At least by one assessment of the 2021 NFL draft class, the Green Bay Packers should have a chance to address obvious short- and long-term needs by dipping into what appears to be the strength of the class.
The Packers haven’t always drafted for short-term need, and for good reason. The draft is used to build out the roster over many years. But even when factoring in long-term roster construction, the Packers’ most obvious needs entering the draft are probably cornerback, offensive tackle, defensive line and wide receiver.
General manager Brian Gutekunst will have no shortage of options for addressing those needs with his first three picks.
Consider this from Field Yates of ESPN, who shared a graphic displaying the positions with the most players in Scouts Inc.’s top 100 in the class:
If your team needs a WR or CB, the 2021 NFL Draft is a good time to be looking for one. pic.twitter.com/7m08lzonlS
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 18, 2021
The Packers don’t have a wide receiver under contract past 2021 and need to build long-term depth. At cornerback, Kevin King, Chandon Sullivan and Josh Jackson will all have expiring contracts after 2021. There is precious little depth at offensive tackle behind David Bakhtiari and Billy Turner, and the defensive line needs a lot of help for Pro Bowler Kenny Clark.
The Packers hold picks at No. 29, No. 62 and No. 92. Although Gutekunst has been aggressive moving up the board in each of his first three drafts, a trade back could net the Packers another pick in the top-100 range and provide another opportunity to take a player at a need position in the middle rounds.
Other draft analysts see the class in a similar way. For instance, Dane Brugler of The Athletic has 15 receivers, 13 cornerbacks, 13 offensive tackles and seven interior defensive linemen in his top 100 players.
The draft is unpredictable and teams view players in different ways, but there’s at least a decent chance the Packers come out of the first two days of the 2021 draft with a cornerback, receiver and offensive tackle, three of the deepest positions in the draft and three of the team’s biggest needs.
[listicle id=57163]