Packers filled with promise and potential

Winners and Losers From the Packers’ 2025 Draft

With eight new draft picks added to the Packers roster, the complexion of the multiple position groups has changed significantly, while others were surprisingly mostly left alone. Here are a few winners and losers of Green Bay's draft haul:

Winner:

Matt LaFleur. The Packers used their first three draft picks on offense for the first time since 2020, but this year’s trio of Matthew Golden, Anthony Belton and Savion Williams figure to have much more of an impact as rookies than Jordan Love, A.J. Dillon and Josaiah Deguara did back then. Golden is the best college prospect the Packers have drafted since LaFleur took over as head coach, while Williams is a truly unique receiver who should get his creative juices flowing. Adding a man mountain in Belton, along with the free agency signing of Aaron Banks, gives Green Bay the option to play bully ball on offense. With the wide selection of offensive linemen and weapons now at his disposal, LaFleur has the ingredients to do essentially anything he wants on offense in 2025.

Loser:

Kingsley Enagbare. Enagbare is an ideal number three pass rusher, but the Packers drafted Sorrell in round four, who fits that mold perfectly, and has more upside, while Enagbare enters the final year of his rookie contract. With the Packers clearly wanting Van Ness to win the starting job, Enagbare was already going to have an uphill battle getting snaps as regularly as he did a year ago, but now he has Sorrell, as well as Brenton Cox Jr. and Arron Mosby, to compete with. All the other pass rushers are under team control through at least next season, so getting them reps could be seen as more of a priority. Enagbare is very unlikely to be a Packer in 2026, and may not have as much of an opportunity to put tape out there for other teams as he would like.

Check out more winners and losers from this year’s draft right here.

Way-too-early 2025 Packers 53 man roster prediction

Aaron Nagler is joined by Justis Mosqueda of ACME Packing Company to take a way-too-early look at what the Green Bay Packers initial 53 man roster could look like.

Spotlight Potential: Tucker Kraft

How much upside potential does Tucker Kraft really have? To put it simply, a lot. In his first two seasons, Kraft has ascended from a 3rd round draft pick out of South Dakota State to a reliable target for Jordan Love, a crazy impressive yards after the catch playmaker, one hell of a blocker in the pass and run game, and a bona fide fan favorite among cheesehead nation. In a game against the Rams this last season, Kraft reached a top speed of 19.70 mph on a 66-yard touchdown reception. To put in perspective, Cowboy’s receiver KaVonte Turpin hit the fastest speed mark running 22.36 mph. Turpin weighs roughly 152 lbs at 5’ 10” while Kraft weighs roughly 258 lbs at 6’ 5”. Makes you wonder like a Vince Lombardi quote, what in the superhuman hell is going on out there?

Since 1992, the best Packers tight ends have been Robert Tonyan (2018-2022), Jermichael Finley (2008-2013), Bubba Franks (2000-2007), and Mark Chmura (1993-1999).

Here are stats of what their best seasons looked like compared to Kraft’s 2024 campaign:

• Chmura in 1995 played in 16 games catching 54 passes for 679 yards and 7 touchdowns leading the league in that category while making the Pro Bowl. Team won the Super Bowl.

• Franks in 2001 played in 16 games catching 60 passes for 642 yards and 9 touchdowns leading the team in that category while making the Pro Bowl. Team lost in the Wild Card round.

• Finley in 2011 played in 16 games catching 55 passes for 767 yards and 8 touchdowns while leading the league in reception yards for a tight end. He is second on the Packers all-time in reception yards for a season. Team lost in the Divisional Round.

• Tonyan in 2020 played in 16 games catching 52 passes for 586 yards and 11 touchdowns leading the team in that category while tying for the most in a season by a tight end in Packers history. Team lost in the NFC Championship.

• Kraft in 2024 played in 17 games catching 50 passes for 707 yards and 7 touchdowns leading the team in that category. His receiving yards is fourth all-time in Packers history for a tight end. Team lost in the wild card round.

Paul Coffman in 1983 led the Packers in receiving yards recording 814 on only 54 catches with 11 touchdowns. This is considered the greatest season in Green Bay's history for a tight end. It is not unfathomable that Kraft can break these records and get over the 1,000 yard mark with how he is able to gain yards after the catch. I is a favorable bet Kraft will eventually break Coffman’s receiving yard record along with his and Tonyan’s 11 touchdowns in a season.

The Draft Industrial Complex: Green Bay Packers 2025 Draft Review

For the final installment of the Draft Industrial Complex Aaron Nagler and Tyler Brooke review the Green Bay Packers 2025 draft class.

Don’t Overlook This Undrafted Free Agent

The Green Bay Packers have done a good job in recent years finding diamonds in the rough. At least one undrafted free agent usually makes the Packers opening day roster, which is a bit of a surprise when you realize how consistently the team has been winning over the last three-plus decades.

