GREEN BAY − Going into this draft, the Green Bay Packers’ two biggest needs were upgrading their talent at cornerback and improving the interior of their defensive line.
That their first two picks, Brandon Cisse and Chris McClellan, addressed those needs is no coincidence.
Not that it had to turn out this way. Things could have fallen differently in the first half of the second round April 24 and changed general manager Brian Gutekunst’s pick at No. 52. Then there’s no knowing what might have followed.
But Gutekunst selected the cornerback Cisse at No. 52 with viable players at other positions available and then traded up seven spots in the third round to draft McClellan at No. 77. That says the GM was hunting his positions of greatest need early in this draft.
“We really had a few players with that first pick at 52 that we liked,” Gutekunst said after Day 2’s second and third rounds, “and it was kind of a tough decision there. Then a couple of them hung around and we went up and tried to get one of them, and we did.”
Among the players that came off the board early in the second round was highly regarded Georgia defensive tackle Christen Miller (to New Orleans at No. 42). But at least one player of note at a premium position, Illinois edge defender Gabe Jacas, was available when Gutekunst’s first pick came up at No. 52.
But Gutekunst saw a draft that in the early rounds was weak at cornerback and stronger at defensive tackle. So he went for his greatest need first by drafting Cisse – Gutekunst said McClellan was one of the players under consideration at 52. Then he bypassed other positions and set his sights on maneuvering for McClellan from pick No. 84 in the third round.
When he got the chance to move from 84 to 77 for the cost of a fifth-rounder (No. 160 overall), Gutekunst took it.
“As soon as we made the pick at 52 I was interested in seeing where we could get to, what might make sense to give us a chance to get him,” Gutekunst said. “And there were a few other guys on the board as well.
“It worked out that way, there wasn’t – I didn’t have a specific, he’s going to be taken (spot). I just felt it was important for us to try to acquire him. As the third round kept going he was that one guy sticking up there.”
Unlike in some drafts, both Day 2 picks should have at least a shot at playing regularly as rookies and perhaps starting.
Cornerback is the Packers’ weakest position. Keisean Nixon figures to be the starter on one side, but the other will be a three-player competition amongst Carrington Valentine, free-agent signee Benjamin St-Juste and Cisse.
The Packers don’t have a ready-made starting nose tackle – free agent Javon Hargrave is the likely starter by default but is better suited for other positions along the interior of the defensive line. At 6-3¾ and 313 pounds, McClellan should have a good shot at being in the regular defensive line rotation at minimum and perhaps starting at nose this season.
“We wouldn’t have taken them this high if we didn’t think they could help us right away,” Gutekunst said.
When pick 52 came up, the highly regarded Miller was long gone at No. 42 overall, and run-stopping nose tackle Lee Hunter had just come off the board as well. Hunter, though, offers next to nothing as a pass rusher, so there’s reason to think Gutekunst might have preferred McClellan over him anyway – McClellan had six sacks last season.
Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy also was in the middle of his ongoing freefall in the second round. He was regarded as possibly one of the two most gifted corners in this draft, but an issue with his post-ACL tear has teams worried about his longevity. The Packers weren’t alone in those concerns, because he’s still on the board going into the fourth round.
As far as traits go, Cisse had Packers written all over him. He has decent height (5-11¾), good speed (a reported 4.41 40 at his pro day) and overall athleticism (41-inch vertical jump).
He had only two interceptions in his career – one in two seasons at North Carolina State, and one last year with South Carolina. He’s also on the raw side as a player who doesn’t turn 21 until July.
Overall, Cisse adds physical talent to a position the Packers badly need to upgrade, but whether that will translate to becoming a good NFL cornerback remains to be seen.
“He was one of the few guys that could play off-man, press,” Gutekunst said. “His suddenness through transition was something that stood out to us. He’s very young, his best football is ahead of him, we think he’s got so much more left in the tank, not only as a player but physically as well, we think he’ll be bigger and stronger.
“He was one of those players we didn’t see being available where we were picking at 52, were sure happy he (was).”
In judging this draft in two or three years, there will be at least one apples-to-apples comparison with McClellan in Iowa State nose tackle Domonique Orange, who went to Minnesota five picks after the Packers selected McClellan. The Packers could have had either.
Along with McClellan’s size, the Packers liked his length (34-inch arms) and that he improved noticeably the second half of last season playing in the talent-rich SEC. He had eight tackles for loss and six sacks last season, as opposed to Orange’s one-half tackle for loss and no sacks.
“For me the combination of being able to play the nose, the three (technique) and actually rush the passer,” Gutekunst said. “There’s a lot of these guys that don’t really do that. (McClellan) can. That was what set him apart a little bit for us.”
Said Milt Hendrickson, the Packers’ director-football operations: “Especially in the second half of the year he just seemed to be a guy like, we’re watching an offense play Missouri, Mizzou’s got a bunch of guys in this year’s draft, you just kinda go like, who’s that guy? OK, yeah. It’s kinda one of those things that happens organically, if that makes sense. He just kept checking boxes and he rose through the process.”
Of course, teams always express excitement about draft picks even though the harsh reality is that more don’t pan out than do. That’s the nature of drafting.
It wasn’t a given Gutekunst would address his two most immediate needs with his first two picks in this draft, but it’s telling that he was willing to pull some strings to make it happen. The two surely will get the chance to help the Packers in 2026, though it’s all conjecture and projection at this point. The only true verdict will be in time.
“At the end of the day we’ll see in three years how it all shakes out,” Hendrickson said, “but we’re really excited after today.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers’ Day 2 draft picks have shot at playing right away | Dougherty
Reporting by Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
