Packers mailbag: Trade targets, secondary starters, and the plan at running back
It's mailbag time. After a couple of crazy days a week ago, this week was calmer, so we have some time to sit down and go deeper into the Green Bay Packers roster-building processes. Let's go. If Eric Stokes is fully healthy, and that's a big if at this point, I still expect him to […]
It's mailbag time. After a couple of crazy days a week ago, this week was calmer, so we have some time to sit down and go deeper into the Green Bay Packers roster-building processes. Let's go.
If Eric Stokes is fully healthy, and that's a big if at this point, I still expect him to be the boundary starter. But he would be on a short leash, because he hasn't played well even when he is on the field over the last two years.
Carrington Valentine doesn't have the ideal physical profile to play inside, but maybe they give him a try to play there over Keisean Nixon, just like they did with Rasul Douglas two years ago.
But everything will depend on their approach in the draft. Considering the outlook at the position and how Jaire Alexander himself is getting older, it's probably a good time to take a cornerback of the future early on. And if he's on the roster, starting him will always be a possibility.
I did like Bucky Irving's film, and you will see his name in some of my mock drafts early in the process. However, his physical profile is completely out of character for Green Bay. His RAS is 2.28, and he didn't make the agility tests. Poor size, which would be ok, but poor explosion and average speed. Sure, later in the draft the Packers might consider him, but Aaron Jones himself was a fifth-round pick and his RAS was 9.04, an elite profile.
Players like Jaylen Wright and Blake Corum would make more sense thinking about the Packers' modus operandi.
At the time, I wrote a piece with some trade targets. Fans don't like the idea that much, but my priority would be Brandon Aiyuk. To be honest, I don't know why the San Francisco 49ers would consider trading him instead of Deebo Samuel in the first place. But from a Packers' perspective, he would be exactly what they need: a true number 1 with extreme ability to generate yards after the reception. At the same time, he doesn't demand to get every target, which would allow Jordan Love to spread the ball around to the other talented receivers the roster already has.
The price would be low, though. AJ Brown was traded for a first- and a third-round from the Tennessee Titans to the Philadelphia Eagles. Aiyuk would probably ask for something close to $30 million per season, which is huge.
The combination of high draft capital and expensive contract usually scares me, but Aiyuk is a rare worthy exception.
On defense, it's a lower-key option. Bobby Okereke, linebacker from the New York Giants. He's excellent in pass coverage and solid in run defense. Considering how thin the free agency market is, he would be a perfect target for the new defensive scheme.
That being said, I doubt the 49ers would want to trade Aiyuk to the Packers, and it's hard to know if the Giants would be willing to trade Okereke, even after a DC change. And that's why trades are so hard to pull off.
I advocated for the Packers using more 21 personnel with Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon a couple of years ago. They did, and it didn't work out so well. And Aaron Jones is a better complement to AJ Dillon than Josh Jacobs. In terms of run style, Jacobs is more similar to Dillon than he is to Jones, so I don't see them both playing together much.
If the Packers want to play with a fullback, Henry Pearson is better than Dillon for this role, because he is a better blocker in space.
The obvious answer is right guard, because I don't think Sean Rhyan has shown enough. Ideally, the Packers would take a player like Jordan Morgan, who has the potential to start at guard on day 1 and eventually be moved to tackle. But as I wrote about this week, guard is becoming more and more valuable, and if a pure guard like Graham Barton is there at 25, I don't think it's impossible they pull the trigger.
Other positions where a rookie could start right away are center, middle linebacker, and another safety alongside Xavier McKinney. You should be glad that the Packers have 11 draft picks, that's the perfect way to build an NFL team nowadays.
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