josiah Degaura (F)
5 starts and 2 career TDs. Hes never bested 25 receptions or 245 yards in a season. He cant beat out a TE clearly still recovering from an ACL injury or one who is 38 years old. This is a bust.

Round 4: Traded for Love (F)

Round 5: Kamal Martin (F)
Martin made it just one season in GB before being cut. This is quite easily the worst pick of this draft considering he was at a position of need and we still gave him the boot.

Round 6a: Jon Runyan (B+)
I thought this was the best pick at the time. I had him in most mocks. Honestly I still believe his best position is RT because he doesnt have the strength or power in the run game for guard. Hes a pretty average guard but finding a starter in the 6th round is still a good find.

Round 6b: Jake Hanson (C-)
Not sure really what the Packers see here. Its clear they had intentions to start him. He turns 26 this year. Honestly finding a versatile interior lineman isnt horrible.

Round 7a: Vernon Scott (F)
Hes never done anything meaningful or worthwhile for the Packers. A player with his speed and of his position should have developed to be a core STs player. That never happened.

Round 7b: Jonathon Garvin (F)
Every chance the Packers have had to replace Garvin theyve taken. He hasnt developed on the edge despite constantly having players injured at the position and their being an opportunity.

Overall this is a major F draft from the Packers. In year 3 you should be getting huge leaps from your players on the field and having them make impacts. This is where you get true value from a players contracts for the amount talent they should be displaying. It should not come as a surprise we finished with the record we had this season and having the cap they way it is after having a draft like this. And for it to come as closely to a draft like the 2018 class where we came away with 1 player and you have a true &%$@ show on your hands.

The 2021 class is beginning to also look very bad. Gutenbumst had what I called a possible career saving draft back before the season but the key word is possible. I dont know if even that was enough to undo the damage hes already done on this teams roster.

I enjoyed reading the write up. It's a fair analysis IMO and I found myself scrolling one player at a time so that my eyes didn't skip ahead to the next grade. I think poor drafting is the primary contributing factor that got this organization to where it is now.

[wallyuwl]

I also think this is a fair write-up. Maybe a little low on Dillon, but I would only rate that pick a C+. Also agree lack of talent due to poor drafting is this team's biggest problem. Second is bad contracts. Third is a coaching staff that doesn't inspire the players or demand their best/hold them accountable. The first two are directly Gute, the third he was a contributor in the hire.

With this analysis, just be ready for all of the comments like "well, Gute really is great, look at other team's drafts."

[go pak go]

2018 - okay (because of picking an all pro)
2019 - good (because of Gary and Jenkins)
2020 - Awful
2021 - Too early. Looked great in 2021. Looks a lot less great in 2022
2022 - Too early. But early signs are really good.

[Labrev]

I hope you enjoyed typing up all these words, because /our guy/ Love is going to make you EAT them!! Be it with this team or another...

[LombardiTime]

If Jordan Love turns out to be a + starter FOR THE PACKERS, the 2020 draft could still be considered a long-term success or at least not a disaster.

If Jordan Love does not become a + starter FOR GB, the 2020 draft will go down, considering the team was coming off an NFC Championship game loss and supposed to be competing for a Super Bowl, as a complete and utter disaster.

[Labrev]

In all seriousness...

When I look at the Dillon and Deguara picks in particular, I don't think that was Gute straight-up choosing the guys who he thought were the best player there. Those picks IMO were "grocery shopping" for MLF, who was coming into Year 2 as HC and did not get many draft picks on O the year before.

What the 2020 draft reflects is that MLF did not use WRs in his offense much before he came to Green Bay.

I remember us all looking at the snap counts for WRs in LaFleur's offenses. After WR2, the WR snap count fell off a cliff. WR3 and lower were not used much. Instead, he used RBs and TEs more.

However, he had to compromise a lot with Rodgers. And year two was the year where, during the summer, he and Rodgers (and Hackett) did a lot of work on redesigning the offense more to Aaron's liking. And Rodgers has been running WR-heavy offenses for how long now?

