need – Syndication Server

Releasing De’Vondre Campbell turns linebacker into big need for Packers

Pencil in linebacker as one of the Packers’ biggest roster needs following the upcoming release of De’Vondre Campbell.

Pencil in linebacker near the top of the Green Bay Packers’ biggest roster needs entering free agency, which begins this week. According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers will release veteran De’Vondre Campbell on Wednesday, the first day of the new league year, underlining the need for general manager Brian Gutekunst to add to the linebacker position in a big way this offseason.

Linebacker was going to be a need for the Packers regardless. But without Campbell, the Packers will be down to Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie and undrafted safety convert Christian Young as the only three linebackers on the roster entering free agency.

Not only are the Packers transitioning to a 4-3 base defense — requiring three off-ball linebackers — under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, but now Campbell is departing, and special teamers and backups Eric Wilson and Kristian Welch are both scheduled to be unrestricted free agents.

Per Silverstein, the Packers are expecting to use Walker as the new weak side linebacker.

McDuffie, a 2021 draft pick, is entering his fourth season after starting eight games and playing over 500 defensive snaps in 2023. He could be viewed as one of the expected starters — possibly in the middle, at “Mike” — in 2024. But even if the Packers like McDuffie as a starter, one spot in the base defense is still wide open. And it’s unclear if McDuffie is a preferred option in nickel when two linebackers are on the field.

The Packers could dip into free agency to find a free agent starting option. Jerome Baker, who played for Packers linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, is available, for instance. The draft is another option if the Packers want to go younger and cheaper. Expect the Packers to re-sign Wilson, Welch or both, considering their value on special teams.

Gutekunst and the Packers were once very excited about teaming Walker and Campbell together at linebacker, but the combo never took off. Walker played through the typical ups and downs of being a young player, and Campbell dealt with injuries and performance regression.

Now, the Packers must get Walker’s next sidekick right. He’s entering an important third season and will be in a new defense, possibly one that could let him run and hit more from the weakside.

Obviously, the Packers need a safety. The defense, as currently constructed, needs two new starting safeties. But with Campbell on the way out, linebacker is another big need in the Packers defensive back seven entering free agency.

Favorite prospect for the Packers at 7 need positions entering 2023 draft

Everyone has favorite prospects. Here’s our favorite at each of the Packers’ big seven need positions in the 2023 draft.

The Green Bay Packers will have 11 picks to use to patch holes on Brian Gutekunst’s roster during the 2023 NFL draft, which begins Thursday night with the first round, continues Friday night with the second and third round and ends Saturday with Rounds 4-7.

Can the Packers get help at positions like receiver, tight end, defensive line, edge rusher and safety?

Here’s a favorite prospect for the Packers at seven need positions entering the 2023 draft:

What’s the Green Bay Packers’ biggest need entering 2023 NFL draft?

The staff at Packers Wire picked the biggest need for the Packers entering the 2023 NFL draft.

Ten picks in the 2023 draft will provide Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst a real opportunity to address his roster’s most immediate needs and continue building out the foundation of the depth chart as his team makes the transition from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love this season.

So, what’s the biggest need for the Packers entering the 2023 NFL draft?

The staff at Packers Wire made their picks (and it’s a consensus):

Kicker becomes big offseason need for Packers if Mason Crosby doesn’t return

The Packers must decide Mason Crosby’s future soon. If he’s not back, the need at kicker becomes a big one.

It’s not often a position discussed heavily during draft season, especially for the Green Bay Packers, who have had Mason Crosby, but whether it be in the draft or afterwards in signing an undrafted rookie, addressing kicker may end up being on Brian Gutekunst’s to-do list.

With the Packers and Crosby not reaching an extension prior to February 20th — and who knows if talks even happened — Crosby will become an unrestricted free agent when free agency begins on March 15th and leave behind a dead cap hit of $1.005 million. Of the difficult decisions that Gutey will have to make this offseason, determining Crosby’s future is one of them.

On the one hand, finding a reliable kicker is no easy task. Just look around the NFL at all of the teams struggling to do so. Last season, Crosby hit 37 of his 39 extra point attempts and 25 of 29 field goals. We also have to mention his comfortability in kicking in the Lambeau Field cold.

However, it’s evident that Father Time is also catching up with Crosby as he just doesn’t have the same leg power as he used to. Of his four misses, three were from 50+ yards. In addition to that, almost 80% of Crosby’s kickoff attempts were returned, which was the second-highest rate in football. He also had the third-fewest touchbacks. There were even two games in 2022 where Green Bay elevated Ramiz Ahmed from the practice squad to handle the kickoffs. Fortunately, the Packers’ kick coverage unit was much improved, but this puts a lot of stress on that group, having to routinely defend.

