Oh my goodness, Packers fans.
If you are anything like me, you feel like a kid in a candy store.
IT’S DRAFT WEEK!!!!
Thursday night is the birthday of hope, the Christmas Day of faith and the first day of the future.
It’s the NFL Draft, and just when you thought there couldn’t be any more drama after last year’s bombshell on the night before the draft that Aaron Rodgers wasn’t sure if he was coming back to Green Bay and the San Francisco 49ers tried to trade for him, there’s even MORE drama in 2022.
That’s because after the Packers made the CORRECT decision to pay that baaaaad man Rodgers his $150 million and make him a Packer for life (fingers crossed). Davante Adams, the presumed piece that was the only thing keeping Rodgers in Green Bay (they were supposed to be a package deal), pulled a complete 180 and went “home” to his childhood team, the Raiders, to play with his collegiate quarterback and best friend Derek Carr.
Needless to say, the collective Packers Nation’s head exploded, cats began to marry dogs and the weather, well, no, there’s actually snow in April in Wisconsin.
Dangit.
I tried really hard to be funny there, but losing the best receiver, it’s not a question anymore, is never a good thing.
Sure, you don’t want half of the team’s payroll to go to two players, but one could make an argument Davante Adams is the biggest reason Green Bay has advanced to three consecutive postseasons, including two straight conference championship games.
Adams’ ability to win any matchup, just with one cat-like quick move, makes him unguardable and Rodgers and Adams developed perhaps even more chemistry than No. 12 did with Jordy Nelson.
That’s high praise.
So Adams’ bombshell left the Packers with a menacing receiving corps of old Randall Cobb, an injury waiting to happen, Allen Lazard, who can’t always get open, Amari Rodgers, who didn’t show much his rookie season, and…and…..aaaaaaaaand Juwann Winfree?
I liked how Winfree played in his one NFL game of his life last year, but practice squad reps aren’t real reps.
Oh, and then there’s “I’m still a diva, don’t get it twisted” Aaron Rodgers.
Along with the fact that now we never know when he’s going to demand a trade or throw a fit about something he doesn’t like to the media, he also doesn’t like throwing to rookie wide receivers.
You have to bow to King Aaron’s throne by catching every single one of his passes, doing every single thing he says and taking his criticism and using it to get better.
Oh wait, Rodgers has already missed the first OTA’s, you know, a way to maybe build chemistry with receivers you really don’t have experience with.
It’s cool, though, he had a Milwaukee Bucks playoff game to attend, and any chance to show America he’s a cool guy that is a minority owner of the Bucks is time well spent.
Wow, I’m being really salty toward Rodgers in this. Let’s get back to the draft.
So, Green Bay got an extra first and extra second round pick, but right now they don’t have a No. 1 or a No. 2 receiver.
The latest rumor has them trading for Oakland Raiders star tight end Darren Waller, who’s getting older at 29, but is exactly the weapon Rodgers need to stretch the field down the seams.
Rodgers has had one good tight end in 17 years, Jermichael Finley, and that team made it to a Super Bowl. Green Bay needs to do that deal yesterday.
This is what I want Thursday night:
The Packers must trade up to the 15th pick, or even as high as 12 or 13. Green Bay needs to draft a wide receiver, and the top guys like Chris Olave and Jameson Williams are going to go high. The only other player I’d accept them taking instead of a wide receiver that high, though, is pass rusher David Ojabo from Michigan. Williams runs a 4.3, he had 1,500 receiving yards for Alabama last year with 15 touchdowns, and caught like 10 scores of more than 50 yards. He’s a game breaker. Go get him.
Trade for Terry McLaurin. Along with drafting Williams and maybe one more receiver in the first two rounds, the Packers need to trade a second and fourth-round pick for Washington Commanders’ receiver Terry McLaurin. The burner is only 25, and he has put up numbers, including two 1,000-yard seasons, with NINE different starting quarterbacks.
Draft a few offensive linemen high. With uncertainty surrounding David Bahktiari and Elgton Jenkins, we need another tackle. Get it done.
In summary, an offense featuring Scary Terry, Waller and Williams, along with Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, could be unstoppable by the second half of the season, as Williams recovers from a torn ACL.
Yes, there are risks here, and you’re taking chances on veterans. But it is the only way to “win now,” something Rodgers and Packers Brass has repeatedly sold to the fan base.
We are sick and tired of drinking the Kool-Aid, thinking Rodgers is elite.
The guy is human. He needs help.
Trading for a big-time receiver, plus drafting two in the first three picks will accomplish that goal.
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