By: Vrayas Pila
On April 28-23 the 2022 NFL Draft starts. This year the Packers have a total of eleven picks. They have two 1st rounds, two 2nd rounds, and one 3rd round pick. The packers need to address two major problems. A receiving issue and a pass rusher.
Since the Packers re-signed Aaron Rodgers with a hefty contract of 150 million dollars for three years. The Packers had to cut/trade a few members off the team to supply that contract. One of them being Za'darius Smith. He was one leading pass rusher in the league. Made the pro bowl two years in a row (2019-2020). They still have Preston Smith and Rashan Gary to take his place but need another pass/edge rusher as a backup for them to maintain a strong pass rushing game. The Packers need to draft an edge rusher. Drake Johnson, an edge rusher from University of South California, would be a good fit. He is expected to be chosen in the 3rd round by the packers. He is 6’4 and very explosive, so he would be a great fit for the Packers pass rush defense.
The Davante Adams trade to the raiders was quite surprising to us all. Maybe even to Aarron Rodgers himself. But that left us with the question of who would take his place as Rodgers number one target. Davante Adams was a major part of the Packers offense in the past few years and needed someone to replace him. Right now they will have Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Amari Rodgers. All three of them performed great last season but still lacked a prime target. The Packers will also get Robert Tonyan back. He tore his ACL and wasn’t able to play for the duration of the season. The Packers should and will most likely draft WR Chris Olave from Ohio State in the 1st round.
This year the Packers have to address a few problems in both their defense and offense but they do have the picks to do so. We will have to wait until April 28th to find out.