At the moment, the Packers have one kicker on the roster with Parker White. A 2022 undrafted rookie out of South Carolina, White doesn’t have any NFL experience but has a big leg. With the Gamecocks, he made 72 of his 99 career field goal attempts, including 24 of 45 from 40 yards or more, and 152 of the 154 extra point attempts he had, according to PFF.

Including compensatory draft picks, the Packers are projected to have 11 selections in this year’s draft, and one of them could be used on a kicker if Crosby does not return. Below are a few names to know.

Jake Moody, Michigan

Career: 134/134 on extra points. 63/77 on field goals. 14/23 from 40-plus yards.

Christopher Dunn, NC State

Career: 196/196 on extra points. 91/107 on field goals. 23/33 from 40-plus yards.

Jack Podlesny, Georgia

Career: 153/154 on extra points. 50/60 on field goal attempts. 4/7 from 40-plus yards.

Chad Ryland, Maryland

Career: 171/176 on extra points. 67/89 on field goals. 3/5 from 40-plus yards.

Anders Carlson, Auburn

Career: 160/163 on extra points. 76/107 on field goals. 29/55 from 40-plus yards.

If the Packers don’t draft a kicker, they will certainly sign at least one, if not two, to compete with White this summer. For what it’s worth, last offseason, Green Bay did have three kickers on the roster during OTAs, but Rich Bisaccia told reporters that he didn’t expect to go into training camp with that many, and one was eventually cut. Perhaps if Green Bay is without Crosby, they will take a different approach, given the inexperience at the position, but this is worth noting.

Free agent kickers this offseason, if Green Bay chooses to go that route, include Robbie Gould, Greg Zuerlein, Matt Gay, Greg Joseph, Randy Bullock, Brett Maher, and Chase McLaughlin.

The kicker position can largely be forgotten about, until a mistake is made, but for a majority of the last 16 years, it’s something that the Packers haven’t really had to worry about. However, depending on what happens with Crosby, that could all change.

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Offensive tackle represents intriguing position for Packers this offseason

The Packers appear to be in good shape at offensive tackle for 2023. But what about 2024 and beyond? The draft is about planning ahead, and offensive tackle is one position worth considering.

When it comes to positional needs for the Green Bay Packers this offseason, offensive tackle is an intriguing one. Depending on which lens you look through, you’ll see two very different outlooks at one of the game’s most important positions.

In one respect, David Bakhtiari should be back in 2023. For one, Brian Gutekunst said as much in his end-of-season press conference. And two, he was still playing at a high level when on the field last season, allowing just 10 pressures and no sacks while ranking as the seventh-best tackle in football by PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric on true pass sets. Bakhtiari also ranked 25th out of 86 tackles in run-blocking grade.

Understandably so, injury concerns are valid, but Bakhtiari and the Packers seemed to find a rhythm when it came to managing his workload because, from Week 10 on, his knee was never really an issue. Cutting Bakhtiari also saves the Packers just $5.7 million in cap savings this season, an amount that’s way too small given his level of play.

On the right side, the Packers have two very capable starting caliber players in, Yosh Nijman and Zach Tom. Nijman is a restricted free agent but should be back on a relatively inexpensive tender that falls in the $4 to $5 million range. In addition to those two, Elgton Jenkins is another option at tackle, while Caleb Jones and Rasheed Walker each possess quite a bit of upside.

So that’s the outlook for 2023 – and it’s not bad at all. However, the draft is about planning ahead, and as we look ahead to 2024, the tackle position very much becomes a question mark.

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Although I fully expect Bakhtiari back this season, I can’t say the same about a year from now, when his cap savings if cut vault to $21.5 million. Nijman will be a restricted free agent and could end up elsewhere. Jenkins is certainly a nice safety net to have at a key position, but the Packers should do what they can to keep him at guard. Meanwhile, we have no idea if Jones and Walker can be starting-caliber players.

Tom is the closest player that Green Bay has to a sure thing at tackle in 2024, but with how up and down Josh Myers’ second season was at center, I wouldn’t rule out the Packers having Tom challenge him this summer at that position. Tom’s first two years at Wake Forest were spent playing center.

During the Packers’ second-half surge on offense in 2022, understandably so, Christian Watson’s emergence garnered much of the attention, but that was also the same time the offensive line was healthy and began playing their best football. The offensive line was the catalyst to the offense’s overall success from Week 10 and on by providing Aaron Rodgers with time in the pocket and having a formidable run game to lean on.

On the flip side, when the offense was struggling through the first half of the year, a big contributor to those issues was the lack of continuity on the offensive line due to injuries, which also hurt the unit’s play. We also saw this in the second half of the season against Tennessee in Week 11 and in the finale against Detroit. Behind a pair of rough performances from the offensive line in those outings, the Packers’ offense had their two lowest-scoring games since Week 9. In general, part of Green Bay’s potential bounce-back in 2023 will begin with a healthy and more consistent offensive line.

