During the 2017 NFL Draft the Green Bay Packers had the 29th overall selection and could have drafted LB TJ Watt. Instead, the Packers made a trade with the Cleveland Browns.

Green Bay got
2nd round pick (33rd overall) - CB Kevin King
4th round pick (108th overall) - LB Vince Biegel

Cleveland got
1st round pick (29th overall) - TE David Njoku


I think we've all had our fair share of gripes about Kevin King, but did this actually turn out positive for us? In other words, did Brian G turn Ted T's error into a positive? What if the Packers selected Watt? Do they re-sign Safety Micah Hyde? Does that help the secondary? Does Kevin King help the secondary more along with the additions of Z. Smith and P. Smith?

Ultimately, I got the trade at the time even though I wanted TJ Watt. Many felt we needed outside pass rushing help more and I would say you were right.

What do you think would be changed if Packers selected TJ Watt in 2017?

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It’s so hard to say when it’s a “what if” thing.
Think of the 23 teams that passed on Aaron Rodgers in 2005. Think there aren’t a bunch that wish they had picked him instead of who they did take? But who knows? Had AR not had the 3 seasons to sit on the bench, had he been thrown into the fire with the Packers, or some other team, he might have flamed out.

Hindsight makes it easy to say we made the right, or maybe wrong choice. I wanted Watt here. And maybe he would have majorly helped our defense. But there’s no way to say for sure.

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Wasn't a fan of King there. Didn't like his concussion history. But Watt was coming off knee surgery too.

I also liked the Biegel pick. Isn't he still in the league? Justcseemed like he wasn't using leverage as well as he did in College. Still had the skills. Maybe it just didn't translate to the higher level.

I'm satisfied with King. He's held up healthwise, not to jinx him. Needs to hang onto the INTs. He's good enough to be good. Not so elite that we can't afford to keep him. So far.

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Too many what ifs on this one for me, but no, I don't think missing on Watt was a good thing... even though I had wondered if he might be over hyped at the time.

I still think Thompson wanted Watt, but thought he might keep falling into the second like a number of mocks projected...

Not a big King fan, he might be better in a system that runs man coverage majority of the time... but still injury prone and extremely hit and miss, both on his tackles and games. Also struggles too much with quickness due to his long strides.

That being said, Packers need better CBs, even with King, and King might be gone in FA. So I'm expecting drafting an CB or two... if not signing someone in FA.

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That's a good point I hadn't thought of. Packers might have traded back with the thinking hey we'll get our guy PLUS a 4th round pick. Or maybe they had a handful of guys and figured they'd get "their guy" regardless. I dunno. The addition of the Smith's and the lack of CB depth we've seen has softened the blow of not getting Watt and instead having Kevin King. At least for me it has. Kevin King can be a pretty solid CB ... when he's on the field.

The other thought I have is that front seven makes your secondary look better. So, if you got a constant push from that front seven, your back four are gonna have to cover shorter times and have more chances for errant passes coming into their hands.

All in all though, I'm not really too sore about it.

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The "woulda coulda" game can drive you crazy. I didn't think TJ would be as good as his brother so I didn't mind GB taking a pass on him. I did expect more from Biegel even though he was a 4th round pick.

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