Later this week, the Green Bay Packers will welcome another rookie class to their roster through the NFL Draft, which will be held April 28-30 in Las Vegas.Â
- Armed with 11 selections, marking the fourth 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 six of the seven rounds (no picks in the sixth), including two selections in Rounds 1-2 and 4 and three picks in Round 7. The Packers have four of the top-60 picks in the draft.
- If the Packers draft 11 players, it will mark the third draft in the last six years that Green Bay selected 10-plus players (11 in 2018 and 10 in 2017). From 2000-21, the Packers selected 10-plus players in a single draft eight times (2013, 11; 2011, 10; 2007, 11; 2006, 12; 2005, 11; 2000, 13) according to pro-football-reference.com.
- The event will begin in prime time on Thursday night, with Round 1 on April 28 beginning at 7 p.m. CT.Â
- Rounds 2-3 also will be held in prime time, beginning on Friday, April 29, at 6 p.m. CT. Rounds 4-7 will complete the draft on Saturday, April 30, starting at 11 a.m. CT.
- Teams will have 10 minutes in between selections in the first round and seven minutes between each choice for Round 2. Rounds 3-6, including compensatory picks, will allow up to five minutes in between picks and Round 7, including compensatory picks, will allow four minutes.
GUTEKUNST LEADS PACKERS IN FIFTH DRAFT AS GM
GM Brian Gutekunst enters his 24th draft with the Packers and his fifth as the general manager.
- Last year, all nine of the players drafted by Green Bay appeared in a game with six playing in at least 13 (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 postseason for Green Bay last year with Stokes and C Josh Myers starting (Jean-Charles, McDuffie, Newman, Rodgers, Slaton).
- In 2021, Gutekunst drafted nine players overall with four players seeing action in 10-plus regular-season games as rookies (G Jon Runyan, 16 / S Vernon Scott, 15 / RB AJ Dillon, 11 / LB Kamal Martin, 10).
- In the 2019 draft, Gutekunst selected eight players overall, including LB Rashan Gary (No. 12), S Darnell Savage (No. 21), G Elgton Jenkins (No. 44) and LB Ty Summers (No. 226). All four players have played in 40-plus games for a team that has gone 39-10 in their first three seasons. 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). Among NFL linebackers, Gary ranks No. 3 in QB hits (39), No. 6 in pressures (84) and No. 8 in sacks (14½) over the last two seasons (2020-21), according to TruMedia.Â
- 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. He 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 (Herb Adderley, 1963, third season; Willie Buchanon, 1973, second season). Â
- 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), LB A.J. Hawk (first round, 2006), who is the leading tackler in franchise history, WR Jordy Nelson (second round, 2008), 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 became the first Green Bay rookie to start every game at LT since 1978 and has been 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 has made two trips to the Pro Bowl (2019 and 2021), and RB Aaron Jones (fifth round, 2017), who is one of only three players in NFL history to post 4,000-plus rushing yards (4,163) and 40-plus rushing TDs (41) with an average of 5.00-plus yards per carry (5.06) in their first five seasons, joining RB Jim Brown (1957-61) and FB Jim Taylor (1958-62).
