The Green Bay Packers will go into the 2020 NFL draft with a chance to use the team’s 10 draft picks to build on a roster that finished 13-3 and advanced to the NFC title game in 2019. GM Brian Gutekunst has three picks in the top 100 selections and seven Day 3 picks.
Packers Wire’s position-by-position draft preview begins at quarterback:
On the roster
Aaron Rodgers, 36, under contract through 2023
Tim Boyle, 25, under contract through 2020
Manny Wilkins, 24, under contract through 2020
Short-term need
Moderate to high, based mostly on the backup situation. Boyle and Wilkins are both young, inexperienced quarterbacks, and no one really knows if either could enter a game as a backup and keep the Packers competitive. They are both limited passers with marginal long-term upside, even in the No. 2 role, but the Packers held onto Boyle through a coaching change and tasked him with being the sole backup in 2019. Rodgers is aging and has a fairly substantial history of injury, so acquiring a more established long-term backup plan behind him makes a lot of sense. The Packers’ work at the position pre-draft suggests an interest in finding a young passer to groom behind Rodgers.
Long-term need
Apparent, but debatable. Rodgers is 36, and the Packers will soon have to start preparing for life without the Hall of Fame quarterback, but the team believes he’s still playing at a high level and Rodgers himself has said multiple times that he wants to play until he’s at least 40. His current contract with Green Bay doesn’t expire until he’s 40. Financially, the Packers are essentially locked into Rodgers being the starter for the next three years. There is an obvious long-term need, but the timing of the next major quarterback acquisition is absolutely essential. Targeting a quarterback high shouldn’t be a priority in this draft, but the Packers must be prepared should the right opportunity to add a talented at the most important position present itself.
Chances of drafting position
High to very high. The Packers have done a ton of pre-draft homework on the quarterback prospects in this class, foreshadowing what could be a strong desire to jump on any value that presents itself during the draft, even early in the process. If the Packers wait on using a high pick on a quarterback, drafting a mid-round option to compete with Boyle and Wilkins is a real possibility. They’re overdue; it’s been five years since the Packers used a draft pick on a quarterback.
Depth of draft class
It looks top-heavy, with a bunch of major question marks after the top three (Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert, who could all go in the top 10) and not a lot of depth in the middle rounds. Narrowing in on a potential future starter outside of the first round might be difficult.
Potential options
Jordan Love, Utah State
Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
Jake Fromm, Georgia
Anthony Gordon, Washington State
James Morgan, FIU
Last QB drafted
2015. The Packers took Brett Hundley out of UCLA with the 147th overall pick.