The Green Bay Packers will go into the 2023 NFL draft with 10 draft picks, but it’s a different kind of year in Green Bay. After winning 13 games during three straight regular seasons, the Packers finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs in 2022, and now a transition is beginning at the game’s most important position.
Instead of gearing up for another run at the Super Bowl, the Packers are likely entering a rebuild phase. And the 2023 draft is an important piece of the early rebuilding puzzle.
Packers Wire’s position-by-position draft preview begins at quarterback:
On the roster
Aaron Rodgers: 39 years old, signed through 2026
Jordan Love: 24 years old, signed through 2023
Danny Etling: 29 years old, signed through 2023
Needless to say, Rodgers’ time on the roster is eventually coming to an end. It’s just a matter of when. Once he’s traded, the Packers will have just two quarterbacks on the roster, and there’s only one career start between the two. Etling spent all of last year on the practice squad. Exercising Love’s fifth-year option would keep him under contract through 2024.
Short-term need
Moderate to high. Having Love and Etling, two quarterbacks with experience in Matt LaFleur’s offense, helps the case here. But would the Packers really go into the 2022 season with Etling as the top backup behind Love, a first-year starter? The Packers could pass on a draft pick and find a veteran backup, but the options are becoming slim, and any money spent on a veteran will cut into precious cap space. In most cases, a quarterback with real experience would help the first-year starter. But in 2008, the Packers rolled with rookies Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn behind Aaron Rodgers.
Long-term need
Potentially high. The Packers are optimistic about Love, who learned behind Rodgers for three years, but he’s still a great unknown. What happens if the Packers don’t pick up Love’s fifth-year option and he falls on his face as a first-year starter? In that scenario, the Packers are picking high in the 2024 draft and likely targeting a quarterback. Love is going to get a fair chance to prove he’s the guy long-term, but the Packers can’t be afraid to safeguard the franchise at the game’s most important position.
Chances of drafting the position
High. Even if the Packers pass on adding a quarterback during the first two days of the draft, using one of the team’s seven Day 3 picks (including four in the seventh round) looks likely. It’s possible the Packers could bypass the draft and dig into free agency following the draft, but having the four picks in the seventh round grants an opportunity to ensure they get a developmental quarterback they like.
Depth of the draft class
Not great. The Packers almost certainly aren’t getting one of the top four (Bryce Young, C.J .Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis), and the mid-round options aren’t exciting. Hendon Hooker is the only other top-100 quarterback on Dane Brugler’s big board, and Brugler has only nine quarterbacks with a Day 3 draftable grade.
Potential options, and last QB drafted
A few potential options at quarterback:
— Hendon Hooker, Tennessee
— Clayton Tune, Houston
— Tanner McKee, Stanford
— Aidan O’Connell, Purdue
— Tyson Bagent, Shepherd
Last quarterback drafted: Jordan Love, first-round, 2020