ANALYZING THE PICKS SINCE 2005
Total Picks: 158 Â Offense: 82Â Â Â Defense: 73Â Â Specialists: 3
POSITION-BY-POSITION
Quarterback (7): Aaron Rodgers (2005-1), Ingle Martin (2006-5a), Brian Brohm (2008-2b), Matt Flynn (2008-7a), B.J. Coleman (2012-7b), Brett Hundley (2015-5a), Jordan Love (2020-1)
Running Back (12): Brandon Jackson (2007-2), DeShawn Wynn (2007-7a), James Starks (2010-6), Alex Green (2011-3), Eddie Lacy (2013-2), Johnathan Franklin (2013-4c), Jamaal Williams (2017-4b), Aaron Jones (2017-5b), Devante Mays (2017-7a), Dexter Williams (2019-6b), AJ Dillon (2020-2), Kylin Hill (2021-7)
Fullback (3): Korey Hall (2007-6a), Quinn Johnson (2009-5a), Aaron Ripkowski (2015-6a)
Tight End (9): Clark Harris (2007-7), Jermichael Finley (2008-3), Andrew Quarless (2010-5a), D.J. Williams (2011-5), Ryan Taylor (2011-7a), Richard Rodgers (2014-3b), Kennard Backman (2015-6c), Jace Sternberger (2019-3), Josiah Deguara (2020-3)
Wide Receiver (22): Terrence Murphy (2005-2b), Craig Bragg (2005-6b), Greg Jennings (2006-2b), Cory Rodgers (2006-4a), James Jones (2007-3a), David Clowney (2007-5), Jordy Nelson (2008-2a), Brett Swain (2008-7b), Randall Cobb (2011-2), Charles Johnson (2013-7a), Kevin Dorsey (2013-7b), Davante Adams (2014-2), Jared Abbrederis (2014-5b), Jeff Janis (2014-7), Ty Montgomery (2015-3), Trevor Davis (2016, 5), DeAngelo Yancey (2017-5a), Malachi Dupre (2017-7b), J'Mon Moore (2018-4), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (2018-5c), Equanimeous St. Brown (2018-6), Amari Rodgers (2021-3)
Tackle (12): Tony Moll (2006-5b), Breno Giacomini (2008-5), T.J. Lang (2009-4), Jamon Meredith (2009-5b), Bryan Bulaga (2010-1), Marshall Newhouse (2010-5b), Derek Sherrod (2011-1), Andrew Datko (2012-7a), David Bakhtiari (2013-4a), JC Tretter (2013-4b), Jason Spriggs (2016-2), Kyle Murphy (2016-6)
Guard (13): William Whitticker (2005-7b), Daryn Colledge (2006-2a), Jason Spitz (2006-3b), Allen Barbre (2007-4), Josh Sitton (2008-4b), Caleb Schlauderaff (2011-6a), Kofi Amichia (2017-6), Cole Madison (2018-5a), Elgton Jenkins (2019-2), Jon Runyan (2020-6a), Simon Stepaniak (2020-6c), Royce Newman (2021-4), Cole Van Lanen (2021-6a
Center (4): Junius Coston (2005-5a), Corey Linsley (2014-5a), Jake Hanson (2020-6b), Josh Myers (2021-2)
Defensive End (13): Michael Montgomery (2005-6a), Dave Tollefson (2006-7), Jeremy Thompson (2008-4a), Jarius Wynn (2009-6a), Mike Neal (2010-2), C.J. Wilson (2010-7), Lawrence Guy (2011-7b), Jerel Worthy (2012-2a), Datone Jones (2013-1), Josh Boyd (2013-5b), Khyri Thornton (2014-3a), Dean Lowry (2016-4b), Kingsley Keke (2019-5)
Defensive Tackle (9): Johnny Jolly (2006-6a), Justin Harrell (2007-1), B.J. Raji (2009-1a), Mike Daniels (2012-4a), Christian Ringo (2015-6b), Kenny Clark (2016-1), Montravius Adams (2017-3), James Looney (2018-7a), T.J. Slaton (2021-5a)
Linebacker (25): Brady Poppinga (2005-4b), Kurt Campbell (2005-7a), A.J. Hawk (2006-1), Abdul Hodge (2006-3a), Desmond Bishop (2007-6b), Clay Matthews (2009-1b), Brad Jones (2009-7), D.J. Smith (2011-6b), Ricky Elmore (2011-6c), Nick Perry (2012-1), Terrell Manning (2012-5), Nate Palmer (2013-6), Sam Barrington (2013-7c), Carl Bradford (2014-4), Jake Ryan (2015-4), Kyler Fackrell (2016-3), Blake Martinez (2016-4a), Vince Biegel (2017-4a), Oren Burks (2018-3), Kendall Donnerson (2018-7c), Rashan Gary (2019-1a), Ty Summers (2019-7), Kamal Martin (2020-5), Jonathan Garvin (2020-7b), Isaiah McDuffie (2021-6b)
