Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is entering his fifth draft.

Gutekunst has made five first-round selections in his four previous draft classes. He traded up three times.

Revisiting each of those five first-round picks, how well has Gutey drafted?

2018: Jaire Alexander – A+
Home. Run.

Not only did Gutekunst make the right call to trade up to draft Jaire Alexander, but before that he had traded down from No. 14 overall, landing a 2019 first-round pick in return. Green Bay left Day 1 of the 2018 draft with Alexander and a future first-round pick.

Alexander has played 48 games for the Packers with 46 starts, making 44 pass defenses and five interceptions. He made the PFWA All-Rookie Team in 2018 and was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro in 2020.

Still just 25 years old, Alexander is one of the top cornerbacks in football and the best could still be yet to come.

2019: Rashan Gary – A
Many were critical of the Packers’ decision to draft Rashan Gary 12th overall in 2019, but it has paid off. Gary went from backup to Green Bay’s top pass rusher over three seasons. In 2021, he finished the year with 9.5 sacks and 28 quarterback hits.

Gary saved the best for last with a two-sack, three-QB hit performance in the divisional round. The Packers may have lost, but Gary was the best player on the field.

Maybe the Packers should’ve drafted Brian Burns, who has 25.5 career sacks compared to Gary’s 16.5, but that’s tough to call. Considering how well Gary played last season, the Packers shouldn’t have any regrets over this pick.

2019: Darnell Savage – B
In the same draft class, Green Bay moved up to No. 21 overall to land Darnell Savage.

Savage has started all 46 games he’s played in, making 26 pass defenses and eight interceptions. Savage started from Day 1 and has been a good player in the Packers’ secondary, but he’s never quite taken that next step to become a Pro Bowl safety.

Still, Savage has proved to be a good pick by Gutekunst.

2020: Jordan Love – F
Gutekunst’s logic at the time was understandable. Aaron Rodgers hadn’t played at an MVP level for a few seasons and the Packers hoped to bring in his future replacement with two or three years to learn from him. The best time to draft a quarterback is when you don’t need one.

However, with Rodgers since winning back-to-back MVPs and signing a new deal this offseason, Love will likely never get the opportunity to take the reins in Green Bay.

Love could become a great player, but it may be for another team. Gutekunst took a risk and it backfired. The Packers could’ve been helped in the short term had they drafted a player like wide receiver Tee Higgins.

2021: Eric Stokes – A
It’s a little early to hand out an A grade for the Eric Stokes pick with only one season to go by, but it’s hard not to be impressed.

Stokes was thrown into the deep end early on with Jaire Alexander missing most of the 2021 season due to injury. Stokes ended up starting 14 games, and he delivered.

According to Pro Football Reference, Stokes allowed fewer than half of passes in his coverage to be completed, giving up a passer rating of just 71.3. He also broke up 14 passes and made one interception.

Stokes made some mistakes along the way. Name a rookie cornerback who hasn’t experienced the same. Jaire Alexander sure did. But the good far outweighed the bad for Stokes, who showed the potential of a future CB1 in his first season.

I think y'all are being too kind to Love in the Chiefs game. He love knew how to handle coverage 0 and/or had good chemistry with Adams, they win that game.

That being said, last year also showed Lamar Jackson doesn't know how to handle coverage 0 and he's been an MVP and starting for a number of years...

So that's not to say Love is horrible, as Jackson had the same issue with more experience, but so far the results on the field are disappointing. But he's still got time and I thought he was at least a 3 year project even before he was drafted.

Originally Posted by: beast 

I agree with all of these grades except for the last one. For Love I'd say incomplete. It is hard to grade a guy who we have only seen a handful of times.

Originally Posted by: Pugger 

For sure, that's true.
It's always hard for a QB that doesn't have a lot of reps to come in and light it up. Especially when you are the backup to a future HOFer.

Originally Posted by: Cheesey 

I mean, if a QB knows the playbook, and where guys are supposed to be, isn't that what they are supposed to know? What does planning for Aaron rodgers have to do with it? Love was the QB, and should be able to lead the offense. What does "planning" have to do with it? The guy calling the plays from the sidelines just calls the plays he thinks should work in any circumstances. Either the QB can run the team, or he can't

Originally Posted by: Cheesey 

https://www.nfl.com/news/packers-fail-to-adequately-support-jordan-love-vs-chiefs-as-qb-loses-first-caree 
"Within plays, there are longer-developing plays, and if you can't protect, it's kind of hard to throw from your back," LaFleur said. "There were a couple plays where he got out of some stuff … but I'm disappointed that we didn't deal the ball faster and call things that might show a little bit quicker for him."

We also learned a few things about Love. The game appeared to be too fast for him early, but then his mobility and arm strength allowed him to make plays off script when the moment required such improvisation. 

Love was blitzed on 69% of his third- and fourth-down dropbacks, per ESPN, and as a result, the Packers converted just 2 of 12 on third downs, though they converted 2 of 3 fourth downs — including the TD pass.While the Chiefs only sacked Love once, Kansas City sent five or more pass-rushers on 51% of Love’s dropbacks, per ESPN, the highest rate faced by a Green Bay quarterback in nearly four years. Kansas City also had seven QB hits on Love.“This one falls on me, squarely,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said postgame. “Certainly, for us to be 2-for-12 on third down, obviously didn’t have a good enough plan for some of the zero pressures that they brought on us.”Love got Green Bay into scoring position twice in the first half, but both times the Packers missed field goals one wide left and another was blocked.

It is so much more than knowing the playbook. They can call a play with 5 receivers and the QB know where everyone is supposed to be. But 3 are covered tightly, a 4th falls down and the last guy is going deep. The QB can't throw the ball when the receivers is only 5 yards off the line. He has to wait. Let' say the OL gives him time and he throws a dime. The ball drops into and out of the hands of the only receiver who could have possibly made a play. The QB gets a 0-1 no yards. Worse yet. The receiver bobbles the ball tips in in the air and the defender grabs it. Not only is the QB 0-1 for 0 no yards he know has thrown an interception. How is this possible? After all, "He knows the playbook" doesn't he?

The game plan for Aaron is going to be different than a game plan for Love. A HoF QB who has been in the league 17 seasons is going to see things that a 2nd year QB doesn't. Or at the very least he will see them a fraction of a second sooner. He should.

Here are a few comments about the KC game:



https://www.deseret.com/2021/11/8/22770698/what-stood-out-from-jordan-loves-first-nfl-start-green-bay-packers-utah-state 


Some of it is MLF covering up for his young QB. But in reality he was calling the wrong plays for Love. Young QBs need more time to read the field. (That's why KC blitzed so much.) Speaking of "field" look at how terrible Justin Fields was this year when under pressure. It's typical for young QBs. Fields biggest problem was he took off running too soon too often. You've heard the former vet in the booth say that he admires how a QB stands in their knowing he is going to take a hit but still delivers the ball where it needs to be thrown. Love didn't have that opportunity. He was pressured and hurried all game long.

In the 4th quarter the plays were different than they were in the first half. Quicker plays. Easier reads. And more completions.

The KC game did not show us anything more than it takes time to become a successful starting QB in the NFL. I am glad GB doesn't need Love to win games. The Packers wouldn't be 13-3 or 13-4 if they did. Still doesn't mean he won't be a successful QB in the future. In GB or somewhere else.

Originally Posted by: wpr