Although the selection of Devonte Wyatt provides an outlier, the five-year draft history of Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst paints a fairly clear picture in terms of first-round preferences: this team wants young, elite athletes on Day 1.
Wyatt was 24 when selected last year, but the six other first-round picks, including Quay Walker, were either 21 or 22 years old with a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 8.0 or higher. Of the seven first-rounders, five were 21 years old, and five had a RAS of 9.0 or higher.
| Year | Player | Age | RAS |
| 2018 | Jaire Alexander | 21 | 9.54 |
| 2019 | Rashan Gary | 21 | 9.95 |
| 2019 | Darnell Savage | 21 | 8.35 |
| 2020 | Jordan Love | 21 | 8.46 |
| 2021 | Eric Stokes | 22 | 9.38 |
| 2022 | Quay Walker | 21 | 9.63 |
| 2022 | Devonte Wyatt | 24 | 9.60 |
Obviously, the Packers were comfortable deviating some from these tendencies. Taking Walker was an outlier in terms of positional value, while Wyatt was a big outlier in terms of age. Still, the age and athleticism tendencies can provide a road map to locating who could be prime first-round options for the Packers in 2023.
Let’s take a look, using NFL Mock Draft Database’s consensus big board as a guide. Criteria: top 50 big board, 22 years old or younger, RAS of 8.0 or higher. Why the top 50? Walker was the consensus No. 49 player last year.
Likely top-10 picks or missing data
(Big board rank, age, RAS)
QB Anthony Richardson, Florida (No. 4, 20, 10.0)
CB Christian Gonzalez, Oregon (No. 6, 20, 9.95)
(Big board rank, missing data)
QB Bryce Young, Alabama (No. 1, no RAS)
QB C.J. Stroud, Ohio State (No. 2, no RAS)
OLB Will Anderson, Alabama (No. 3, no RAS)
DL Jalen Carter, Georgia (No. 5, no RAS)
OLB Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech (No. 7, no RAS)
CB Devon Witherspoon, Illinois (No. 8, no RAS)
OL Paris Johnson., Ohio State (No. 11, no RAS)
TE Dalton Kincaid, Utah (No. 27, no RAS)
DL Mazi Smith, Michigan (No. 33, no RAS)
OT Dawand Jones, Ohio State (No. 41, no RAS)
OL Peter Skoronski, Northwestern
Big board rank: 10
Age: 21
RAS: 9.31
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
Big board rank: 12
Age: 21
RAS: 8.34
RB Bijan Robinson, Texas
Big board rank: 13
Age: 21
RAS: 9.85
CB Joey Porter Jr., Penn State
Big board rank: 14
Age: 22
RAS: 9.71
OLB Myles Murphy, Clemson
Big board rank: 15
Age: 21
RAS: 9.71
OLB Lukas Van Ness, Iowa
Big board rank: 16
Age: 21
RAS: 9.39
OT Broderick Jones, Georgia
Big board rank: 17
Age: 21
RAS: 9.58
OLB Nolan Smith, Georgia
Big board rank: 18
Age: 22
RAS: 9.23
Potential red flag: Weight at edge rusher
WR Quentin Johnston, TCU
Big board rank: 19
Age: 21
RAS: 8.68
Potential red flag: Slow three-cone
OT Darnell Wright, Tennessee
Big board rank: 21
Age: 21
RAS: 9.68
DL Calijah Kancey, Pitt
Big board rank: 22
Age: 22
RAS: 9.60
CB Deonte Banks, Maryland
Big board rank: 23
Age: 22
RAS: 10.0
WR Zay Flowers, BC
Big board rank: 26
Age: 22
RAS: 8.29
Potential red flag: Weight at wide receiver
DL Bryan Bresee, Clemson
Big board rank: 28
Age: 21
RAS: 9.61
TE Darnell Washington, Georgia
Big board rank: 30
Age: 21
RAS: 9.88
CB Emmanuel Forbes, Miss. State
Big board rank: 34
Age: 22
RAS: 9.26
CB Cam Smith, South Carolina
Big board rank: 35
Age: 22
RAS: 9.68
RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama
Big board rank: 36
Age: 21
RAS: 8.06
CB Kelee Ringo, Georgia
Big board rank: 37
Age: 20
RAS: 8.30
WR Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee
Big board rank: 38
Age: 21
RAS: 8.76
Potential red flag: Weight at wide receiver
LB Drew Sanders, Arkansas
Big board rank: 40
Age: 22
RAS: 8.97
OT Dawand Jones, Ohio State
Big board rank: 41
Age: 21
RAS:
OLB Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State
Big board rank: 43
Age: 21
RAS: 8.73
OLB/DL Adetomiwa Adebawore, Northwestern
Big board rank: 43
Age: 22
RAS: 9.72 (as DL)
LB Trenton Simpson, Clemson
Big board rank: 44
Age: 21
RAS: 9.84
LB Jack Campbell, Iowa
Big board rank: 46
Age: 22
RAS: 9.98
TE Luke Musgrave, Oregon State
Big board rank: 50
Age: 22
RAS: 9.78
Missed (top 50 only)
QB Will Levis, Kentucky (age)
WR Jordan Addison, USC (RAS)
S Brian Branch, Alabama (RAS)
TE Michael Mayer, Notre Dame (RAS)
OL O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida (RAS)
OLB Will McDonald, Iowa State (age)
OT Anton Harrison, Oklahoma (RAS)
QB Hendon Hooker, Tennessee (age)
OLB BJ Olujari, LSU (RAS)
C John Michael-Schmitz, Minnesota (RAS)
DL/OLB Keion White, Georgia Tech (age)