Rodgers also prefers throwing closer to the sideline and largely eschews the middle of the field. This has been true of him since Day 1; McCarthy said that he had different offenses for Favre and Rodgers based on their different preferences on this. WRs are much better for that than TEs, which is why he has hardly used his TE targets much, other than Finley and Cook who were quasi-WRs more than true TEs like Martellus Bennett.

Have we forgotten how unbelievably excited LaFleur was for Deguara in particular? He seemed to envision a very key role for him, and he did seem like a nice fit for the role played by Kyle Juzcyk (sp?) in SanFran's offense.

Not to mention Aaron Jones looking this good on his second contract. A lot of people here opposed re-signing him. 'Pretty sure you were one of them, OP.

If LaFleur knew what his offense became, we probably do not make either of those picks. Dillon and Deguara are not bad players we drafted, the new offense has simply made them obsolete.

[Drj820]

I also think this is a fair write-up. Maybe a little low on Dillon, but I would only rate that pick a C+. Also agree lack of talent due to poor drafting is this team's biggest problem. Second is bad contracts. Third is a coaching staff that doesn't inspire the players or demand their best/hold them accountable. The first two are directly Gute, the third he was a contributor in the hire.

With this analysis, just be ready for all of the comments like "well, Gute really is great, look at other team's drafts."

last line: hahaha

[Drj820]

In all seriousness...

When I look at the Dillon and Deguara picks in particular, I don't think that was Gute straight-up choosing the guys who he thought were the best player there. Those picks IMO were "grocery shopping" for MLF, who was coming into Year 2 as HC and did not get many draft picks on O the year before.

What the 2020 draft reflects is that MLF did not use WRs in his offense much before he came to Green Bay.

I remember us all looking at the snap counts for WRs in LaFleur's offenses. After WR2, the WR snap count fell off a cliff. WR3 and lower were not used much. Instead, he used RBs and TEs more.

However, he had to compromise a lot with Rodgers. And year two was the year where, during the summer, he and Rodgers (and Hackett) did a lot of work on redesigning the offense more to Aaron's liking. And Rodgers has been running WR-heavy offenses for how long now?

Rodgers also prefers throwing closer to the sideline and largely eschews the middle of the field. This has been true of him since Day 1; McCarthy said that he had different offenses for Favre and Rodgers based on their different preferences on this. WRs are much better for that than TEs, which is why he has hardly used his TE targets much, other than Finley and Cook who were quasi-WRs more than true TEs like Martellus Bennett.

Have we forgotten how unbelievably excited LaFleur was for Deguara in particular? He seemed to envision a very key role for him, and he did seem like a nice fit for the role played by Kyle Juzcyk (sp?) in SanFran's offense.

Not to mention Aaron Jones looking this good on his second contract. A lot of people here opposed re-signing him. 'Pretty sure you were one of them, OP.

If LaFleur knew what his offense became, we probably do not make either of those picks. Dillon and Deguara are not bad players we drafted, the new offense has simply made them obsolete.

deguara is very much a bad player

[Labrev]

In all seriousness...

When I look at the Dillon and Deguara picks in particular, I don't think that was Gute straight-up choosing the guys who he thought were the best player there. Those picks IMO were "grocery shopping" for MLF, who was coming into Year 2 as HC and did not get many draft picks on O the year before.

What the 2020 draft reflects is that MLF did not use WRs in his offense much before he came to Green Bay.

I remember us all looking at the snap counts for WRs in LaFleur's offenses. After WR2, the WR snap count fell off a cliff. WR3 and lower were not used much. Instead, he used RBs and TEs more.

However, he had to compromise a lot with Rodgers. And year two was the year where, during the summer, he and Rodgers (and Hackett) did a lot of work on redesigning the offense more to Aaron's liking. And Rodgers has been running WR-heavy offenses for how long now?

