Traditionally, the Green Bay Packers have invested in the quarterback acquisition. Whether the team has an established starter or not, that's just how they operate — and the franchise has drafted 16 quarterbacks since Brett Favre became the starter.

Since Brian Gutekunst took over as the general manager in 2018, he has selected two. Jordan Love was a first-rounder in 2020, picked to be Aaron Rodgers' successor. Last year, Gutekunst selected Sean Clifford in the fifth round to be a backup.

"Getting back to drafting multiple quarterbacks is something that I've wanted to do," Brian Gutekunst said during a press conference to local reporters at the Combine. "There's some guys with interesting skill sets that are going to get taken later that might have a pretty good chance to make it."

Philosophy

Going back to Ron Wolf's time with the Packers, the idea was to select a passer every year. They could be solid starters and eventually get traded for more draft capital — the examples are Mark Brunell, Aaron Brooks, and Matt Hasselbeck. All of them became starters elsewhere, while Brett Favre was still the starter in Green Bay.

Quarterbacks drafted by the Packers GMs since 1991:

Ron Wolf

• 1992, 9th round, Ty Detmer
• 1993, 5th round, Mark Brunell
• 1995, 5th round, Jay Barker
• 1996, 7th round, Kyle Wachholtz
• 1997, 7th round, Ron McAda
• 1998, 6th round, Matt Hasselbeck
• 1999, 4th round, Aaron Brooks

Mike Sherman

• 2002, 5th round, Craig Nall

Ted Thompson

• 2005, 1st round, Aaron Rodgers
• 2006, 5th round, Ingle Martin
• 2008, 2nd round, Brian Brohm
• 2008, 7th round, Matt Flynn
• 2012, 7th round, BJ Coleman
• 2015, 5th round, Brett Hundley

Brian Gutekunst

• 2020, 1st round, Jordan Love
• 2023, 5th round, Sean Clifford

Options

The Packers tend to like a specific type of quarterback. That's why Brian Gutekunst traded for DeShone Kizer, was interested in Drew Lock, and drafted Jordan Love. He likes tall, athletic, strong-armed quarterbacks — even if they are underdeveloped or have questionable accuracy, for example.

Clifford last year was an exception, because the Packers needed a viable backup — and they had no money to spend in free agency. So they wanted a high-floor option. Now, the developmental prospects are back in play.

To be a part of Gutekunst's plans, ideally the quarterback has to be at least 6'2, 210 lbs, with a solid arm and ability to create outside of structure. Filtering by these points, we can find five quarterbacks to keep an eye on later in the draft this year.

Kedon Slovis, BYU

6-3, 215 lbs

Slovis was a big-name coming out of high school, but his college career went in the wrong direction. First, at USC, he had a promising freshman season. Then he started to play worse year by year, which included transfers to Pittsburgh and BYU.

Nonetheless, he has impressive arm talent, including the ability to throw from unique angles, strength and touch. He would obviously demand development, because he is slow to process information and the velocity of his throws sometimes is affected by suboptimal footwork.

Joe Milton, Tennessee

6-5, 235 lbs

Milton has also transferred during his college career — but that's not as negative of a factor these days as it used to be. After three years at Michigan, he spent the last three at Tennessee. Yes, he had six college seasons. With the Wolverines, he had only five games as a starter, which motivated his decision to transfer.

With the Vols, he only became a full-time starter in 2023. He is a physical monster, an absurd arm and burst to extend plays. It's hard to know exactly how much his game would translate, but he didn't have many opportunities to progress reads and wasn't great throwing on the move.

Carter Bradley, South Alabama

6-3, 216 lbs

Another veteran college quarterback, another one with experience in multiple schools — Toledo, and then South Alabama. He is the son of NFL coach Gus Bradley. He has solid arm strength and good mechanics, showing poise in the pocket. However, he is not a great creator, which is a problem for Gutekunst.

Phil Jurkovec, Pittsburgh

6-4, 235 lbs

Jurkovec is a big, heavy quarterback. He looks like a classic old school quarterback and reminds me a little bit of Ben Roethlisberger. He's not fast, but he is athletic enough to create some plays with his legs. You would probably want to see more strength from a player of his size, and he's a little robotic to move in the pocket, though.

A significant issue is that he was born in 1999, only one year younger than Jordan Love. He has played college football at Notre Dame, Boston College, and Pittsburgh.

Austin Reed, Western Kentucky

6-2, 220 lbs

Reed has also played for three schools: Southern Illinois, West Florida, and Western Kentucky. With the Hilltoppers, he started the last two seasons. He has a solid arm and decent ability to create, even though he doesn't seem like a special athlete. The footwork and general mechanics are underwhelming.

Depth

Jordan Love is obviously the starter and the quarterback of the future in Green Bay. Beyond that, though, the situation is more fluid. Gutekunst said, though, that he is happy with Clifford as the immediate backup.

"I think he's absolutely proven he can be a No. 2," the GM said. "Maybe more than that."

At the moment, the third-string quarterback is Alex McGough, 28, who is a former USFL MVP and signed a futures deal after spending the entire 2023 season on the Packers practice squad.

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