Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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In his first two drafts as GM, Gutekunst entered with the No. 14 and 12 overall picks, respectively, and he turned his 2018 first-rounder from No. 14 to 18 with a couple of trades. He also traded up with an additional first-round pick last year to select at No. 21.
This time he'll be waiting much longer due to the Packers reaching the NFC title game last season, but he wasn't giving any clues as to what he plans to do with that 30th overall selection.
"That's a long wait, and a lot of really good players will come off the board," he said. "We'll be prepared to move up if we need to be and we'll be prepared to move back if that's what's best for us.
"I think we'll be able to be as aggressive as we need to be. I like to move around. I think it's a very good draft. I'd like to move around and get to the areas of the draft I think are strong."
Having entered the offseason publicly saying he planned to add at receiver, and prepared to lose right tackle Bryan Bulaga and linebacker Blake Martinez in free agency, Gutekunst isn't entering the draft with any position as a glaring hole.
He signed right tackle Rick Wagner, linebacker Christian Kirksey and receiver Devin Funchess in free agency, giving him maximum flexibility to take the best player available – or target certain players and make the trades needed to acquire them, as he suggested.
What he likes most about his three free-agent signings is their experience, a combined 19 years in the league. They've "been there, done that," which provides some comfort with so much uncertainty surrounding the remainder of the offseason and how much any team will be able to prepare its rookies to play right away.
The positions addressed in free agency are still on the draft radar, too, and when it comes to specific traits – such as a pure slot receiver, or whether a tackle plays the right or left side – Gutekunst stressed it boils down to drafting players with wide-ranging skills for their position.
"You just need good ball players, and they've got to be able to do a number of things," he said. "If you're a one-trick pony, and you only really have one trait, I think it's tough in the National Football League."
All the coronavirus-related limitations during the pre-draft process have left the Packers, and all teams, with less information than usual. Gaps in testing measurables and in-person interviews have been compensated for by extra film study, which Gutekunst calls the "most important" part anyway.
The work is done, except for maybe confirming an internal protocol or two in tech-related communication when the draft kicks off. Even with the changed circumstances, Gutekunst feels as ready as he always is.
"I'd love a bunch more picks. You can never have enough," he said. "But yeah, I think we're going to be able to help our football team this year and in the future with what we have right now.
"Whether we come out of this with 10 picks, or more or less … it'll be interesting to see how it falls, if there are some players who unexpectedly come close to where we're going to be."