NFL Network surveyed 27 high-ranking executives, including 17 general managers, for a story posted last week naming early winners for awards such as Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and Executive of the Year.
Lions GM Brad Holmes earned the most votes for the latter with six. Four others received multiple votes and six executives, including Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, received one.
That’s nothing to be up in arms about if you’re a loyal Gutekunst defender since the executives with more votes come from the Lions, Bills, Eagles, Vikings and Rams, but it’s possible Green Bay’s seventh-year GM still doesn’t get the recognition he deserves for building one of the league’s best teams.
The Packers have begun each of the last two seasons as the NFL’s youngest team. And if they beat the Saints on Monday night at Lambeau Field, they’ll have made the playoffs in each of those seasons. You could argue that the last two seasons were the first two in which Green Bay was truly Gutekunst’s team, if only because it was no longer centered on a quarterback he didn’t draft. What the last two seasons have made evident is Gutekunst, 51, has set the Packers up for Super Bowl contention both now and in the future.
“I think Gutey’s done an outstanding job,” head coach Matt LaFleur said Saturday. “He probably doesn’t get enough credit for the job he’s done building our roster and just getting guys in here that love the game of football.”
Adding young players who love football is one thing. Adding ones who can withstand the pressure of playoff-like moments is another. There may not be an exact science to find guys who will impress in November, December and January, but the Packers have done it, nonetheless. At the forefront of Gutekunst’s resume is drafting quarterback Jordan Love, one of the boldest decisions in recent NFL history that seemingly has the Packers set at the position for the next decade-plus. That decision is well-documented, so let’s focus on the rest of the roster.
Priority No. 1 after a team finds its franchise quarterback becomes protecting him. Gutekunst has crafted an offensive line that has helped keep Love relatively untouched this season. The Packers have allowed the second-lowest sack rate in the NFL (3.9 percent) with a left tackle drafted in the seventh round two years ago, a two-time Pro Bowl left guard drafted in the 2019 second round, a center drafted in the 2021 second round, a right guard drafted in the 2022 third round and a right tackle drafted in the 2022 fourth round. Much like at wide receiver, the Packers have been and continue to be one of the NFL’s best teams at finding offensive linemen beyond Day 1 of the draft (the jury is still out on 2024 first-round OL Jordan Morgan, who played only six games this season because of a shoulder injury).
At running back, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Josh Jacobs is good at football, but that has gone down as a home run signing, regardless, especially since it took guts to move on from franchise legend Aaron Jones. What might be more impressive from Gutekunst than signing a player who should be a 2024 Pro Bowler and has changed the Packers’ offensive identity to a more physical one is what he’s done elsewhere at the position. Instead of AJ Dillon (season-ending neck injury) and rookie third-rounder MarShawn Lloyd (every injury imaginable this season), Jacobs has been complemented admirably by 2023 undrafted free agent Emanuel Wilson from Division II Fort Valley State and Chris Brooks, the second-year undrafted back who the Dolphins waived/injured at final cuts over the summer. And at wide receiver, the Packers have a formidable room without having a bonafide No. 1, courtesy of four players drafted in the second, fourth or fifth rounds in 2022 and 2023.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of great teams here. This is one of the best just based off of just our depth,” said defensive tackle Kenny Clark, the only player on the team not brought in by Gutekunst. “We got a lot of great players at the top of the depth chart and all that kind of stuff, but the more you look at our depth, we got a lot of guys that can play. It hasn’t been like that in years past. So yeah, they been doing a great job of drafting and all that kind of stuff and just bringing some dogs in here.”
Perhaps the biggest knock on Gutekunst through his first couple of seasons as GM was his inability to find anyone worthwhile in the third round. Linebacker Oren Burks, tight end Jace Sternberger, tight end Josiah Deguara and wide receiver Amari Rodgers will make Packers fans wake up at 3:30 a.m. in a cold sweat. But after a six-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances to finish his rookie season, 2022 third-rounder Sean Rhyan has solidified himself at right guard and 2023 third-rounder Tucker Kraft has established himself as one of the NFL’s best young tight ends. Green Bay’s offense ranks No. 7 in points scored per game and doesn’t feature a skill player older than 26, including those two third-rounders. Left guard Elgton Jenkins is the offense’s oldest player at 28.
On defense, Gutekunst has provided first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley with a unit that, in large part because of Hafley, ranks eighth in points allowed per game, tied for ninth in yards allowed per game, ninth in rushing yards allowed per game, fourth in takeaways and eighth in sack percentage. Just like Jacobs, it doesn’t take a genius to discover safety Xavier McKinney, but Gutekunst deserves credit for spending big and finding a player who has become arguably the NFL’s best safety, too.
Yesterday, Rich Bisaccia told us Edgerrin Cooper’s nickname is “Frosty” but wouldn’t reveal why.
Turns out Cooper bought a horse named Frosty when he moved to Green Bay. He has another named Cinco here.
“They just pets right now. All looking good in the front yard.” pic.twitter.com/rNi9nNxhKN
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) December 21, 2024
Clark mentioned the team’s improved depth and it has been players like 2023 sixth-round defensive tackle Karl Brooks, 2023 undrafted defensive end Brenton Cox Jr., veteran special teamer and linebacker Eric Wilson and 2023 seventh-round cornerback Carrington Valentine complementing the likes of McKinney well on that side of the ball.
Despite a lack of big-game and playoff experience for a large portion of Green Bay’s roster — Brooks, Cox and Valentine are just a few — the Packers appear primed to make noise in the postseason for the second consecutive year.
“A lot of them don’t know much about the playoffs and all that kind of stuff and that’s good, too,” Clark said.
“I think our scouts do an outstanding job of going in there and finding what the person’s all about,” LaFleur said, a relevant point considering both Jacobs and free-agent safety Xavier McKinney were captains for their prior teams. “You really want to get guys in here who love to compete, who love the process, that love the game of football because ultimately when you get the right people, you got the best chance for them to realize their potential. Potential is always a scary word and talent is talent, but will guys put in the work and become the best version of them? That’s really all you can ask of anybody is to be your best each and every day, and I think guys that embrace that and come in with the right mindset, the right work ethic, will ultimately be the best version of themselves.”
Gutekunst hasn’t always been the best version of himself. Safety Darnell Savage Jr., a 2019 first-round pick, didn’t get a second contract with the Packers. Cornerback Eric Stokes, a 2021 first-round pick, likely won’t, either. Defensive end Lukas Van Ness, a 2023 first-rounder, has yet to break out. But Gutekunst has made up for his flaws with doubles, triples and home runs on Days 2 and 3 of the draft and even plucking from the XFL (punter Daniel Whelan, anybody?), as well as nailing signings like Jacobs, McKinney and Keisean Nixon in free agency.
It’s why the Packers, with only one offensive or defensive player at least 30 years old (Eric Wilson) after Gutekunst purged the roster of veterans like Rodgers, Jones, left tackle David Bakhtiari, safety Adrian Amos, defensive end Preston Smith and others in recent years, are in one of the best positions in the NFL.
They have their franchise quarterback and he’s only 26. They have an offense and defense built to win now and in the future because of that youth, which is helping the Packers win perhaps ahead of schedule. Are they going to win a Super Bowl under Gutekunst? That’s up for debate, but what’s not is that he’s one of the best in the league at his job.
(Top photo: John Fisher / Getty Images)
