Why the Packers drafted an O-lineman and receiver on Day 2, not a pass rusher

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GREEN BAY, Wis. — Maybe the lie detector needle wouldn’t move after all if Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst uttered the line he’s already said multiple times this season.

“I feel very good about the guys we got in the building,” Gutekunst said Friday night when asked about not taking a pass rusher in the first three rounds, before continuing. “We do need to improve with our consistency, but there were times we were pretty dominant this year rushing the passer. We’ve got the whole day tomorrow, too, to see if we can add any competition to that room, but I feel good about those guys on our football team right now.”

After what Gutekunst called an inconsistent season rushing the quarterback, head coach Matt LaFleur fired defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich. Gutekunst said it in some form or fashion at his season-ending press conference in January, then again at the NFL owners meetings in March, then again on Friday after Round 3 of the NFL Draft concluded — that he likes the guys already on the team. Even after LaFleur said the Packers had to change their pass-rush strategy because they couldn’t generate consistent pressure with a traditional four-man rush, instead incorporating more exotic looks and simulated pressures.

Maybe we should’ve believed Gutekunst from the jump since firing a position coach might indicate it’s the coaching and not the players. And who knows, maybe Lukas Van Ness finally breaks out, takes double teams off Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark rediscovers his Pro Bowl form that went missing last season. For now, though, it’s hard for fans to buy what their GM is selling about the pass rush.

Instead of satisfying their thirst for a defensive lineman on Day 2, Gutekunst gave them an offensive lineman and another wide receiver to make it three straight offensive players to start a Packers draft for the first time in five years. Let’s dive into each pick.

Round 2, Pick 54: Anthony Belton, LT, North Carolina State

Belton stands a hulking 6 feet, 6 inches and 336 pounds. He started the last three years at left tackle for the Wolfpack, but the Packers think he can play four positions on the offensive line. That shouldn’t be a surprise because the Packers would rather cease to exist as a franchise than draft an offensive lineman who can’t play at least three.

“I want to put myself in a position where I’m out there being one of the five,” Belton said. “If it’s at guard, I’m going to figure out how to be the best version of myself at guard.”

Belton earned the nickname “Escalade” in college from N.C. State strength coach Dantonio Burnette for his size and mobility, which Gutekunst was drawn to in the pre-draft process.

“Obviously, he’s got great size and he can move people in the run game,” the GM said. “I think down at the Senior Bowl was my first real exposure to him and just seeing him and his ability to pass block, do all the things that I think Matt asks our offensive line guys to do within our scheme. A lot of the movement stuff for a man his size, I think, is what drew us to him.”

Packers second-round pick Anthony “Escalade” Belton has some crazy strength 💪

📺: #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/7Gsx29HvqY

— NFL (@NFL) April 26, 2025

Belton may have the build of a tackle, but Gutekunst said his quickness, bend and power indicate he can play inside, too. That is vital to helping him crack the rotation since Rasheed Walker and Jordan Morgan figure to be the team’s first two options at left tackle. With Aaron Banks starting at left guard, Sean Rhyan or Morgan at right guard and Zach Tom at right tackle, Belton will compete with Kadeem Telfort, Travis Glover and Jacob Monk to be the seventh offensive lineman on the roster.

Looking into the future, it’s possible the Packers won’t re-sign Walker in free agency next offseason because he’s too expensive and they’d have left tackle options on rookie contracts. Whether Morgan starts on quarterback Jordan Love’s blind side or at right guard in that scenario, that might leave a spot at either open for Belton.

“We had a lot of conversations about where we think his best position is,” Gutekunst said. “Whenever you have a guy with that athleticism and that length, you want to start him at tackle, right, and then move him inside. We’ve done that a lot here, where we’ve taken guys that have played tackle in college and moved them inside, but I think he can play both. I mean, because of his size and power and strength and anchor in the pass game, that’s why we think he can play inside.”

The Packers shifted their offensive identity last season with the arrival of a powerful downhill runner in Josh Jacobs, so the additions of mammoths like Belton and Banks (listed at 6 feet, 5 inches and 325 pounds) align with that change. If they can help keep a $220 million quarterback clean, too, that’s even better after a season in which the pass protection wasn’t as good as Love’s low sack numbers made it look.

“When you have a power back like Josh,” Gutekunst said, “the ability to kinda reset the line of scrimmage is certainly something that we’ve talked about and is important to us.”

Added vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan: “It’s the old phrase, ‘big doesn’t get small,’ especially when you play here in the NFC North. We play in the cold and you can wear people down as the season goes along and the elements change. It’s kinda the way we were raised in this thing up here. We want to be big across the front, we want to be physical, we want to be able to overwhelm with size and physicality. That’s what attracted us to (Belton). He’s a good football player and he happens to be a huge man, as well.”

Round 3, Pick 87: Savion Williams, WR, TCU

Gutekunst didn’t think he’d be talking about drafting two wide receivers after Day 2, but there he was. Williams was what Gutekunst called a “staff favorite” for his versatility. At 6 feet, 4 inches and 222 pounds with a 4.48 40 time, Williams looks like your stereotypical outside receiver who can win with speed and also corral jump balls. Not so fast.

He’s more of a gadget piece who took 84 snaps in the backfield at TCU last season as a running back or wildcat quarterback. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler noted how Williams only saw 23 targets that traveled more than 10 air yards and was more an extension of the run game on screens and slants (he caught 60 passes for 10.18 yards per catch and six touchdowns) while averaging eight rushes per game over the season’s final six contests.

“We look at it as a receiver that can do all the things that we ask,” Gutekunst said. “I do think it’s going to be interesting how Matt draws some stuff up … He’s a huge man, but his determination, his ability, his elusiveness, his power, his ability to break tackles, I just thought those were the first things that stuck out to you because they moved him all around in different ways. I thought there was a little bit of a rawness to his game as far as the polish as a route-runner and things like that, but his ability to create separation and get behind guys vertically and catch the football, all those things, I think, he just really seemed to fit what we’re trying to do.”

We going to Green Bay! pic.twitter.com/ye9mLX6eRY

— TCU Football (@TCUFootball) April 26, 2025

The pick was a tad perplexing because of the Packers’ perceived need on the defensive line and what appears to be solid depth at wide receiver. After drafting Williams in the third round on Friday and Matthew Golden in the first on Thursday, the Packers now feature those two plus Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks. And Christian Watson might factor into that group in the second half of the season after returning from his ACL injury.

Even if the pick doesn’t make a ton of sense for 2025 since Reed has done gadget stuff in the past (Williams offers an enticingly different physical profile to do the same, though), it makes sense when considering what the receiver room might look like over the next couple of years. The Packers will likely lose more than one of Watson, Reed, Doubs and Wicks in free agency over the next two offseasons, so adding multiple rookie wide receivers who can learn before having to assume bigger roles in the near future is sensible.

If Williams contributes as a rookie, though, that would be a bonus.

“Everything that my team needs me to do, that’s what I’m doing because that’s what I did my last year at TCU,” Williams said. “They needed me. Our running game wasn’t the best, so they put me back there in Wildcat and ran me and, shoot, that’s what I did to help my team.”

(Photo of Anthony Belton: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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