Packers seem comfortable with a key position despite the widespread belief that it’s a glaring need on the roster
Go look at some mock drafts around the Internet. A lot of them (including some here at A to Z Sports) have the Green Bay Packers taking an edge defender in the first or second round. Especially after a quiet free agency at the position, defensive end is widely perceived as a significant need on […]
Go look at some mock drafts around the Internet. A lot of them (including some here at A to Z Sports) have the Green Bay Packers taking an edge defender in the first or second round. Especially after a quiet free agency at the position, defensive end is widely perceived as a significant need on the roster.
Well, the Packers themselves might not be overly concerned about it. At the League Meetings on Monday, general manager Brian Gutekunst said that the front office is comfortable with the pieces the Packers have at the moment.
"I think we can do everything we need to do with the players we have on our roster right now," Gutekunst said. "I think there's a significant amount of improvement for those guys, not only in Year 2 of a scheme but just individually as well. We've invested in that quite a bit already and I'm excited to see the growth that those guys will have."
Where improvement can come from
There are two potential takeaways from Gutekunst's comments. The first is that, well, he can hide his draft plans from other teams. It's normal for teams to lie at this time of the year, and we can't blame them.
If Gutekunst really means what he said, it's a clear indication of what they expect from the coaching staff.
The Packers clearly weren't happy with former pass rush specialist and defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich. Initially hired as an outside linebackers coach in 2022, he was promoted to pass rush specialist in 2023 and took over the entire defensive line last year.
The results in terms of internal development were underwhelming at best, so the Packers moved on from him to hire former New England Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington.
The expectation is that Covington might replicate the success the Packers had with Mike Smith between 2019 and 2021. In that moment, the Packers extracted the most out of Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith, and developed Rashan Gary from a raw prospect into a highly impactful player. There haven't been many examples of leaps like that since Smith left—and you can make a case that Gary stopped progressing.
High investments at the position
Rashan Gary is the big ticket at the position. A former first-round pick, he received a four-year, $96 million extension back in 2023. But the significant investment goes beyond him, and the Packers seem to believe that 2023's first-round pick Lukas Van Ness can make the leap in Year 3 that Gary did in 2021.
There are also Kingsley Enagbare, a former fifth-round pick that has been useful as a starter, and Brenton Cox Jr., an undrafted player in 2023 who has a lot of talent and showed signs of promise after the Packers traded Preston Smith away last year.
The draft will give us a final answer on where the Packers stand. If they take an edge rusher early, it's an admission of need for talent. If they don't, it could really be an understanding of how the second part is as important as picking the right players in a draft and development system.
A to Z Sports’ Initial First Round Mock Draft for the 2025 NFL Draft: Cam Ward stays in the South, Commanders land a steal, and more
The first days of April are just around the corner, which means the NFL world is in full-on draft mode, and it'll only continue to ramp up from here. Therefore, it's time to put out our first site-wide, first round mock draft of the offseason. Like last year, there won't be any trades or anything […]
