GREEN BAY ENTERS DRAFT WITH 8 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 24-26 in Green Bay.
- Armed with eight selections, Green Bay will have 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 Round 7.
- The event will begin in prime time on Thursday night, with Round 1 on April 24 starting at 7 p.m. CT.
- Rounds 2-3 also will be held in prime time, beginning on Friday, April 25, at 6 p.m. CT. Rounds 4-7 will complete the draft on Saturday, April 26, starting at 11 a.m. CT.
GUTEKUNST LEADS PACKERS IN EIGHTH DRAFT AS GM
GM Brian Gutekunst enters his 27th draft with the Packers and his eighth as the general manager.
- The past two draft classes have played an important role in helping Green Bay become the two youngest teams by weighted age (25.72 in 2024 and 25.58 in 2023) to make the playoffs over the last 45 seasons (1980-2024).
- Since Gutekunst took over as GM in 2018, the Packers rank No. 2 in the league over that span in games started by rookies with 917 (L.A. Rams, 958).
- The 11-player class of 2024 saw nine players appear in a game, four play 13-plus games, seven play six-plus games and three record four-plus starts: LB Edgerrin Cooper (four), S Javon Bullard (11), S Evan Williams (six). Six players also played in the postseason with Cooper and Williams starting. Both Cooper and Williams were selected to the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team. Cooper was the only player in the NFL in 2024 with 75-plus tackles, 13-plus tackles for a loss, three-plus sacks, an interception, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.
- Green Bay's rookie class combined to appear in 206 regular-season games in 2023, the most in a season in team history and the most by any NFL team in 2023. Of the 13 selections of the 2023 draft class, 11 players saw action, including eight who played in 15-plus games. Six members of the 2023 draft class started at least four games as rookies, 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 2023 postseason. Reed joined WR Don Hutson as the only Packers with six-plus receiving TDs in both of their first two NFL seasons. Kraft (81 in 2023-24) passed Richard Rodgers (78 in 2014-15) for the most receptions by a Packer tight end in their first two seasons (since 1970).
- 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). Green Bay's 2022 draft class also featured three offensive linemen (G Sean Rhyan, OL Zach Tom, T Rasheed Walker) who started every game for the Packers in 2024, the first trio of offensive linemen to all be selected in the same class and go on to start every game for that team in a season since Kansas City's draft class of 1974 had three linemen start every game for the Chiefs in 1981. The Packers' 2022 draft class combined for 226 starts from 2022-24, the second most by a class in their first three seasons in the seven-round draft era (since 1994) behind only the 2008 Kansas City Chiefs (227 from 2008-10).
- 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).
- In 2020, Gutekunst drafted nine players overall, including trading up in the first round to select QB Jordan Love, who led the Packers to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons as the starter and was one of two NFL players (Jared Goff) with 25-plus TD passes and a 95-plus rating in each of the past two seasons (2023-24).
- In the 2019 draft, Gutekunst selected eight players overall, including LB Rashan Gary (No. 12) and G/T Elgton Jenkins (No. 44). Gary ranks No. 8 on the Packers all-time sack list (since 1982) and earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2024. 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, Threads, 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.
