Packers putting the future first
GREEN BAY - It won’t be hard to judge the Green Bay Packers’ first round of the 2018 draft in a couple years.
New general manager Brian Gutekunst passed on the chance to draft linebacker Tremaine Edmunds or safety Derwin James at No. 14 overall to maneuver around the first round and ended up picking cornerback Jaire Alexander four slots later.
If Edmunds or James ends up being a difference maker, and Alexander doesn’t, this was a mistake. Even though the Packers came out with New Orleans’ 2019 first-rounder, they more than anything need a playmaker on defense. They can’t afford to have passed on a good player for future draft capital, especially at the cost of a third-rounder this year to move back up from 27 to 18.
But if Alexander outperforms Edmunds and James, then this will have been a good move that helps the team now and in next year’s draft.
Picking Alexander does address one of the Packers’ two greatest needs — the other was outside pass rusher. Receiver and offensive line don’t rank far behind that. But the Packers were desperate for another cover man with ability. Alexander figures to start immediately, either at outside cornerback or the slot.
He adds real speed (4.38-second 40) and athletic talent to a defense that’s lacked those qualities.
“Jaire is a guy we’ve targeted all along,” said Jon-Eric Sullivan, the Packers’ director of college scouting. “We’ve liked him from the outset. The guy’s a really good football player.”
But the thing you have to wonder is whether the Packers are in position to be thinking that much about the future, even if it’s only a year from now, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers turning to 35 in December and the clock ticking.
With his two trades Thursday night, back to 27 and then up to 18, Gutekunst, in essence, moved back four spots and gave up a third-round pick this year in exchange for what’s probably going to be a late first-rounder (New Orleans’) next year. When next year’s draft rolls around, he’ll be glad to have that pick, either to draft two guys in the first round, or to move up in the first round.
But it doesn’t do much for the here and now to give up that third-rounder. You have to think the Packers considered Alexander a prospect on the same level as Edmunds and James. Otherwise, all this trading around made no sense at all.
Seattle also was a little desperate because it didn’t have a second- or thirdround pick going into this draft and badly wanted a pick in one of those rounds. The Packers took advantage on their move up to 18.
But I’m a little skeptical even though they got a late No. 1 in 2019. Is the Packers’ roster good enough to be pushing players into the 2019 draft at the expense of this year? Not unless this draft turns out to be a top-to-bottom stinker like 2012.
In Edmunds, the Packers passed on a defensive player who appeared to be a good fit for new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s scheme that emphasizes versatility. Edmunds is an elite athlete (6-41⁄2, 253 pounds, 4.54 40) and appeared capable of playing inside linebacker and as an outside rusher in the Packers’ 3-4, 4-3 hybrid scheme.
Some scouts considered him one of a handful of likely difference makers on defense in this draft. He ended up going to Buffalo at No. 16 overall.
James, likewise, doesn’t play a position of primary need for the Packers, safety. But he also offered the possibility of being a difference maker as a safety around the line of scrimmage and possibly playing some linebacker as well. He went No. 17 overall to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Packers also could have stayed at 14 and picked outside linebacker Marcus Davenport of Texas-San Antonio. In fact, the team that ended up with the pick at 14, New Orleans, used it to take Davenport even with Edmunds and James on the board.
Alexander doesn’t quite meet the 510 1⁄2 height minimum the Packers have traditionally had since Ron Wolf missed on the Terrell Buckley pick in 1992 – Alexander is 5-10 – but he is an explosive athlete. Besides his 4.39 40, he also tested well in short-area quickness. According to mockdraftable.com, his 6.71 three-cone drill ranks in the 86th percentile of cornerbacks at the scouting combine dating back to 1999, as did his 3.98-second short shuttle.
“Very few corners, when they play the game when the ball’s in the air, can you feel them close space,” Sullivan said. “He’s one when you watch him play you can feel him close space when the ball’s in the air, both playing forward and backward. Kid can run. On top of that he’s quick. He can change directions and do those things. Just excited about the skill set as a whole, we think he’s got the makeup to be a highcaliber player.”