The recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic took a huge toll to almost all businesses worldwide, including the sports industry as it forced different leagues to suspend or ultimately cancel almost every sporting event that is there is. But, while it has certainly impacted the way most sports occasions were supposedly celebrated, the 2020 NFL Draft, nevertheless, managed to push through on Friday morning (Manila time) by devising a super-efficient virtual draft.
Sports fans experienced a live sporting event for just the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, following the successful WNBA Draft last week. The 2020 NFL Virtual Draft, facilitated by Commissioner Roger Goodell, successfully staged the annual three-day event without technical issues. After nearly four hours of nerve-wracking and intense moments for players and fans alike, the league moved on to the next two days with more great players still available in arguably one of the best NFL Draft classes in history.
The early hours of the opening day of the Draft saw no-brainer picks being acted upon by the lottery franchises; and, as a matter of fact, there were no trades made until the San Francisco Giants swapped its 13th and 245th pick with Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 14th and 117th picks. NCAA champion quarterback Joe Burrow of LSU was selected first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, making it the third straight year that a Heisman Trophy winner has been selected as the top pick following Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Afterwards, Ohio State’s Chase Young was chosen by the Washington Redskins to bolster its defense.
What could have been a formal welcome party for Burrow and Young, turned out as a shadow to a huge share of controversies that transpired over the weekend. CeeDee Lamb, arguably the best wide-out in this class, slid to the middle of the first round as he was eventually drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Then, there’s Dallas’s bitter rivals Philadelphia Eagles selecting former Oklahoma and Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts despite the fact that their 27-year-old franchise quarterback Carson Wentz is entering the first of his contract year.
But, no front office beat the Green Bay Packers from being one hell of a surprise in the events that happened in the past three days. It only made sense even more because people had high expectations for Green Bay entering the draft.
For context, after finishing the 2018 season with a 6–9–1 record and seeing long-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike McCarthy fired in Week 13, the Packers made their micro-rebuild towards transitioning into a new era in Lambeau. As early as January last year, Green Bay has already picked its replacement for McCarthy when it hired then-Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur — a move which both drew support and criticism.
Fittingly, the 2019 offseason was LaFleur’s first test to perfectly introduce himself to Green Bay. Amid all speculations and rumors about a ‘divide’ between him and Aaron Rodgers, Packers’ franchise quarterback, LaFleur helped general manager Brian Gutenkust in acing several deals that were highlighted by preseason signings of defensive anchors Adrian Amos and Preston and Za’Darius Smith. Needless to say, Green Bay, in LaFleur’s first stint, went on an impressive 13–3 campaign to win the NFC North and get back to the playoffs after a two-year hiatus.
As the second seed, Green Bay reached the NFC Championship game and faced its regular season nemesis and top-seed San Francisco, only to be smothered for the second time to eventually end their season in a devastating fashion. Before their match, the 49ers have already thrashed the Packers in their Week 12 match-up, 37–8. The NFC title game was no different as San Francisco led early by as much as 27 points and eventually won the game, 37–20, to get back to the Super Bowl since 2012. That the Packers gave up 74 points against one of the league’s best offenses in two games exposed what they were missing: 1) they needed a better defense to stop NFL’s modern run-heavy offense; and 2) they have to have a second playmaker beside their stud wide receiver Davante Adams.
Both LaFleur and Gutenkust were aware of those problems and the implications that it suggest. They were highly aware that in their season-ending press conferences, they were heard saying that they will do whatever it takes to give Rodgers his second championship given that the future Hall of Famer has also expressed his desire to win another ring now that he is already in the twilight of his career. With the departure of some of its key players such as Brian Bulaga, Blake Martinez and Jimmy Graham, along with a not-so-good free agency, the Draft was the biggest event where they can improve.
Yet, they did not (at least for most Packers fans, including me).
In the first round of this year’s Draft, Green Bay traded up their first and fourth round picks to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love at number 26 overall. The move, frustratingly, is far from what the Packers need if they really wanted to “win now” because, at least in every Packers’ fans’ perspective, they were supposed to draft a wide receiver or an inside linebacker to help fill the void left by Martinez and exposed by the 49ers or an offensive tackle after letting Bulaga out. For sure, their big board was affected by the way the Draft happened — for instance, San Francisco, being the nightmare that they are for the Packers, selecting Brandon Aiyuk to pressure LaFleur and Gutenkust to pick Love.