This year, the most intriguing undrafted free agent signed by the Packers is former University of Georgia defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse. Stackhouse will compete for a roster spot at nose tackle. His size and ability to take on multiple blockers make him a candidate to replace T.J. Slaton as the Packers nose tackle on running downs. The Georgia alum stands 6’3” and weighs 327 pounds. He played five seasons with the Bulldogs, gaining one extra year as a result of the Covid pandemic year in 2020.

The Packers lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles in last year’s playoffs, in part because of how the Eagles dominated the trenches. Adding a run stuffer like Stackhouse could help the Packers in this department. Stackhouse may not have been drafted, but he could become a useful piece in Jeff Hafley’s defense this season and beyond if he lives up to his potential.

@cheeseheadtv

(No)

Check out exclusive Cheesehead TV merch!

Green Bay: The NFL’s Smallest City That Roared

Even as the Detroit Lions chirp about their 2024 NFL Draft in-person attendance being higher than the 2025 version in Green Bay, the overall viewership numbers for the latter keep opening eyes.

First of all, pure boots-on-ground numbers: More than 600,000 people showed up in Green Bay last weekend over the course of three days. And that’s in a city of just over 100,000 people. So, essentially, SIX Green Bays showed up in Green Bay. That's a lot of OnePass registrations. Even more remarkable is the original forecast was a total of 250,000 in attendance over three days. Detroit’s population is a bit over 630,000 and has vastly more amenities to accommodate large events. It drew a record 775,000 attendees to last year’s Draft, which is indeed impressive.

What Green Bay pulled off in tying Nashville for second most attended draft of all time was nothing short of remarkable. The NFL also announced that the 2025 Draft hosted in the league’s smallest city (Buffalo is second at around 275,000) was the second most viewed of all-time (behind 2020), with an average audience of 7.5 million viewers across all platforms – up 27% from last year’s broadcast. (Ahem.) Watching attendance wane and surge over the three-day Draft was interesting – and telling. After the live attendance numbers understandably dropped on Day 2, Day 3 stormed in with a massive comeback.

Out-of-towners were caught on camera repeatedly praising the city, the people of Green Bay and the atmosphere. Only one arrest was made over the entire event, according to one report. We’re talking about a three-day surge of more than half a million people, with massive amounts of beer being consumed, and only a single arrest happened. (It was probably a Lions fan.)

We can still hear the roaring chants of “Go Pack Go” each time the Packers were on the clock or made a pick, which in our imagination we believe probably could be heard all across the city, all the way down the Fox River and into the Bay. We can only wonder if they could also hear those roars in Detroit…

@cheeseheadtv

Pookie

Packers Counting Heavily on Rookie Wide Receivers

Since becoming the Green Bay Packers general manager in 2018, Brian Gutekunst has tried to address a need by “doubling up” or even “tripling up” on a position in the draft.

In his eight drafts since taking over the position for Ted Thompson, Gutekunst has used this strategy in seven of his eight drafts. In this year’s draft, he addressed three positions more than once – wide receiver, defensive line and offensive line. The drafting of Matthew Golden and Savion Williams was the fourth different position group that Gutekunst has picked more than once in the first three rounds of a draft. The other three are: 2018 cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson, 2023 tight ends Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, 2024 linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Tyronn Hopper. In those previous three instances, Gutekunst is batting .500 in his six picks, even though there is still a chance that Luke Musgrave can become a contributing player like Tucker Kraft has become.

Why did Gutekunst feel the need to take two wide receivers this early in the draft? It could be because the last impression the Packers front office got from the 2024 season was a dismal performance from the offense in a 22-10 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. Jayden Reed finished the game as the team’s leading receiver with 4 catches for 46 yards, doing so in just 3 quarters as he left the game early with a severe shoulder injury. Dontayvion Wicks was the team’s leader in targets with six, but finished with just 2 catches for 39 yards. The playoff game was a microcosm of the 2024 season for Wicks as he led the team in targets with 76, but was 5th in yards with just 415 yards.

The 2024 season was also the third straight season the Packers did not have at least one 1,000 yard receiver. Reed led the team in both 2023 and ‘24 in yards and Allen Lazard was the leader in 2022. Davante Adams is still the last Packers player to have 1,000 yards receiving in a season, doing so in both 2020 and 2021.

The last time the Packers did not have a 1,000 receiver for three straight seasons goes all the way back to Sterling Sharpe’s rookie year in 1988.

Jordan Love will host the 2025 Green Bay Charity Softball Game presented by Network Health. The Game will start at 7:05pm on Friday, May 23 at Neuroscience Group Field. The event will raise money for Love’s Hands of 10ve Foundation. Tickets for the game are available right here. Mark your calendar and see you at the ballpark!