By Ben Lindsley

“Lambeau Field in HDR” by elviskennedy is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.    

It has finally happened. After years of trying and failing, Mark Murphy finally managed to bring the NFL Draft to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Whether or not a city with a population of 105,000 will be able to accommodate an event as big as this remains to be seen. (Future Ben here, aside from some slight difficulties with space, everything went very smoothly and upwards of 600,000 people showed up over the three days, the second most in draft history. Mark Murphy is the best president in the history of the NFL and I will hear no other arguments.) Nevertheless, this is a big day for all 32 NFL teams, but especially for the Green Bay Packers. In a division as competitive as the NFC North, we need to stay in the mix by picking up talent across three needy positions: cornerback, wide receiver, and edge rusher. In this article, I will be recording my instant reactions and thoughts on each of the Packers’ eight draft picks, as well as grading each one of them. Hopefully, we can bring some good talent onto the ship and compete for a Super Bowl once again.

Lock in.

Round 1, Pick 23: Matthew Golden, WR, Texas

                  I don’t believe I will ever be able to recreate the elation I felt when Mark Murphy announced this pick. This moment, the first round 1 wide receiver to go to Green Bay since Javon Walker in 2002, and especially for it to happen during the hometown draft, will almost certainly go down as one of the best fan moments in Packers history. On top of that, what a great way for Mark Murphy to end his tenure as the team’s president with a bang. Golden was my favorite WR of the draft relative to where Green Bay was picking, and I even had him mocked to the Pack in my final mock draft. They needed receiver help, and they got a true alpha-type guy in Golden. At 5’11’’ and 191 lbs, he’s slightly smaller than the receivers GM Brian Gutekunst usually targets, but his real calling card is his explosive speed. He ran a 4.29 40-yard dash at the Combine, ranking second in the 2025 class and first among all receivers. This is a guy who can make an immediate impact and start right away in place of Christian Watson, who suffered a torn ACL at the end of last season. Jordan Love should be sleeping well tonight knowing he’s got a new pass catcher repping the Green and Golden (I’m not sorry).

Grade: A

Round 2, Pick 54: Anthony Belton, OT, NC State

There’s the Packers front office I recognize. I’m not going to sit here and say that this was a bad pick; in fact, I think in a vacuum this is a fantastic pick for the second round. O-line picks are never going to be the most exciting, but you can never have too much offensive line depth. Belton immediately comes in as the biggest man on the roster, measuring in just ahead of new LG Aaron Banks at 6’6’’ and 336 lbs. The Packers are looking toward the future with this pick, as I expect re-signing LT Rasheed Walker isn’t going to be too high on the Packers’ priority list with Zach Tom, Quay Walker, and Devonte Wyatt all looking for new contracts. That being said, I expect some experimentation with new lineups up front, potentially including sliding Elgton Jenkins to center. A lineup of Belton-Banks-Jenkins-Morgan-Tom could be a formidable front five for a long time.

                  The reservation I have here is not who we picked, but rather who we didn’t pick. Going into this draft we had three glaring positions of need: wide receiver, edge rusher, and cornerback. We have addressed wide receiver already, so that need is filled. However, I am genuinely surprised we didn’t take either of the other two at this pick, especially with Marshall EDGE Mike Green surprisingly still available. If I were Gutey I would’ve taken Green in a heartbeat, not just to strengthen our front-seven but because having both Green and Golden would be too tempting to pass up. Alas, I am not Gutey, and Gutey likes his o-linemen. Had it not been for our need for edge rushers and cornerbacks, this is a grade A pick. However, those factors have to bring this grade down a bit.

Grade: B+

Round 3, Pick 87: Savion Williams, WR, TCU

                  So, uh, remember how I told you that our wide receiver need has already been addressed about six sentences ago? Sounds like the Packers front office didn’t get the memo. Williams is a big bodied athletic freak who lines up much better with the type of receiver Gutey likes to target. I’ve seen him compared to players like Deebo Samuel and Cordarrelle Patterson, so it looks like a versatile gadget-type role is what he will be filling. We know from the plays drawn up for Jayden Reed that Matt Lafleur loves to incorporate motion and jet sweeps into his offensive play calling, and Savion Williams should be a great complement to these plays. What I’m not a fan of is how crowded the receiver room is becoming, especially with more glaring weaknesses that should’ve been addressed here. Fan of the player, not of the pick.

*Future Ben here, and after some consideration I think I’m starting to see the vision. Over the past couple of years, the Packers have taken a committee approach to the WR room, being very content with 5 or 6 WR 2s/3s on the roster. In picking Savion Williams, this approach is being improved to a committee of 6 WR 2s: Doubs, Watson (when he comes back), Reed, Wicks, Golden, and now Williams. Newly signed FA Mecole Hardman will probably see most of his snaps on special teams, and one of Bo Melton or Malik Heath will get a spot on the practice squad. With the injury issues Doubs and Watson have been dealing with, the Packers probably feel like they’d rather spend a third rounder on another receiver than have to resort to starting Melton or Heath. This also gives us more wiggle room in the event we try to trade either Watson or Doubs during the season. Still would’ve rather had a corner, but I’m picking up what the front office is putting down.

