The 2017 season was a disappointing year for the Green Bay Packers fanbase. Not only did the team miss the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, but it also passed up on drafting the promising pass rusher TJ Watt out of the University of Wisconsin.
Instead, the Packers opted to trade back and ended up drafting corner Kevin King out of the University of Washington with the 33rd pick. Almost immediately, the decision sparked a debate that would span multiple years.
In Green Bay’s defense, the secondary had been abysmal the year before, and King possessed an ideal blend of size and speed. When healthy, King was a solid player. Unfortunately, that wasn’t very often, as he started only 42 games over five seasons for the Packers. To add insult to injury, after King sat out the 2022 season to try and get his body right, he tore his Achilles tendon during training. Now, King’s return to the NFL has been extended indefinitely.
Watt, on the other hand, has flourished since entering the league and is recognized as one of the best defensive players in the game. Before getting hurt last season, he had four straight seasons with at least 13 sacks. In 2021, he tied Michael Strahan’s season-single record for sacks (22.5) and was named the AP Defensive Player of the Year.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20. No one could have known what would come of Watt’s or King’s career. As we look back, it’s easy to say Watt would have made a greater impact on Green Bay’s defense. If they got a do-over, they would gladly take the former Badger. On the other hand, if Watt had been given a choice, one might think the Packers were his top landing spot. However, that actually wasn’t the case, according to his comments on the Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger podcast.
“It would have been awesome to play there, don’t get me wrong,” Watt started with.
“I tell people all the time I went to school in Wisconsin,” he continued. “I grew up in Wisconsin and then I went to Madison, which is only like 45 minutes away from where I grew up, and Green Bay would have been two hours away. It just would have been a lot. I needed to get out of the state. I think it was good for my development to kind of get away and get out of — I don’t want to say get out of the shadow of my brothers — but do my own thing for once.
”Going back to the college thing, it wasn’t always Wisconsin. I waited for the longest time. I wanted to blaze my own trail and go to Minnesota or somewhere else just to do my own thing, and then it was like, no, I really love Wisconsin, so I went there. But as far as the NFL, it was good for me to get away and kind of find myself.”
While it is difficult to argue with Watt’s initial thought process, it doesn’t make it any easier for Packers fans who watched the organization let a Wisconsin standout and generational talent slip through its fingers. Green Bay eventually made up for it with the selection of Rashan Gary two years later, but the previous draft blunder continues to serve as a reminder of how teams work diligently to find the right player and still don’t always get it right.
