Brian Gutekunst’s challenge for seventh draft as Packers GM? Replicate last year’s brilliance (2024)

GREEN BAY — Of all the good things that came out of the Green Bay Packers’ unexpectedly successful rebuilding year in 2023 — and make no mistake, they were undeniably rebuilding — obviously the most important development was that first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love delivered ample evidence he is capable of being a franchise quarterback.

After all, in the quarterback-driven NFL, if you don’t have that guy under center, well, then you’re one of those teams wandering in the wilderness of mediocrity, praying you find that guy sooner rather than later.

That’s why, with teams desperate for success at the game’s most important position, six — SIX! — quarterbacks could be selected in the first round of Thursday night’s 2024 NFL Draft: USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix.

But while it was vital for the Packers to find out that Love, the team’s 2020 first-round pick who spent three years as four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers’ understudy, is up to the task of following back-to-back Pro Football Hall of Fame-caliber quarterbacks, that’s not the only thing general manager Brian Gutekunst came out of the season feeling good about.

Steadfastly resisting the urge to augment his roster with veterans, Gutekunst built the 2023 team with one of his core beliefs in mind: That the NFL is a young man’s game, and if you allow players to work through the growing pains of inexperience, your team will be better in the long run.

And because it worked, Gutekunst enters his seventh draft as the Packers’ GM even more convinced than ever that it’s the right approach.

“Maybe (last season) has given me more confidence in the fact I always felt: That, if you give (young players) the opportunity early to make the mistakes and get to the other side of it, they can profoundly impact your team in the second half of the season and maybe into the playoffs,” Gutekunst explained earlier this week. “I’ve always felt that.

“I think last year, that certainly helped us. It doesn’t work out that way every year, but I do think you’ve got to be willing to live through the growth period if you want to get to the other side of it.”

Opening the 2023 season as the NFL’s youngest team, the Packers began last year without a single wide receiver or tight end who’d played more than one NFL season; had two second-year offensive tackles (Zach Tom and Rasheed Walker) as Love’s edge protectors for virtually the entire season; went with rookies at kicker and punter; and when an amalgam of injuries, insubordination and a midseason trade sidelined their top three cornerbacks, it was a rookie seventh-round pick who ended up starting 14 games (including playoffs).

And what happened? After a 2-5 start, Gutekunst’s team went 7-3 and closed the regular season on a three-game winning streak, thrashed the Dallas Cowboys on the road in the NFC wild card playoffs and were six minutes away from a berth in the conference championship before things fell apart against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round.

Now, Gutekunst will try to replicate last year’s draft success — no easy feat — armed with the 25th overall pick in the first round, a pair of second-rounders (Nos. 41 and 58), two third-rounders (Nos. 88 and 91) and six Day 3 selections (one fourth-rounder, one fifth-rounder, two sixth-rounders and two seventh-rounders).

And for all the well-deserved praise he received for picks such as tight ends Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, wide receivers Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, defensive linemen Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden and edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, even Gutekunst admitted the fact so many rookies played immediately might have skewed the perception about the class.

“The draft is the lifeblood of this organization. It always has been, so that's why we put so much time into it. That's why it's so important to us,” Gutekunst said. “I think the last couple years, there’s been a lot of opportunity for these young guys, where maybe there wasn’t in the past. And I think the opportunity can lead to these guys getting to where they’ve gotten to so quickly. If they don't have that opportunity, it’s much harder.”

For all the good players Gutekunst added in last year’s draft and the 2022 draft (linebacker Quay Walker, wide receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, tackles Zach Tom and Rasheed Walker), Gutekunst’s ledger for his first four drafts as GM is more uneven.

Only 10 players remain on the roster from the 37 players selected in those four drafts: cornerback Jaire Alexander (first round, 2018), edge rusher Rashan Gary (first round, 2019); left guard Elgton Jenkins (second round, 2019); Love (first round, 2020); running back AJ Dillon (second round, 2020); cornerback Eric Stokes (first round, 2021); center Josh Myers (second round, 2021); backup offensive lineman Royce Newman (fourth round, 2021); defensive tackle T.J. Slaton (fifth round, 2021); and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie (sixth round, 2021).

“What we’re asking of these guys that we pick is to come in and be positive contributors to our football team. (But) the role that they're going to have is not completely in their control,” Gutekunst said. “They’ve got to be able to answer the opportunities that are given to them and try to create more opportunities. But where your football team sits and who's in front of them do impact their abilities.

“Certainly, in the last couple years, there were just a ton of opportunities for these guys to go seize it. And credit to them, they did. And that was exciting to see.

“That's what we're trying to create as we move forward, just making sure that there's always gonna be opportunities for guys to excel if they're worthy of it.”

And that, if anything, is the overarching focus Gutekunst has for this draft class. He wants to ratchet up the competition level even more than it has been the past two years.

So whether it’s a cornerback or safety who can play right away (such as Iowa’s Cooper DeJean), or one of the first-round offensive linemen who could be Day 1 starters (Duke’s Graham Barton, Georgia’s Amarius Mims, Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton), or a defensive lineman or linebacker who could contribute immediately to new coordinator Jeff Hafley’s system, Gutekunst just wants players who upon arrival will challenge the not-so-veteran veterans ahead of them.

“One of I think the hallmarks around here has always been that the best players play. Regardless of where you were taken or how much you’re getting paid, the best players are going to play,” Gutekunst said. “That’s kind of how we want to approach it.”