Grade: B-

Round 4. Pick 124: Barryn Sorrell, EDGE, Texas

                  I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this pick. Finally, after four rounds, the Packers get their edge rusher, and this is a guy I’ve had circled on my draft board for a while. In fact, I had him going near the beginning of round 3, so I consider this an absolute steal. The Packers needed another body at this position, specifically one who they could plug in and get production from. That’s part of why I wasn’t high on many first round edge rushers, as a lot of them are raw and need to develop, and we already have a guy developing in Lukas Van Ness (by the way, Lukas, if you could speed that process up a little bit, we would greatly appreciate it). Sorrell isn’t absurdly eye-popping as a prospect, but he certainly has the athleticism and ability to get the job done. His ability to bully opposing linemen and win at the pass rush is exactly the type of juice the Packers are looking for. I wouldn’t be surprised if we look back on this draft in a couple of years and call Barryn Sorrell the best pick of our class. One final thought, what a great moment for Barryn to be able to walk out onto the draft stage after waiting in the green room since round 1, and to be picked by the hosting team no less. You can’t help but be happy for him, and he’s shaping up to be a fan favorite already.

Grade: A

Round 5, Pick 159: Collin Oliver, EDGE, Oklahoma State

                  Oliver wasn’t really on my radar for the Packers, mainly because I figured we would have addressed the EDGE position in full by now. But here we are, and Collin Oliver is now a Green Bay Packer. Oliver has three productive seasons at OSU under his belt and showed that he can play both EDGE and OLB effectively, so the versatility is there. If anything, he’s going to be a solid rotational piece to sub in when Rashan Gary or LVN need a quick break. The only thing that concerns me is that he missed 12 games last season with a foot injury, and Packers fans know how frustrating defensive injuries can be. That injury getting reaggravated would become an issue, but for now the defensive front gets much-needed depth.

                  As a side note, the further we get into the draft without taking a cornerback, the more convinced I am that we are planning to keep Jaire Alexander through this upcoming season. I still think depth is necessary, but I think my mindset of wanting an early CB came with the assumption that Jaire would be cut or traded. I’d like to see a couple of flyer CB picks in the upcoming rounds just to get some more depth, but having Ja, Nixon, Valentine, and newly acquired Nate Hobbs really isn’t too bad of a CB room. Again, that’s provided Jaire does indeed stay. If not, I don’t know what Gutey’s thinking here.

Grade: C+

Round 6, Pick 198: Warren Brinson, DT, Georgia

                  If there was one position we needed more depth at, outside of the three main ones I mentioned earlier, it was going to be defensive tackle. The Packers pick yet another Bulldog defender in Warren Brinson, and this is another one of those picks where we probably aren’t expecting him to become a full-time starter. We still have Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt on the roster, and Brinson probably fits in as a part-time replacement for TJ Slaton, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals during free agency. I wouldn’t be surprised if we brought in a couple extra undrafted free agent DTs to compete for a backup position. Regardless, Green Bay needed depth at defensive tackle, and that’s exactly what they’re getting in Warren Brinson. Still waiting on a cornerback, though…

Grade: B

Round 7, Pick 237: Micah Robinson, CB, Tulane

                  First thing’s first, ESPN not showing Packers content creator and former NFL Fan of the Year Tom Grossi announce this pick was diabolical. My king deserved better. As for the pick itself, here’s one of the flyer CB picks I predicted earlier. We’re well past the point in the draft where the guys getting taken are almost always going to be depth pieces and not much more. That seems to be the case here, as Robinson is a smaller guy that we probably aren’t expecting to play meaningful snaps anytime soon. He has also taken 446 special teams snaps over his collegiate career, so we might see some more special teams play in his future. The worst scenario is that he’s another body in a CB room that desperately needed more behind the main four. And again, I would’ve preferred a CB earlier in the draft like Will Johnson or Trey Amos. But hey, better late than never.

Grade: B-

Round 7, Pick 250: John Williams, OT, Cincinnati

                  To round out our 2025 draft class, Gutey decided to shore up the offensive line yet again with legendary Star Wars composer John Williams. Wait, wrong John Williams. I meant the left tackle from Cincinnati, John Williams (Credit to Spencer Axness for that quip). If you remember from earlier in the draft, the Packers took Anthony Belton, another left tackle, in the second round. Again, seventh rounders aren’t taken with intentions to start right away, if ever, but this gives the Pack more o-line depth, especially at a position as important as left tackle. We don’t know if Gutey will move on from current starter Rasheed Walker or not, but if we do this gives us another body at the position in the event Belton gets injured or something of the sort. Not a flashy pick for sure, but it’s not supposed to be. Because again, say it with me folks, “you can never have too much offensive line depth.”

Grade: C

2025 Draft Class as a Whole

                  I’m actually really satisfied with how this draft turned out. We picked up very useful weapons in Matthew Golden and Savion Williams, the defensive front got much stronger with Barryn Sorrell and Warren Brinson added into the mix, and Anthony Belton should ensure that our offensive line will have stability for a few good years. And of course, we added a lot of good depth in EDGE Collin Oliver, CB Micah Robinson, and OT John Williams. I still wish we would have taken a top corner in one of the first three rounds. I liked Trey Amos and Shavon Revel a lot, both of whom were on the board at pick 54. Even Azareye’h Thomas out of FSU would have been nice, but the reality of the situation is that this year’s CB class wasn’t as deep as it usually is. From how this draft went, I can only expect Jaire to be back for at least one more year, as our cornerback room is going to be in shambles otherwise. Let’s just hope he doesn’t get injured again. In the end, though, we did address a lot of the needs we had coming in, and you can’t ask for much more than that. I’m excited to see Golden ball out and maybe show the front office that drafting a first-round wide receiver isn’t so scary after all.

Grade: B+