The Green Bay Packers find themselves in a foreign situation. They have been the gold standard of NFL franchises for a very long time. But now, after dropping their fourth straight game, the Packers find themselves in a downward spiral. The blame game has officially started in Green Bay. Taking the brunt of the criticism is head coach Matt LaFleur. Many are calling for LaFleur to lose his job, something that appears to be catching steam. But today, we make the case for another that needs to be called out. General manager Brian Gutekunst should also be firmly placed on the hot seat.
The Many Missteps of Brian Gutekunst
For most level-headed Packers fans, the 2023 NFL season was going to be one of transition. With the Packers shipping out star quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, most understood that things would be a lot different for the Packers. However, as the Packers now sit at 2-5, most didn’t expect it to be this bad.
Losing games is one thing, but the way in which the Packers lose is another issue altogether. It has been beaten into Packers fans’ heads that Green Bay has the youngest roster in the NFL. But that excuse only gets you so far. The roster is littered with high draft choices. That means these young players have had to perform well at some point during their football careers. Sadly, that hasn’t happened so far.
As the head coach, Matt LaFleur deserves the blame he is getting for how the Packers are playing. But for some reason, it appears that Brian Gutekunst isn’t getting near the heat he should. The Packers current roster is flawed, and that falls on Gutekunst’s shoulders. The roster failures stem back from the very beginning of Gutekunst’s general manager tenure.
Misses From the Very Start
Former general manager Ted Thompson made building the roster through the NFL Draft the backbone of how the Packers do things. Thompson rarely dipped into free agency (although he was very good at it when he did), which made the draft a necessity. The “draft and develop” way has continued with Brian Gutekunst. However, Thompson’s success hasn’t carried over.
As we have discussed in past articles, there is a reason the Packers are fielding the youngest roster in the NFL this season. The 2018 and 2019 draft classes should be the veteran core of the current Packers roster. While it should be, that isn’t the case for the Packers.
Gutekunst selected a total of 19 players from the 2018 and 2019 drafts. Out of those 19 players, there are only four players that are still on the Packers roster. For a team that claims that the draft is the backbone of how they build their roster, having only four players still on the team is embarrassingly low.
Gutekunst has had more failures, but those two draft classes set the Packers back. The lack of veterans, which stemmed from those drafts, has hurt the current Packers team in a big way.
Offensive Line
The biggest task Matt LaFleur and his coaching staff currently have is to develop the players they have. While that is true, as the saying goes, you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken you know what. It very well could be, that the issues the Packers have on offense, which is a lengthy list, could stem from not having the talent.
Left guard Elgton Jenkins has struggled to be the player he once was before his knee injury. You can’t blame injuries on Gutekunst and his staff, injuries happen. That is why you can’t blame them for what has happened with David Bakhtiari as well. From all indications, it appears Bakhtiari has played his last game as a Packer. But there is one player that you can blame Gutekunst for selecting.
In 2021, Gutekunst and the Packers decided to allow starting center Corey Linsley to depart as a free agent. Gutekunst replaced him with 2021 second-round pick Josh Myers. He selected Myers over Cam Humphries, the top center in that draft. Since then, Myers has been a massive disappointment. While Humphries has gone on to be the top young center in the NFL.
Gutekunst can tell Packers fans how great Myers is currently playing all he wants, but the reality is that he isn’t. Selecting Myers in the second round was a miss, but continuing to play him is just downright awful.
Brian Gutekunst Keeps Missing On Offenisve Skill Players
When it comes to pass catchers, you really can’t judge rookie tight end Luke Musgrave and wide receiver Jayden Reed. They have both had struggles, but that was expected from rookies. Next season, their second, is when the Packers will know what they really have in them.
But the rookie excuse can’t be said for second-year wide receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. Gutekunst wagered heavily that the second-year wideouts would make the jump in their second years. Unfortunately, that wager hasn’t come through. Watson has once again dealt with injuries, similar to what he did in his rookie season. Now healthy, he still isn’t performing like he should. While Doubs has been healthy this season, he is still dealing with concentration issues. More were expected out of the two players and they just haven’t played up to those expectations.
Other former offensive players selected by Gutekunst have also failed to flash. Gutekunst spent second and third-round picks on running back A.J. Dillon and tight end Josiah Deguara. Dillon was expected to be the “thunder” to Aaron Jones’s “lightning”. But Dillon has regressed in each of his four seasons. Deguara is currently a backup tight end and a special teams contributor, roles that you wouldn’t expect from a fourth-year former third-round pick.
Then of course there is Jordan Love. Unlike others, we aren’t ready to give up on Love after just one season of starting. But for being Gutekunst’s handpicked successor to Aaron Rodgers, he sure didn’t do enough to make sure he had success in his first season under center. A proven veteran wide receiver or even tight end would have been helpful for the young quarterback. However, he didn’t provide either. Just another failure in Gutekunst’s hat.
Littered with First-Round Picks, Defense Continues to Fail
Let’s get this out of the way: Joe Barry should have never been hired to be the Packers defensive coordinator and he sure shouldn’t have been brought back after his first and second seasons. That falls strictly on LaFleur, a massive failure on his part.
But at what point does talent overcome bad coaching? Since taking over as the general manager, the Packers have used seven first-round draft picks on defensive players. That doesn’t include Kenny Clark who was selected by Thompson. Many believe that Gutekunst has provided the defense with the talent to be successful but it’s the defensive coordinator who has failed.
It might be time to start to wonder if Gutekunst and his scouting staff have failed in their player evaluation. Maybe, just maybe, these seven-round picks Gutekunst chose aren’t as good as Packers fans were led to believe they were. Rashan Gary has shown he is a valuable pass rusher, but he still struggles against the run. Linebacker Quay Walker’s speed is as advertised, but he continues to have mental lapses. Jaire Alexander has regressed and Darnell Savage has never shown the promise Gutekunst had hoped. Even before being injured in 2022, Eric Stokes regressed from a strong rookie season.
Joe Barry is the second consecutive defensive coordinator who has failed. While neither he nor Mike Pettine will be confused with Buddy Ryan, it might be time to wonder if Gutekunst has selected the right players.
Where is the Plan?
Six seasons into Gutekunst’s general manager tenure, there still doesn’t appear to be a plan in place when it comes to the Green Bay Packers roster. At one point, the Packers claimed to be “all in” and were trying to provide Rodgers the talent to get to the Super Bowl. But that seemed like all lip service.
Now, it’s all about building for the future. Packers fans are supposed to forget about Gutekunst’s past draft failures and be all in on him and his staff for what they will do to build the roster for the future. Consider us pessimiststic.
At this point in the Biran Gutekunst Era, the Packers should be better. While LaFleur has earned his spot on the hot seat, so has Gutekunst. His missteps and downright failures have hurt this franchise. We don’t see it improving with Brian Gutekunst as the general manager.
Main Photo: Kassidy Hill – USA Today Sports
