If you watched the Green Bay Packers lose to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship, you know that the Packers are in dire need of upgrading the cornerback position. The urgency to upgrade the cornerback position became even more apparent when the Packers cut veteran cornerback Sam Shields. But even with the loss of Shields and the poor play by the Packers cornerbacks this season, specifically Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins, the Packers top need for this year’s draft is actually a pass rusher.
Green Bay Packers First NFL Draft Target Should be Pass Rusher, Not Cornerback
There is no argument, the Packers need to get better at cornerback. However, the place to upgrade the position isn’t through the draft, but instead through free agency. To do this, Packers general manager Ted Thompson is going to need to change the way he builds a roster. Thompson can still help the Packers roster by drafting the right players, but he is going to have to utilize free agency, something he has been reluctant to do throughout his career. If he does decide to finally embrace free agency, the top priority is at cornerback.
Even though Randall and Rollins struggled this season, it isn’t time to give up on either of them, something Thompson in all likelihood won’t do. The Packers spent a first and second-round pick on Randall and Rollins in 2015, and giving up on either of them at this time would be foolish. What would be just as foolish is bringing in another young inexperienced cornerback through the draft. The Packers are very young at cornerback, as their most experienced cornerback is Micah Hyde, who will be entering only his fifth season in the NFL. What complicates Hyde’s situation is that he is a part-time safety and will also be entering this offseason as a free agent.
The Packers are going to need to be aggressive in free agency. The Packers should target a top free agent, somebody like Houston Texans corner A.J. Bouye. Bouye will be expensive, but he fits what the Packers need; a still fairly young cornerback (25-years-old) that has experience.
Why the Need To Address the Pass Rush?
If this projection comes through, the Packers can set their sights on finding a pass rusher in this year’s draft. The Packers outside linebacker corps is facing some uncertainty going into next season. The Packers top outside linebacker, Clay Matthews, had a down 2016 season due to a hamstring and shoulder injury. Many have speculated that Matthews’ play might be slipping and that it would be best for the Packers to move him back inside and also line him up all over the field so he doesn’t take the beating he would lining up at only outside linebacker.
It isn’t only Matthews that faces an uncertain future for the Packers. The Packers top pass rusher last season was outside linebacker Nick Perry, who registered 11 sacks. Perry was signed to a reasonably cheap one-year, $five million deal last offseason, meaning he will be a free agent this off-season. The Packers are going to need to open the bank to re-sign him, which is never a guarantee for the Packers.
Fellow outside linebackers Datone Jones and Julius Peppers will also be free agents this off-season. Jones, a former first-round pick of the Packers, has been a disappointment and it seems like the chances of him re-signing are low. Peppers, who chalked up 7.5 sacks for the Packers last season, is now 37 years old, and many believe that the Packers will let him walk this off-season.
That leaves Kyler Fackrell, an unproven player who just finished his rookie season, and special teams standout Jayrone Elliott, who has yet to make his mark on defense. The best option for the Packers would be to re-sign Perry, move Matthews around, and bring in another pass rusher, via the draft.
Potential First Round Targets
The Packers own the 29th pick in this year’s draft and should target a player like Alabama’s Tim Williams, Missouri’s Charles Harris, or UCLA’s Takkarist McKinley. The Packers need depth at outside linebacker and drafting a young pass rusher would be the best way for the Packers.
This plan all hinges on Thompson and him being open to change. If he is unwilling to do so, Packers fans shouldn’t expect anything different next season, and that would waste another season for quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
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