The Green Bay Packers have held their official visits with prospects in preparation for the 2023 NFL Draft which will begin this Thursday in Kansas City. Each team is allowed to meet with 30 players prior to the draft. The idea behind the meetings is for teams to get to know the players a bit better on a personal level and for the prospect to answer any questions the team may have about their background, skills or attitude.

Keep in mind not all the players the Packers chose to meet with are considered top 100 prospects. In fact, just 13 of the 30 were ranked in the top 100 meaning the rest are considered day three picks according to the consensus board.

Here are two important things we learned from these visits with the first being what positions the team is focusing on.

The Packers had visits with the following players:

Tight Ends: (5) Michael Mayer, Notre Dame; Dalton Kincaid, Utah; Darnell Washington, Georgia; Josh Whyle, Cincinnati; and Ben Sims, Baylor

Offensive Linemen: (3) Darnell Wright, Tennessee; Antonio Mafi, UCLA; Kadeem Telfort, Alabama-Birmingham

Edge: (4) Will McDonald IV, Iowa State; Felix Anudike-Uzoma, Kansas State; Adetoiwa Adeboware, Northwestern, Keion White, Georgia Tech

Quarterback: (3) Hendon Hood, Tennessee; Sean Clifford, Penn State; Tanner Morgan, Minnesota

Cornerback: (1) Tyrique Stevenson, Miami

Wide Receiver: (4) Rashee Rice, SMU; Dontayvion Wicks, Virginia; Cole Tucker, Northern Illinois; Ryan Miller, Furman

Safety: (4) Jartavius Martin, Illinois; Jammie Robinson, FSU; Marte Mapu, Sacramento State; Jordan Howden, Minnesota

Defensive Tackle: (1) Jaquelin Roy, LSU

Running Back: (3) Keaton Mitchell, East Carolina; Evan Hull, Northwestern; Lew Nichols III, Central Michigan

We do not know the identity of the final two players the Packers have met with as of now.

It is clear where the Packers are putting their emphasis with tight end, wide receiver, edge and safety getting the most visits and are among the team’s biggest needs and priorities heading into the draft.

The team lacks depth and talent at tight end after Robert Tonyan left and we still don’t know if Marcedes Lewis will return.

No wide receiver on the roster has more than one year of NFL experience after the departure of Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb remains unsigned.

Adrian Amos is unsigned at safety and returning starter Darnell Savage played so poorly he was benched in November. While he played better later in the season, Savage is playing on his fifth-year option and won’t be back unless he has a bounce back season in 2023 and opts to sign a new deal with the Packers.

Edge may be more of a long-term need depending on how quickly Rashan Gary can return from injury. Gary is also in the last year of his contract, but the Packers have expressed an interest in signing him to a long-term deal. The other starter is Preston Smith who is on the wrong side of 30 now and may not be back next season unless he restructures his contract.

But the other thing we learned about this draft from the visits is the team may be looking to trade back in round one to get additional picks in the draft. If we look at the consensus board, the Packers only visited with five players who were projected as first round picks (Mayer, Wright, Kincaid, Washington and McDonald) but they were all ranked between 24th and 31st on the consensus board, well below where the Packers are presently scheduled to pick at 15.

It could be that there are a few specific players the Packers are ready to grab at 15 who are ranked higher, and they didn’t feel the need to visit with, but the pattern of visits by Brian Gutekunst and his staff indicates the team is certainly open to trading back in the first few rounds to accumulate more picks or that they anticipate some additional day two picks from the expected trade of Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets.

We won’t know anything for sure until the draft takes place, but right now, trading back would be consistent with the way the Packers have scheduled their visits thus far.

 

 

Follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers

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