Cornerback (16): Mike Hawkins (2005-5b), Will Blackmon (2006-4b), Pat Lee (2008-2c), Brandon Underwood (2009-6b), Davon House (2011-4), Casey Hayward (2012-2b), Micah Hyde (2013-5a), Demetri Goodson (2014-6), Damarious Randall (2015-1), Quinten Rollins (2015-2), Kevin King (2017-2a), Jaire Alexander (2018-1), Josh Jackson (2018-2), Ka'dar Hollman (2019-6a), Eric Stokes (2021-1), Shemar Jean-Charles (2021-5b)
Safety (10): Nick Collins (2005-2a), Marviel Underwood (2005-4a), Tyrone Culver (2006-6b), Aaron Rouse (2007-3b), Morgan Burnett (2010-3), Jerron McMillian (2012-4b), Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (2014-1), Josh Jones (2017-2b), Darnell Savage (2019-1b), Vernon Scott (2020-7a)
Kicker (1): Mason Crosby (2007-6c)
Punter (1): JK Scott (2018-5b)
Long Snapper (1): Hunter Bradley (2018-7b)
DRAFT PICKS BY SCHOOL
Where have the 158 Packers draft picks gone to school? Note: Power 5 schools are those in the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC.Â
Power 5: 112
California 5, Iowa 5, Mississippi State 5, Texas A&M 5, UCLA 5, Boston College 4, Louisville 4, TCU 4, Alabama 3, Arizona State 3, Colorado 3, Ohio State 3, LSU 3, Michigan 3, Stanford 3, Wisconsin 3, Auburn 2, Florida 2, Georgia 2, Indiana 2, Maryland 2, Michigan State 2, North Carolina State 2, Notre Dame 2, Oklahoma 2, Purdue 2, Southern California 2, Vanderbilt 2, Virginia Tech 2, Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Kentucky, Miami, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wake Forest, Washington StateÂ
Non-Power 5: 46
South Florida 3, Utah State 3, Appalachian State 2, Brigham Young 2, Boise State 2, Cincinnati 2, Fresno State 2, San Diego State 2, Alabama-Birmingham, Albany, Bethune-Cookman, Buffalo, Central Florida, Cornell, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Furman, Grand Valley State, Hawaii, Illinois State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Maine, Miami (Ohio), Missouri Southern State, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Carolina A&T, Northwest Missouri State, Saginaw Valley State, San Jose State, Southeast Missouri, Southern Mississippi, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Texas-El Paso, Toledo, Western Michigan
ROUND-BY-ROUND
First Round (17): Linebacker (4), defensive tackle (3), cornerback (3), quarterback (2), safety (2), tackle (2), defensive end
Second Round (22): Cornerback (5), wide receiver (5), running back (3), defensive end (2), guard (2), safety (2), center, quarterback, tackle
Third Round (16): Tight end (4), linebacker (3), wide receiver (3), safety (2), defensive end, defensive tackle, guard, running back
Fourth Round (22): Linebacker (5), tackle (3), guard (3), cornerback (2), defensive end (2), running back (2), safety (2), wide receiver (2), defensive tackleÂ
Fifth Round (27): Wide receiver (5), tackle (4), cornerback (3), defensive end (2), guard (2), linebacker (2), quarterback (2), tight end (2), center, defensive tackle, fullback, punter, running backÂ
Sixth Round (28): Guard (5), linebacker (5), cornerback (3), defensive end (2), defensive tackle (2), fullback (2), running back (2), wide receiver (2), center, kicker, safety, tackle, tight end
Seventh Round (26): Linebacker (6), wide receiver (5), defensive end (3), running back (3), quarterback (2), tight end (2), defensive tackle, guard, long snapper, safety, tackle
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. Â
- 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 Twitter accounts. They will also stream on YouTube, the mobile app and the connected TV app (Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV). All player Zoom audio calls will also be posted on the site for later listening.Â
- Follow the @packers on Twitter, 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.