Rodgers also prefers throwing closer to the sideline and largely eschews the middle of the field. This has been true of him since Day 1; McCarthy said that he had different offenses for Favre and Rodgers based on their different preferences on this. WRs are much better for that than TEs, which is why he has hardly used his TE targets much, other than Finley and Cook who were quasi-WRs more than true TEs like Martellus Bennett.

Have we forgotten how unbelievably excited LaFleur was for Deguara in particular? He seemed to envision a very key role for him, and he did seem like a nice fit for the role played by Kyle Juzcyk (sp?) in SanFran's offense.

Not to mention Aaron Jones looking this good on his second contract. A lot of people here opposed re-signing him. 'Pretty sure you were one of them, OP.

If LaFleur knew what his offense became, we probably do not make either of those picks. Dillon and Deguara are not bad players we drafted, the new offense has simply made them obsolete.

deguara is very much a bad player

Thanks.

[Drj820]

In all seriousness...

When I look at the Dillon and Deguara picks in particular, I don't think that was Gute straight-up choosing the guys who he thought were the best player there. Those picks IMO were "grocery shopping" for MLF, who was coming into Year 2 as HC and did not get many draft picks on O the year before.

What the 2020 draft reflects is that MLF did not use WRs in his offense much before he came to Green Bay.

I remember us all looking at the snap counts for WRs in LaFleur's offenses. After WR2, the WR snap count fell off a cliff. WR3 and lower were not used much. Instead, he used RBs and TEs more.

However, he had to compromise a lot with Rodgers. And year two was the year where, during the summer, he and Rodgers (and Hackett) did a lot of work on redesigning the offense more to Aaron's liking. And Rodgers has been running WR-heavy offenses for how long now?

Rodgers also prefers throwing closer to the sideline and largely eschews the middle of the field. This has been true of him since Day 1; McCarthy said that he had different offenses for Favre and Rodgers based on their different preferences on this. WRs are much better for that than TEs, which is why he has hardly used his TE targets much, other than Finley and Cook who were quasi-WRs more than true TEs like Martellus Bennett.

Have we forgotten how unbelievably excited LaFleur was for Deguara in particular? He seemed to envision a very key role for him, and he did seem like a nice fit for the role played by Kyle Juzcyk (sp?) in SanFran's offense.

Not to mention Aaron Jones looking this good on his second contract. A lot of people here opposed re-signing him. 'Pretty sure you were one of them, OP.

If LaFleur knew what his offense became, we probably do not make either of those picks. Dillon and Deguara are not bad players we drafted, the new offense has simply made them obsolete.

deguara is very much a bad player

Thanks.

Welcome. Just obvious that if he was good player that was just a fish out of water with the scheme, teams would be calling the packers offering a trade. good players at TE are much desired.

[Pugger]

How can you give Love an F with so little evidence? The best grade to give him right now is Incomplete. It took Rodgers 3 years before he showed any promise and Love's first season was a washout because he didn't get the reps as a rookie because of COVID and ended up 3rd on the depth chart that season.

[bud fox]

How can you give Love an F with so little evidence? The best grade to give him right now is Incomplete. It took Rodgers 3 years before he showed any promise and Love's first season was a washout because he didn't get the reps as a rookie because of COVID and ended up 3rd on the depth chart that season.

Lupe pretty much covers it in his post.

After 3 years one poor start is not good value for that pick.

[williewasgreat]

How can you give Love an F with so little evidence? The best grade to give him right now is Incomplete. It took Rodgers 3 years before he showed any promise and Love's first season was a washout because he didn't get the reps as a rookie because of COVID and ended up 3rd on the depth chart that season.

Lupe pretty much covers it in his post.

After 3 years one poor start is not good value for that pick.

If that's true, then you could say pretty much the same for Rodgers. He looked better in rather limited play his third year, just as Love has. Until Love gets a real chance to show what he can do, he deserves an incomplete grade.

[bud fox]

How can you give Love an F with so little evidence? The best grade to give him right now is Incomplete. It took Rodgers 3 years before he showed any promise and Love's first season was a washout because he didn't get the reps as a rookie because of COVID and ended up 3rd on the depth chart that season.

