GREEN BAY ENTERS DRAFT WITH 11 SELECTIONS
- Later this week, the Green Bay Packers will welcome another rookie class to their roster through the NFL Draft, which will be held April 25-27 in Detroit.
- Armed with 11 selections, tied for the most in the league and marking the sixth straight year the Packers enter the draft with 10-plus picks, Green Bay will have plenty of opportunities to add more talent and depth to their roster. All picks are eligible to be traded.
- Green Bay enters the draft with a pick in all seven rounds, including two selections in Rounds 2, 3, 6 and 7.
- If the Packers draft 10-plus players, it will mark the fifth draft in the last eight years that Green Bay selected 10-plus players (13 in 2023, 11 in 2018 and 2022, and 10 in 2017). From 2000-23, the Packers selected 10-plus players in a single draft eight times (2013, 11; 2011, 10; 2007, 11; 2006, 12; 2005, 11; 2000, 13).
- The event will begin in prime time on Thursday night, with Round 1 on April 25 starting at 7 p.m. CT.
- Rounds 2-3 also will be held in prime time, beginning on Friday, April 26, at 6 p.m. CT. Rounds 4-7 will complete the draft on Saturday, April 27, starting at 11 a.m. CT.
- A look at where Green Bay currently stands in the draft order:
GUTEKUNST LEADS PACKERS IN SEVENTH DRAFT AS GM
- GM Brian Gutekunst enters his 26th draft with the Packers and his seventh as the general manager.
- The 2023 draft class played an important role as Green Bay became the fourth-youngest team to make the playoffs since the merger (1970) and the youngest to win a playoff game. Of the 13 selections, 11 players saw action, including eight who played in 15-plus games. Six members of the 2023 draft class started at least four games, with WR Jayden Reed (13) and CB Carrington Valentine (12) leading the way. Reed and Valentine were joined by TEs Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft and WR Dontayvion Wicks as rookies who started in the postseason.
- Of the 11 players drafted in 2022, eight players played in nine-plus games and six players combined to start 48 contests as rookies. The top three selections, LB Quay Walker (first Packer ILB to make PFWA's All-Rookie team since A.J. Hawk in 2006), DL Devonte Wyatt and WR Christian Watson combined to play in 47 games with 27 starts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Watson was the second rookie in NFL history at that point to post seven-plus receiving TDs and multiple rushing TDs (Chase Claypool, 2020).
- In 2021, all nine of the players drafted by Green Bay appeared in a game with six playing in at least 13 as rookies (G Royce Newman, 17 / DL T.J. Slaton, 17 / WR Amari Rodgers, 16 / CB Eric Stokes, 16 / CB Shemar Jean-Charles, 14 / LB Isaiah McDuffie, 13). Seven players also played in the 2021 postseason for Green Bay with Stokes and C Josh Myers starting (Jean-Charles, McDuffie, Newman, Rodgers, Slaton).
- In 2020, Gutekunst drafted nine players overall, including trading up in the first round to select QB Jordan Love, who in his first season as the starter (2023), led the Packers to the playoffs and was one of four quarterbacks (Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield) to rank in the top 10 in the league in passing TDs (No. 2, 32), passing yards (No. 7, 4,159) and TD/INT ratio (No. 7, 2.91).
- In the 2019 draft, Gutekunst selected eight players overall, including LB Rashan Gary (No. 12) and G/T Elgton Jenkins (No. 44). From 2020-23, Gary ranked in the top 10 among NFL linebackers in fumble recoveries (five, t-No. 4), QB hits per game (1.28, No. 5), QB hits (73, No. 7), sacks (29.5, t-No. 9), sacks per game (0.52, No. 9) and NextGenStats QB pressures (73, No. 10), according to TruMedia. Jenkins was selected to his first career Pro Bowl in 2020, becoming just the third offensive lineman in team history to be named to the Pro Bowl within his first two seasons in the NFL (Derel Teteak, 1952; Charley Brock, 1940). He was named to his second Pro Bowl in 2022, becoming just the 11th Packers offensive lineman to be named to multiple Pro Bowls, according to Stathead.com.
- In his first draft as general manager in 2018, Gutekunst made a couple of trades involving first-round picks that resulted in the Packers selecting CB Jaire Alexander at No. 18 and gaining the No. 30 pick in the 2019 draft. Alexander earned second-team All-Pro honors from The Associated Press in 2020 and 2022, joining Charles Woodson (four) and Herb Adderley (seven) as the only Packers cornerbacks to be named to multiple AP All-Pro teams. Alexander was also selected to the Pro Bowl in 2020, making him one of three CBs in franchise history to make the Pro Bowl in his first three seasons (Adderley, 1963, third season; Willie Buchanon, 1973, second season). He earned his second Pro Bowl honor (2022) in his fifth NFL season, becoming the 13th defensive back in franchise history to be named to multiple Pro Bowls.
- Green Bay selected 11 players in Gutekunst's first draft as GM. The Packers had rookies play in a league-high 171 games in 2018 and account for 50 starts, the most for Green Bay since 2006 (66 starts).
- Gutekunst spent his first 13 seasons with Green Bay as a college scout, serving as an East Coast regional scout for two years (1999-2000) before switching to the Southeast region (2001-11).
- During his first 13 drafts with the Packers, Gutekunst was part of a personnel department that drafted several Pro Bowlers, including WR Donald Driver (seventh round, 1999), who is the team's all-time leading receiver, QB Aaron Rodgers (first round, 2005), who is the all-time franchise leader in passer rating, LB A.J. Hawk (first round, 2006), who is the leading tackler in franchise history, WR Jordy Nelson (second round, 2008), who is No. 4 in franchise history in receptions, and LB Clay Matthews (first round, 2009), who is the franchise leader in sacks.
- Gutekunst was promoted to director of college scouting in 2012, a position he served in through 2015. Over that time period, Green Bay selected T David Bakhtiari (fourth round, 2013), who was honored five times as an All-Pro by AP, Pro Bowl RB Eddie Lacy (second round, 2012), and WR Davante Adams (second round, 2014), who was selected to five straight Pro Bowls (2017-21) and was named first-team All-Pro by AP in 2020-21.
- In 2016-17, Gutekunst served as director of player personnel and those two drafts were highlighted by the addition of DL Kenny Clark (first round, 2016), who joined Henry Jordan (1960-61, 1963, 1966) as the only Packers defensive tackles to make three-plus Pro Bowls (2019, 2021 and 2023), and RB Aaron Jones (fifth round, 2017), who made the Pro Bowl in 2020.
DRAFT HEADQUARTERS AT PACKERS.COM
- For Packers fans, the team's official website and social-media channels are the best source for up-to-the-minute information on draft weekend and the only places to listen to live conference calls in their entirety.
- Packers.com will provide biographical information on each Packers pick as it happens, with additional coverage by the packers.com writers.
- Press conferences featuring General Manager Brian Gutekunst, Head Coach Matt LaFleur and members of the personnel and scouting staff will be carried live on packers.com, as well as the team's official Facebook and X accounts. They will also stream on YouTube, the mobile app and the connected TV app (Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV). All player conference calls will also be posted on the site for later listening.
- Follow the @packers on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok for live updates from the team throughout the three days of the NFL Draft.
- Watch exclusive videos with insight from packers.com's writers, reporters and analysts.