Brian Gutekunst has certainly not shied away from selecting offensive linemen, with nine selections in the last three drafts. With 11 picks, it’s fair to say that at some point in this year’s draft, there will be at least one offensive line selection, and given the outlook at tackle in 2024, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an early-round selection.

Brennen Rupp of Packers Wire notes that Broderick Jones (Georgia), Paris Johnson Jr. (Ohio State), and Peter Skoronski (Northwestern) could be potential first-round candidates for the Packers. Day 2 options could include Anton Harrison (Oklahoma), Matthew Bergeron (Syracuse), Cody Mauch (North Dakota State), Blake Freeland (BYU), Jaelyn Duncan (Maryland), and Wanya Morris (Oklahoma).

Then on Day 3, where the Packers have had decent success finding offensive linemen, including Zach Tom and Jon Runyan, Rupp lists Braeden Daniels (Utah), Nick Saldiveri (Old Dominion), Carter Warren (Pitt), and Tyler Steen (Alabama) as potential targets.

Other positions of need for the Packers include edge rusher, safety, tight end, and wide receiver, but don’t forget about offensive tackle either. It’s a premier position, was vital to Green Bay’s late-season success on offense, and it’s a group that faces a fair amount of unknowns as we look ahead.

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Assessing Packers’ need at each position entering free agency

Breaking down the Packers’ biggest needs by position entering free agency.

So much is still unknown for the Green Bay Packers as the start of the new league year and the opening of free agency approaches. There are so many moving parts, free agents and players with uncertain futures, making the assessment of needs on the roster a more difficult exercise than most years.

How will general manager Brian Gutekunst put the roster together over the next few weeks?

Here’s a breakdown of the Packers roster entering free agency, using the players under contract and scheduled to be free agents to help highlight the team’s biggest needs.

Talent-rich Packers feeling free to trade up or pick best player available

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst, confident in his talented roster, is feeling comfortable about options to trade up or taking the best player regardless of position.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is confident in the current construction of his roster, providing freedom to both aggressively move up in the draft or stay put and pick the best player on the board without worrying too much about need.

While Gutekunst said need can sometimes be a tiebreaker between equally-graded prospects, he doesn’t believe there is a pressing need on his roster entering the draft.

“We feel like we could go play, we have a very good football team coming back, which gives me a little more freedom, I think, as we attack the board and go with the best player,” Gutekunst said Monday.

The Packers retained a bulk of last year’s roster despite significant salary cap challenges. The team brought back running back Aaron Jones, tight ends Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis, cornerbacks Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan, defensive lineman Tyler Lancaster and safety Will Redmond, helping patch potential weak points with returning veteran players.

Even at potential need positions, like cornerback, offensive tackle and the defensive line, the Packers have several experienced players coming back in 2021.

Targeting short-term needs in the draft can be a recipe for disaster. The Packers, ranked as the fourth-most talented team entering the draft according to Pro Football Focus, can focus more on acquiring the most talented and highest potential players regardless of position.

“For the most part, we try to look at the draft as a long-term investment in the Green Bay Packers,” Gutekunst said.

The freedom entering the draft also applies to aggressively maneuvering around the board, especially early.

In each of the last three drafts, Gutekunst has traded up in the first round to get a player: cornerback Jaire Alexander in 2018, safety Darnell Savage in 2019 and quarterback Jordan Love in 2020.

The Packers pick 29th overall in the first round but have 10 total picks, making Gutekusnt a prime candidate to move up again on Thursday night. He said it is “always tempting” to trade up to get players, especially when picking late in the round.

“When you’re sitting at 29, and watching those kind of players come off the board that you have spent so much time studying and thinking about how they could affect your football team, it’s always tempting. You have to be careful,” Gutekunst said.

Targeting a game-changing player could be an attractive scenario for a team coming off back-to-back NFC Championship Game losses.

“At the same time, for me, if we have a chance to move up and take a specific player that we think is special, you have to consider that,” Gutekunst said. “The last three years, we’ve done that. We’ll always do that. There’s only so many game-changing type players in this league, and if you have the opportunity to acquire one, you have to consider it.”

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Instant analysis of Redskins selection of OT Saahdiq Charles with pick No. 108

Washington has a major hole at LT, and they will do so with Saahdiq Charles, who is a great talent if he can keep his discipline together.

The Washington Redskins took Saahdiq Charles with an eye towards the depth chart, knowing that they had a significant need at the LT position with Trent Williams now officially out of Washington.

News broke right before the Redskins made their fourth-round pick that Washington had traded Williams to the San Francisco 49ers, receiving a 2020 fifth-round pick, and a 2021 third-round pick in return.

With the end of the Trent Williams saga now behind us, it is time to focus on the future, and the Redskins know that they have a major hole to fill at LT. Enter Saahdiqu Charles, a big-bodied tackle from LSU who was rated as a second-round prospect.

