It’s draft season, which means you could search the word “threshold” on the Cheesehead TV website and get 6,000 results. Make that 6,001. The draft is almost here, and your questions aligned accordingly! Let’s dive in… I say dive in every week, I think. But it really felt right talking about Ponds.
“Why do I feel the need for Gutey to draft against type and take D’Angelo Ponds if he falls? Especially since it seems like Big Citrus will fall too.” - Jlueck
You know? Let’s take a look at Gutekunst’s selections at cornerback during his tenure as GM. Micah Robinson (2025), Kalen King (2024), Carrington Valentine (2023), Eric Stokes and Shemar Jean-Charles (2021), Ka’Dar Hollman (2019), Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson (2018). Maybe broadening his horizons and going outside his preferred thresholds isn’t the worst idea.
Jokes aside, Ponds is a really fun player to watch. Lance Zierlein comps him to Mike Sainristil, and I desperately wanted the Packers to draft Sainristil in 2024. He’s having a great start to his career in Washington with 26 passes defensed and six interceptions, and he’s only 5-10. Granted, that’s still bigger than Ponds, but Sainristil hasn’t only been in the slot for the Commanders. He actually has more snaps as a boundary CB.
Javon Bullard is pretty set (and should be) as Green Bay’s nickel defender. Ponds would be an incredible dime defender as the sixth DB off the bench for Jonathan Gannon. And he’d likely push for some playing time on the boundary, too. One of the first notes I took about him when I watched his Combine performance is how stocky he is. He looks, and plays, so much bigger than 5-9. He had seven interceptions and 33 passes defensed in his three seasons at Indiana. I’m with you that I’d definitely pull the trigger if he was sitting there at 52, height thresholds be damned.
“Anything out there make you think they will try to get back into the first round?” - Snafu58
I’m really hoping the Packers sit tight this year. This is a weird draft class and the consensus seems to be that the meat of this class is in rounds two and three. I’m not sure there are 32 players with true first-round grades. If a player like Caleb Banks falls into the late 30s or early 40s and Gutekunst wants to take the gamble and move up, then I could see him pulling the trigger. That’s a player who would have been a first round pick had he been healthy for the 2025 season.
Even if we took the talent aspect out of it, it would cost the Packers a ton of capital to try to move into the first round. If we use the Rich Hill trade value chart as a guide, the Packers would have to give up their second, third, and fourth round picks this year just to trade to pick 32. Unless they were in the market to draft their QB of the future (they’re not) and want that fifth-year option, I just don’t see anything being worth that, even if they used some 2027 picks in place of 2026 ones. This team is in win-now mode. Use draft selections to round out the roster.
“Hey Maggie! It’s hard to argue our “big 3” in terms of need going into the draft. One could put CB, OL, and IDL in any order, and not be wrong. What would you slate in as #4 if you were forced to rank them, and why?” - Jim
I feel like this could go in so many directions and the argument would be solid for most of them! Safety is really the only position I’m truly comfortable with on the roster and don’t see Green Bay adding to. I think the Packers add depth to the running back and wide receiver rooms, but those to me aren’t pressing enough needs to rank at No. 4. We’ll also talk about backup quarterback in the next question. So that leaves tight end, edge, and inside linebacker. Ugh. I guess it could also be kicker, right? The Packers need to make sure McManus has competition during camp, which he does right now in Lucas Havrisik. I’ll leave it there.
Tucker Kraft should be ready to go for Week 1 of the regular season, so with him as TE1 and Luke Musgrave as a serviceable TE2, I think that room is okay, although I’d like to see a pick on Day 3 to restock the room for 2027 with both Kraft (who will be extended) and Musgrave hitting free agency together.
To me, as the roster stands right now, I’d call edge my fourth biggest concern. Micah Parsons should be back relatively early in the season, but he’ll likely still have a ramp up period before he’s full go on defense. Rashan Gary and J.J. Enagbare are both gone. That leaves Lukas Van Ness and Barryn Sorrell as the starters going into the season. I’m excited about what Sorrell can do in his second year jump, but there are a lot of snaps between Gary and Enagbare that need to be filled. Behind Van Ness and Sorrell there’s Collin Oliver, Brenton Cox. Jr., and Arron Mosby as depth pieces. Yes, that's five bodies in the room, but Mosby was primarily a special teams player in 2025 and played only 17 defensive snaps. Oliver played 31.
That’s why I’m really intrigued by a player like Jaishawn Barham in the draft. He falls into the same category as Oliver did, being that hybrid linebacker/edge rusher. The Packers want Oliver to be in the edge room, so give Barham a look inside as a really athletic running mate for Edgerrin Cooper who could develop behind Zaire Franklin and eventually emerge as LB2. He’d also be a rotational piece in the edge room with some designated pass rush looks.
This was a very long-winded way of saying I think the first picks in the draft for the Packers will be some combination of CB, DL, EDGE, and OL. But I do think if the Packers stray from that, it’ll be to take an inside linebacker with freaky athletic traits.
“Is there a QB that you'd like to see the Packers draft in the later rounds, a veteran still out there we should sign, or do you think we should go into the season with Ridder and McCord?” - Tony
Here’s the thing. I think the Packers will draft a quarterback for Matt LaFleur to develop as another “project” kind of prospect, but I absolutely do not want to go into the season with a rookie as QB2 behind Jordan Love. Malik Willis played in 11 games for the Packers (yes only three starts) over the last two seasons. That’s significant. While it will be hard for any backup quarterback to come in and match Willis’ performances, I don’t want that pressure on a rookie Day 3 selection. So as things stand right now, I guess give me Ridder as Love’s backup because he could lead the offense effectively enough to hand the ball off to Josh Jacobs and maybe pick up a few first downs with his legs.
The list of free agent quarterbacks does not inspire a ton of confidence. Russell Wilson had a really awful year with the Giants. Tyrod Taylor. Cooper Rush. Jimmy Garoppolo. Teddy Bridgewater? Maybe? Yeah. I am surprising myself even saying this, but I think I’d take Ridder as a developmental player for LaFleur instead of an aging veteran on the wrong side of his career.
As for a quarterback that would be fun to see the Packers target in the later rounds, I’ll say Taylen Green from Arkansas. He’s 6-foot-6, 227lbs. He ran a 4.36 40-yard dash. He needs a lot of refinement as a passer, but he’s dangerous as a runner. He probably wouldn’t be ready to be QB2 in 2026 which means the Packers would be committing to rostering three quarterbacks to avoid losing Green on the practice squad, but he has the traits LaFleur would fall in love with as a project behind Love.
If you’d like to learn more about D’Angelo Ponds, Jaishawn Barham, or Taylen Green, consider purchasing the Cheesehead TV Draft Guide if you haven’t already! I can’t believe we’re only two weeks away from the draft. Remember to send your questions to [email protected]. See you next week!