Lupe pretty much covers it in his post.

After 3 years one poor start is not good value for that pick.

If that's true, then you could say pretty much the same for Rodgers. He looked better in rather limited play his third year, just as Love has. Until Love gets a real chance to show what he can do, he deserves an incomplete grade.

Packers brass were pushing Favre out the door cause they knew what they had in Rodgers.

Packers brass are also holding on for dear life when it comes to Rodgers.

But anyway right now (2023) it was a bad pick. That doesn't matter if Love is good or bad - the pick itself was bad which is on management not the player.

An incomplete grading is silly because it could be incomplete until the person physically can't play football anymore. Maybe Amari Rodgers somehow comes back to the packers and is rhe greatest wr of all time. Might happen. Incomplete grading.

[flapackfan]

Lupe pretty much covers it in his post.

After 3 years one poor start is not good value for that pick.

If that's true, then you could say pretty much the same for Rodgers. He looked better in rather limited play his third year, just as Love has. Until Love gets a real chance to show what he can do, he deserves an incomplete grade.

Packers brass were pushing Favre out the door cause they knew what they had in Rodgers.

Packers brass are also holding on for dear life when it comes to Rodgers.

But anyway right now (2023) it was a bad pick. That doesn't matter if Love is good or bad - the pick itself was bad which is on management not the player.

An incomplete grading is silly because it could be incomplete until the person physically can't play football anymore. Maybe Amari Rodgers somehow comes back to the packers and is rhe greatest wr of all time. Might happen. Incomplete grading.

I don't think the Packers Brass is holding on to 12 with dear life. I personally think if anonymously polled the brass would be thrilled to dump 12 at this point. What the Packers brass want, is a graceful exit, a smooth transition, and good PR, and maybe cap relief. In other words, not a repeat of #4 to #12.

[Yoop]

Packers brass were pushing Favre out the door cause they knew what they had in Rodgers.

ehhh, just like now with Love, the Packers will want some assurances if they move on from Rodgers, after Favre announced his retirement, Thompson drafted Brohm and Flynn, a repeat of using a high pick and low pick on Qb's, or bringing a establish vet seems like something Guty would do.

just like with Rodgers, till a QB proves himself over the course of starting and playing more then just mop up it's pretty hard to know just how good they can become.

[Cdragon]

deguara is very much a bad player

Thanks.

Welcome. Just obvious that if he was good player that was just a fish out of water with the scheme, teams would be calling the packers offering a trade. good players at TE are much desired.

I wonder if Deguara would have had some value if he hadn't been injured early on. He never had a chance to get on AR's radar. But the grade is right.

AR was fine throwing over the middle until Cobb had his leg taken off. He kept them honest. After that it was 90% Jordy and JJ on the sideline.

Fs for 6th or 7th rounders always seem off to me. You are pretty much taking the longest shots on the board at this point. So the vast majority are going to be F. They should all be graded pass/fail.

What ever Love becomes he's been a wasted opportunity for us. Any number of clipboard holders can be picked up for a song. But a 1 and a 4 "could" have got us over the top. No guarantees on any draft picks but a pick that high sitting on the bench isn't contributing. If he becomes our starter you need at least ten years of quality starts for him to drag that grade to an A and you'll still be wondering what if.

[lupedafiasco]

How can you give Love an F with so little evidence? The best grade to give him right now is Incomplete. It took Rodgers 3 years before he showed any promise and Love's first season was a washout because he didn't get the reps as a rookie because of COVID and ended up 3rd on the depth chart that season.

Lupe pretty much covers it in his post.

After 3 years one poor start is not good value for that pick.

If that's true, then you could say pretty much the same for Rodgers. He looked better in rather limited play his third year, just as Love has. Until Love gets a real chance to show what he can do, he deserves an incomplete grade.

He deserves what he’s contributed to this team. Just because he hasn’t played doesn’t mean his contract isn’t ticking. He can turn it around but as things stand this is an F pick. No way around that.