No NFL team has made more draft picks than the Packers since 2022

Due to those two reasons, the 2022 through 2024 drafts — the first three drafts since NIL was passed — have been flooded with more players with significant playing time under their belts and fewer underclassmen declaring. In 2024, only 58 underclassmen declared for the NFL draft, compared to 130 in 2021. Rarely are players who are expected to be taken outside of the top 100 actually leaving college football now, making the market similar to how it was nearly two decades ago — before the rookie wage scale.

Despite that, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has stated over the past few offseasons that he believes that these factors present opportunities for the team to find value. On Day 3 of the 2024 draft alone, the Packers traded up twice in the fourth and fifth rounds for Oregon safety Evan Williams and Duke offensive lineman Jacob Monk, which signals that the team had much higher grades on the prospects than the draft slots they were taken at. Gutekunst also mentioned in his post-draft press conference that all five of the players that Green Bay selected in the first two days of the 2024 draft — Arizona tackle Jordan Morgan, Texas A&M linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, Georgia safety Javon Bullard, USC running back Marshawn Lloyd and Missouri linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper — received first- or second-round grades from the scouting department.

So if Gutekunst really does believe that these post-NIL draft classes have extra "juice" in them until the players who were present for the 2020 Covid season are cycled out, you would expect him to have a lot of at-bats over these years, right? Well, the numbers tell us that has been Green Bay's plan over the past three seasons.

From 2022 to 2024, no team has drafted more players than the Packers, who have picked 35 total prospects. For perspective, the Miami Dolphins have only selected 15 over that period of time. While the Aaron Rodgers trade has boosted the number of high draft picks that Green Bay has owned over these three years, only one NFL team — the Los Angeles Rams — has made more draft choices on Day 3 of the draft (24) than the Packers (22).

NFL Draft Picks (2022-2024)

Green Bay's roster was so full of draft picks by the end of the 2024 draft that the team only had room to sign seven undrafted free agents on its 90-man roster. When our staff made its 53-man roster predictions this week, four 2022-2024 draft picks were considered firmly on the Packers' roster bubble while two others — receiver Grant DuBose and defensive lineman Jonathan Ford — failed to make any of the six writers' projected final roster. That's beyond running back Lew Nichols III and linebacker Tariq Carpenter, two former draft picks whom the team has already parted ways with.

Over the 2022-2023 classes, the team has drafted several contributors on Day 3 of the draft, showing proof of concept of Gutekunst's belief. In 2022, the Packers added starting receiver Romeo Doubs, starting right tackle Zach Tom, starting left tackle Rasheed Walker and rotational pass-rusher Kingsley Enagbare in the fourth through seventh rounds. Last year, Green Bay was able to steal receiver Dontayvion Wicks, defensive Karl Brooks and cornerback Carrington Valentine on Day 3 — who, like kicker Anderson Carlson, will be battling for playing time going into the summer.

Take your guess at who the Packers' Day 3 contributors will be out of the 2024 class. Maybe it's safeties Evan Williams and Kitan Oladapo, who if they step up could allow second-round defensive back Javon Bullard to play the nickel position. Maybe it's Jacob Monk, the versatile offensive lineman who can help the team at either center or guard depending on how they want to reshuffle their offensive line. Maybe it's cornerback Kalen King, who went from a rumored first-round pick after the 2022 season to a seventh-round pick after his junior year at Penn State.

At this point, though, Gutekunst's high-volume approach to these "juiced" draft classes seems to be working so well that you have to assume at least one of these players will be a pleasant surprise next season.