Fittingly so, when the Packers last drafted its quarterback of the future, an aging 35-year-old Brett Favre was stunned when they selected Rodgers at 24th overall. The quarterback position has been Green Bay’s asset over a quarter century already but the scenes that happened after that was sort of not specious. As everyone would recall, Favre went on to play for the Packers’ NFC North rivals Minnesota Vikings as well as to the New York Jets. That Rodgers’ career in Green Bay will end up similar to Favre’s is still a blur for now, but given that the Packers seem to have already found his replacement, it might be possible that history will repeat itself. Rodgers, himself, understands it.
The overall sentiment was pointed towards hate on Gutenkust for not addressing the Packers’ needs and instead looking at what could become 2–3 years from now. The Packers were one win away from making the Super Bowl last year but it seems like Green Bay has already set its eyes towards the future. And, the fans have every right to feel that way. With Rodgers, 36, behind the center, the Packers is still a proven threat at least in the NFC. Green Bay was short in their wide receiver depth last year, being Adams, who also missed several games due to a toe turf injury, the only playmaker that they have. In their two games against the 49ers, Adams caught just a combined total of 16 catches for 181 yards — that’s terrible for a WR1 that has probably one of the better quarterbacks throwing football at him.
Green Bay’s issues at their receiving corpse is tantamount to the problem that they have had since Rodgers became one of NFL’s best quarterbacks. The problem has always been about the lack of weapons for Rodgers to work with unlike Tom Brady or Drew Brees have had in their careers. Selecting a quarterback in the first round, worst is even trading up for it, was questionable in so many levels in the sense that, even though Rodgers is already aging and is, definitely, not as talented as he was three years ago, one has to admit that he is still Aaron Rodgers: the ever-talented quarterback who miraculously threw almost every iconic Hail Mary’s before and has a guaranteed 2–3 years left in his career. According to Over The Cap, Rodgers is entering the second year the US$134m extension which he signed on August 2018 and will take US$21m of the Packers’ dead cap this year. So Green Bay, having to play a quarterback that is basically in a contract year, is dubious more than funny.
As much as the Packers’ raised eyebrows in the first round, the next two rounds did not even pan out better. The second day of the Draft proved to be a challenging one for LaFleur and Gutenkust as the other teams hoarded wide receivers here and there, thus leaving Donovan Peoples-Jones being the only worthy wide receiver to pick when they were on the clock. Yet, despite a breakthrough year from running back Aaron Jones, Green Bay opted to draft Boston College’s power back AJ Dillon in the second round and tight-end/half-back Josiah Deguara of Cincinnati in the third round. At that point, it has become clear that what the Packers’ management is picking are weapons that are not necessary for Rodgers’ insane throwing ability but rather weapons that are fit into LaFleur’s offensive scheme.
When LaFleur was the offensive coordinator in Tennessee, he was partially responsible for the sudden rise of Derrick Henry, the player whom most scouts compare Dillon too; and it’s justifiable. Dillon, standing at 6 ft and weighing 250 lbs, ran a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash and was dubbed by scouts as a back who can catch the ball even though he did not have any opportunities in college. Impressively, furthermore, in his three years as an Eagle, he ran for a total of 4618 yards and 40 touchdowns all while bulldozing the opposing team’s defenders, such as (hello, hello), Green Bay’s current cornerback Jaire Alexander.
In the end, despite the controversial calls that LaFleur and Gutenkust made in this year’s Draft, it is safe to say that the Packers certainly has a plan that involves change and preparation for what might happen next for the franchise. And just like any change, it is hard to accept it at first, thus the rage Green Bay fans have at the moment. As much as Green Bay expressed their desire to win now, it is also important to remember that they will not address the offseason as if San Francisco is their only opponent. The Packers’ future relies on LaFleur’s new-brand offense and the league’s most decorated team might have just been silently closing in towards its new identity although the journey towards it is painful and miserable.
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