The Green Bay Packers want to be prepared should the right quarterback fall into their laps in the 2020 draft.
According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers were planning to host at least four of the draft’s top quarterbacks on pre-draft visits, including Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Utah State’s Jordan Love, Washington’s Jacob Eason and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts.
Teams are only allowed 30 pre-draft visits per year. They can be important information-gathering opportunities as teams attempt to figure out a player’s mental makeup, locker room fit, football acumen and medical situation. However, all in-person pre-draft visits were canceled this year due to the on-going coronavirus pandemic, so teams are meeting with prospects virtually.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Wednesday that the Packers have already met virtually with Love, a potential option at No. 30 overall in the first round. If the Packers were going to host Tagovailoa, Eason and Hurts for in-person visits, common sense suggests the three will meet (or already have met) virtually with the Packers before the draft.
Tagovalioa, a highly accomplished passer who suffered a season-ending hip injury last season, would be especially intriguing if he somehow suffered a fall on draft day.
Other top quarterbacks in the draft include Oregon’s Justin Herbert and Georgia’s Jake Fromm. Joe Burrow is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick.
The Packers are now entering the window in which taking a quarterback high might make sense. Aaron Rodgers is signed through the 2023 season, and the Packers can’t even entertain moving on until after the 2022 season, but the two-time MVP will turn 37 years old during the 2020 season and there’s no guarantee he’ll remain a top player throughout the duration of his current deal. Drafting a quarterback now could give the young passer time to develop while also providing an insurance blanket against a severe regression or major injury from Rodgers.
The flipside of the argument: Rodgers and the Packers were one game away from the Super Bowl last season, and using a high pick on a quarterback gets the roster no closer to winning a championship in 2020. Also, drafting a quarterback now, with Rodgers still financially tied to Green Bay for at least the next three seasons, lessens the competitive edge of building a title-worthy roster around a quarterback on a cheap rookie deal.
The Packers must weigh all those factors while evaluating the quarterback class and figuring out if any of the top quarterbacks are worth drafting in the first or second round. One thing is for sure: GM Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur will have as much information on the top quarterbacks as they can get. The homework is being done on the prospects who play the game’s most important position.
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