Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is entering the 2023 NFL draft with a hole-riddled roster after back-to-back offseasons featuring a mass exodus of veteran players. The Packers got to the doorstep of the Super Bowl in 2019 and 2020 and failed, and the roster is now feeling the consequences of attempts to keep the team together for failed runs in 2021 and 2022.
This post from Joe Goodberry represents a smart way of looking at roster needs. There are immediate needs, long-term needs and overall depth needs, and teams use the draft to address all three to varying degrees.
Instead of rankings roster needs, let’s categorize the individual needs into the four tiers: rookie contributors, long-term developmental players, positional depth and no clear need.