While Charles has some great on-field talent, there are questions about his off-field mentality. Several times in college, Charles as disciplined for off-field issues, and he missed games due to suspension as well. But if we know one thing, it’s that Ron Rivera is a strict coach and has the ability to whip anyone into shape.

There are other left tackles on the roster in Washington, so Charles will have to compete for the starting job in training camp. However, I expect that he will be able to win the starting spot and will slot into the top rung on the depth chart for Week 1. If all goes well with his off-field discipline issues, I expect that the Redskins found great value here in the fourth round.

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5 positions the Packers are almost guaranteed to take in 2020 draft

Needs and draft trends point to these five positions as the most likely to be selected by the Packers in the 2020 draft.

Roster needs and draft trends often coalesce to form predictive tools during the NFL draft. Individual teams have specific short or long term needs and positions they tend to value over others come draft time, creating a roadmap for which positions each team will likely target in a draft.

Here are five positions the Green Bay Packers are almost guaranteed to use at least one draft pick on next week:

Wide receiver

This one is a lock. In fact, the Packers will likely use a first-round or Day 2 pick on the position, especially considering the abundance of talent at the top of the class and the offense’s need for a complementary weapon behind Davante Adams. The Packers haven’t taken a receiver in the first two rounds since drafting Adams in the second round in 2014, and it’s been almost two decades since the team took one in the first round (Javon Walker, 2003). The Packers, who have hit on so many high picks at receiver over the last decade and a half, are now well overdue for restocking the passing game with another high pick at the position.

Offensive tackle

The Packers swapped out Bryan Bulaga for Rick Wagner (a net negative), lost Jason Spriggs to the Chicago Bears and haven’t re-signed Jared Veldheer. Starting right guard Billy Turner has some experience at offensive tackle, but as of now the best option at swing tackle is Alex Light, and there’s no long-term answer at right tackle to be found. The Packers haven’t used a draft pick on a true offensive tackle prospect since 2016 (Spriggs), likely the result of having two terrific and reliable bookends in Bulaga and David Bakhtiari. Missing on Spriggs stole away the succession plan. Luckily, this class looks strong at offensive tackle. Expect the Packers to grab one, likely within the first four rounds. Keeping Aaron Rodgers protected during his final years in Green Bay has to be a top priority.

Inside linebacker

The Packers will enter the 2020 draft with a solid argument for possessing the worst group of inside linebackers in the NFL. Christian Kirksey could be a slight upgrade on Blake Martinez, but there’s next to nothing in terms of proven players after him on the depth chart. Oren Burks, a third-round pick in 2018, has labored through two injury-plagued seasons and hasn’t even flashed starting-level ability, while Ty Summers and Curtis Bolton have no regular-season NFL experience at inside linebacker. That’s all this team has at off-ball linebacker. The Packers clearly don’t value this position, but Brian Gutekunst probably can’t leave the draft without one linebacker worth developing. Bucking trends and targeting a potential difference-maker early is possible.

Cornerback

The Packers have poured resources into the cornerback position recently (four picks in the last three drafts, including three top-50 picks), but it remains a sneaky need entering this draft, especially with Tramon Williams unsigned. Josh Jackson is beelining toward bust status, and if the season started today, Chandon Sullivan – who had a nice 2019 season – would be a starter in the slot. Looking down the road, Kevin King is a free agent following the 2020 season. Unless Gutekunst is confident in retaining King long term, the Packers probably need to take a corner they believe can start in the next two years.

Defensive line

The Packers have drafted at least one defensive lineman every year since 1985. It’s hard to see that streak ending this year. The Packers lack depth up front on defense and need help for Pro Bowler Kenny Clark. Ted Thompson, Gutekunst’s old boss, was fond of picking two or more defensive linemen in a draft class, often supplementing a high pick with a late-round selection. Having so many late picks (seven on Day 3) all but guarantees that Gutekunst will grab one at some point in this draft.

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Five players that need to step up in 2020

If these players can take a step up, Texas is going to be sitting well next season. Here are five players that need to step up in 2020.

The win over Utah in the Alamo Bowl was a great way to end a rather lackluster 2019 season. The minute that game was over, the focus was onto the 2020 season. Much like this time last year, there is a lot of hype and speculation as to what type of team will show out for the Longhorns next season.

While it will more than likely be better than the 7-5 season from this year, there is a lot of room for improvement to take that next step up. New offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and new defensive coordinator Chris Ash should be able to bring that improvement, but when it comes down to it, the players must execute.

In a season that Texas will return a lot of talent, some of the same players that were critical in the 2019 season will need to continue to do what they are doing. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, where Texas struggled for most of the season. If these players can take a step up in 2020, the Longhorns are going to be sitting well next season.

Here are five players that need to step up in 2020:

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