Gutekunst can shift draft strategy to attack a short- and long-term need for the Packers

This is a strong offensive tackle draft class. According to the NFL Mock Draft Database's consensus big board, there are seven tackles among the 32 best prospects in the group: Joe Alt, Taliese Fuaga, Olumuyiwa Fashanu, JC Latham, Troy Fautanu, Amarius Mims, and Tyler Guyton. Jordan Morgan and Kingsley Suamataia are also in the top […]

Wendell Ferreira — NFL News Writer
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Brian Gutekunst
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This is a strong offensive tackle draft class. According to the NFL Mock Draft Database's consensus big board, there are seven tackles among the 32 best prospects in the group: Joe Alt, Taliese Fuaga, Olumuyiwa Fashanu, JC Latham, Troy Fautanu, Amarius Mims, and Tyler Guyton. Jordan Morgan and Kingsley Suamataia are also in the top 40.

At the same time, the Green Bay Packers need offensive linemen. After releasing David Bakhtiari and letting Yosh Nijman walk in free agency, the depth is concerning — and the team could even consider an upgrade over Rasheed Walker, who played well in 2023 but doesn't have a really high ceiling.

That combination makes it likely that the Packers would consider a tackle with the 25th overall pick. But would they?

Track record

Under Ted Thompson, the Packers didn't shy away from getting tackles early. He took two consecutive ones in the first round, Bryan Bulaga in 2010 and Derek Sherrod in 2011 — one panned out, and the other did not. Thompson also drafted Daryn Colledge (2006) and Jason Spriggs (2016) in the second round.

However, 2011 was exactly the last time the Packers drafted an offensive lineman in the first round. Under Brian Gutekunst, it hasn't happened — Gutekunst only took defensive players in the first, except for quarterback Jordan Love.

Gutekunst has used three top-100 draft picks to select offensive linemen, but they were all interior players: guard Elgton Jenkins in 2018, center Josh Myers in 2021, and guard Sean Rhyan in 2022.

The highest pick Gutekunst used to get a tackle was the 140th selection, fourth round, in 2022, when he took Zach Tom — and he was actually expected to be a guard or center in the NFL, and later moved to tackle. Other than that, he selected Simon Stepaniak in the 6th in 2020 and Rasheed Walker in the seventh two years ago.

That's a philosophical difference between Gutekunst and Ted Thompson. While the old GM preferred to select college left tackles and move them around, the current executive is more willing to get interior players and move them outside — besides Zach Tom, Elgton Jenkins and Royce Newman have played as tackles in the league. However, Jon Runyan and Sean Rhyan were college tackles and moved inside, following the Packers old strategy.

Can Gutey take a tackle?

Since Gutekunst was promoted to GM in 2018, the Packers have had a good situation at tackle. At first, he had David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga. When Bulaga left in free agency in 2020, the team had already signed Billy Turner — he played at right guard in 2019 and immediately moved to right tackle in 2020. Over the last two years, Nijman and Tom played on the right side at a good level.

However, the situation got more extreme now. Green Bay is probably comfortable with Walker and Tom as their starting tackles.

But, first, Walker is good but not good enough to preclude an upgrade — if the Packers can find a long-term left tackle, leaving Walker as the swing tackle, that would be a positive outcome. Moreover, the depth is questionable. Beyond Walker and Tom, the only tackles on the roster are Caleb Jones, Luke Tenuta, and Kadeem Telfort.

Options

JC Latham, Troy Fautanu, Amarius Mims, and Tyler Guyton are all options that could fall to pick 25, even though there are no guarantees of that. The other realistic scenario was to get a tackle/guard hybrid, like Jordan Morgan.

He could start at right guard right away, which is a need, and then eventually move to tackle in the future. The last, and less likely, scenario is taking a player projected to play inside, like Graham Barton. He played well at tackle in college and has a good technique to play in the NFL too, but his short arms indicate the interior as a more likely path for him.

Brian Gutekunst hasn't taken an offensive tackle so early. On the other hand, he hadn't had an obvious need there as he has now.

Different situations, different approaches, and the Packers can certainly get out of the draft with offensive linemen from all positions and all areas of the board.

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