It was quite an exciting draft in 2017 as Ted Thompson maneuvered his way to 10 selections. Just so we don’t forget later, we’ve pulled together a revisionist history shield so that we can remember how Packer Nation felt. Comment below with what you would have done so that no one can call you a liar later.
In the first round, a lot of fans wanted TJ Watt (not because he’s JJ’s brother and went to Wisconsin, mind you, but because of the game film and development trajectory and arm extension and stuff). The Packers traded back and Watt promptly went to the Steelers (which is, quite possibly, the best possible scenario and fit for him).
The Packers ended up taking Kevin King and the fan base was happy we took a corner, but still grumbling about Watt. Reuben Foster‘s fall from potential #3 overall pick to the end of the 1st was also a topic of discussion at this point, as his shoulder injury was still questionable. The Packers traded down and lost the opportunity to select him (if, in fact, they ever wanted it).
Many people thought the Packers may trade down from 33, since they had a whole day to negotiate. Jacksonville traded from 35th to 34th by giving their 6th rounder (#187) to Seattle. It is probable that the Packers could have picked up that spot if they traded with the Jaguars, but they must have either not had a lot of guys left on their current tier of rankings or they really wanted King and were worried Seattle would take him, since he fits the physical profile they look for to a T. Another option the Packers probably had were to package their 7th rounder and drop back to #45 and pick up Arizona’s 4th (119), 6th (197), and 2018 4th rounder, which is the trade that Arizona made with the Bears (but we all know Ted wasn’t giving up his 7th rounder!).These could be a couple of interesting scenarios to revisit down the road.
In the 4th round, the Packers selected Wisconsin-born Wisconsin product Vince Biegel. This selection generated just slightly less pandemonium and euphoria among the fan base as if Jeff Janis had been promoted to WR1. Just a couple days after passing on surefire HOF Watt, Biegel was immediately declared by fans to be far superior to his former teammate. In their defense, many national outlets ranked him as a mid round steal.
Those were really the two big stories. Reactions to the other picks were more lukewarm.
Josh Jones and Montravius Adams generated commentary along the lines of “puh, well yeah, their defense suckz,” with little more insight provided.
Fans and radio announcers all over the state were surprised the Packers took three running backs (Jamaal Williams, Aaron Jones, and Devante Mays) because they were all convinced that Christine Michael was a superstar because of that one run where he didn’t go the wrong way or run into his blocker… he was cut the next day.
DeAngelo Yancey generated a lot of “Who?”
Malachi Dupre, taken in the 7th round, was known to fans who remembered his LSU Tigers playing Wisconsin in week 1 the previous season, back when he was a potential first or second round pick. When the dust settled, analysts were split on if he was inconsistent or just couldn’t produce with terrible quarterbacks.
Kofi Amichia was yet another tackle that TT drafted to play guard (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Most people were still too star struck with the Jahri Evans signing to think much about Kofi.
Jarron Jones was another curious case. The big DL was rated as high as 2nd or 3rd round, but concerns about his effort dropped him out of the draft and he went the UDFA route to the Giants.
Speaking of UDFA’s, Taysom Hill was a big name QB the Packers picked up and Justin Vogel was a punter that fans were pleased to see signed, because they don’t appreciate what they have in Jacob Schum.
We’ll whip this out next year and see what we should have done. Maybe we’ll learn something… probably not, but we’ll see.