Green Bay Packers fans had a lot to celebrate during an unforgettable weekend.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved<\/p>\n
The Green Bay Packers threw a three-day party in the NFL\u2019s smallest city over the weekend.<\/p>\n
And the good times could carry over to the field in 2025.<\/p>\n
Green Bay hosted the NFL Draft for the first time ever, and it was a smashing success.<\/p>\n
On top of it, the Packers appeared to have a highly productive draft, with the wide receiver and offensive line groups benefitting the most.<\/p>\n
Here are Green Bay\u2019s winners and losers from draft weekend.<\/p>\n
WINNER: JORDAN LOVE<\/p>\n
Green Bay\u2019s wideouts simply weren\u2019t good enough in 2024.<\/p>\n
According to Pro Football Reference, the Packers had the third-highest number of drops in football last season (33) and the second-highest drop rate (6.9%).<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest with you \u2026 we had a ton of drops, and that\u2019s an area that we have to clean up,\u201d head coach Matt LaFleur said.<\/p>\n
So general manager Brian Gutekunst spent a first round draft pick on wideout Matthew Golden and a third rounder of receiver Savion Williams.<\/p>\n
Golden will almost certainly play immediately, while the Packers will carve out a role for Williams as the season unfolds.<\/p>\n
In two short days, the talent around Love improved dramatically.<\/p>\n
LOSER: DONTAYVION WICKS<\/p>\n
Wicks, who\u2019s entering his third season in 2025, was an enormous disappointment in 2024.<\/p>\n
Wicks led the Packers in targets (76), but was just fourth in receptions (39) and fourth in receiving yards (415). His catch rate of 51.3% was the second worst in football among wideouts.<\/p>\n
With the additions of Golden and Williams, someone in the wide receiver room is going to lose snaps. The best guess is the inconsistent Wicks could fade to black.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be really competitive to get on the field and get snaps and get targets and all those things,\u201d Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said. \u201cBut that\u2019s the way you want to want it, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
WINNER: LUKAS VAN NESS<\/p>\n
Many anticipated the Packers would take a defensive end, or two, early in the draft. Instead, Green Bay didn’t address the position until Round 4.<\/p>\n
That means Van Ness will be given every chance to prove he\u2019s not a bust.<\/p>\n
Van Ness, a first round draft pick in 2023, had four sacks, 10 quarterback hits and eight tackles for loss as a rookie. Many expected Van Ness to take a major jump in 2024, but he finished with three sacks, six quarterback hits and six tackles for loss.<\/p>\n
In bypassing a defensive end the first three rounds, the Packers largely told Van Ness they believe he can still live up to his first round billing. Now, he must go prove it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy expectations are always going to be higher for myself than anybody else and I\u2019ve naturally always been that way,\u201d Van Ness said. \u201cI\u2019m hard on myself, but that ultimately is what pushes me and drives me to be a great player. So, my mindset isn’t going to change.<\/p>\n
WINNERS: KEISEAN NIXON, NATE HOBBS, CARRINGTON VALENTINE<\/p>\n
Many expected the Packers would draft a cornerback in the early rounds to upgrade a solid, but far from spectacular group. Instead, Green Bay didn’t draft a corner until it took Micah Robinson in Round 7.<\/p>\n
So for now anyhow, the Packers are all in on the trio of Nixon, Hobbs and Valentine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel pretty good about our group right now,\u201d Gutekunst said. \u201cThe guys that we have in that room, they\u2019ve got some pelts on the wall, so to speak, as far as what they\u2019ve been able to do in the National Football League.\u201d<\/p>\n
LOSER: RASHEED WALKER<\/p>\n
Green Bay used its second round draft pick on offensive lineman Anthony Belton, who can play both tackle and guard. After the draft, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said they\u2019d like to find out if Belton can play left tackle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith his size and length, you certainly want to see if he can do tackle, and he has all the athletic ability to do that,\u201d Gutekunst said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this offseason, Gutekunst said Jordan Morgan \u2014 Green Bay\u2019s 2024 first round draft pick \u2014 would battle for the left tackle job in training camp.<\/p>\n
So where does that leave Walker, who has been Green Bay\u2019s left tackle the last two years?<\/p>\n
Walker will certainly get the chance to fight for his job during training camp. But Walker becomes a free agent after this season, and the Packers\u2019 recent moves suggest they\u2019re unlikely to give him a second contract.<\/p>\n
WINNER: THE NFL<\/p>\n
The city of Green Bay shined as it hosted the NFL Draft for the first time ever. And the NFL should have been ecstatic with how things unfolded in one of football\u2019s meccas.<\/p>\n
Approximately 600,000 people attended the draft over the three days \u2014 and that included a rain-soaked afternoon on Friday.<\/p>\n
The first round on Thursday drew a reported 205,000. Friday\u2019s second day drew 175,000, and on a sun-splashed Saturday, the crowd was estimated at a three-day high of 220,000.<\/p>\n
Fans capped off the weekend with a concert by country star Brad Paisley.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat an atmosphere, having the draft here,\u201d Gutekunst said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many cool things that happened that quite frankly I didn\u2019t expect. Yeah, I thought it might just be a nuisance but it was such a cool environment, such a cool thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detroit set the attendance record of 775,000 last year. Green Bay\u2019s total of 600,000 fans tied Nashville, Tenn. (2019) for the second-largest total ever.<\/p>\n
Traffic in the NFL\u2019s smallest city wasn\u2019t an issue. Crowds were festive \u2014 but peaceful. And the three-day party couldn’t have gone much better.<\/p>\n
Green Bay showed it could handle an enormous like the draft, and deserves consideration to host again one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought as far as the operation, I can’t imagine any NFL draft being better than the one we hosted here,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cWhat a great experience. Some really cool moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
WINNER: CLAY MATTHEWS<\/p>\n
Former Green Bay great Clay Matthews has a flair for the dramatic.<\/p>\n
In Super Bowl XLV, with Green Bay\u2019s lead against Pittsburgh slipping away, Packers\u2019 linebackers coach Kevin Greene went to Matthews before the fourth quarter began and said: \u201cIt is time. It is time.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the next play, Matthews forced a fumble by Pittsburgh running back Rashard Mendenhall that Green Bay\u2019s Desmond Bishop recovered.<\/p>\n
As the first night of the draft began, Matthews told a story that left Packer Nation almost as fired up as that play did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just got off the phone with the President, Donald Trump,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cHe asked me to pass a message along to all 32 NFL franchises. My fellow Americans \u2026 the Bears still suck!\u201d<\/p>\n
The hometown crowd erupted. Matthews flexed.<\/p>\n
It was one of the finest troll jobs in recent memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Green Bay Packers fans had a lot to celebrate during an unforgettable weekend. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2072],"tags":[651,7,41,345,2514,2513,3031,701,6,15,428,1902,904],"class_list":{"0":"post-5994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-anthony-belton","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-green-bay","11":"tag-green-bay-packers","12":"tag-greenbay","13":"tag-greenbaypackers","14":"tag-matt-lafleur","15":"tag-matthew-golden","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-nfl-draft","18":"tag-packers","19":"tag-roger-goodell","20":"tag-savion-williams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114413572325835309","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}