In fact, the second-next-best thing. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, who ran the team’s streak of not making a receiver in the first round of 20 on Thursday, did not wait long to make a move on Friday. He sent both second-round pick (No. 53 and 59) to the Minnesota Vikings for the 34th overall pick to take Christian Watson to host North Dakota State. Watson was the seventh receiver in the draft and the first on Day 2.
1 Relevant Watson became the last second-round pick to be drafted by the Packers, joining Davante Adams (No. 53 overall in 2014), Randall Cobb (No. 64 in 2011) and Jordy Nelson (No. 36 in 2008). – all of which were favorite targets of Star General Aaron Rodgers. “We had a lot of success with second- and third-round receivers in Green Bay,” Rodgers told Pat McAfee’s SiriusXM and YouTube show Thursday night after the Packers missed the first round. “You look at Greg Jennings, Jordi Nelson, Randall Cobb, James Jones in the third round [in 2007], obviously Davante Adams in the second round. “These guys did very well.” Now, Watson just has to figure out how to stick with Rogers, something that used to take time for the young receivers. “I will say I’m ready to work,” Watson said when asked what he would say to Rodgers when they met. “I’m ready to learn and I’m ready to do it. I know he’ll be tough on me and that ‘s exactly what I want. I want someone who will continue to push me to be the best player I can be, and I know that with who he is one of the most important, he will take everything out of me, so he shot, I will tell him that I am ready to work and shoot, I am ready to leave “. Watson’s father, Tim, was the Packers’ sixth qualifying round in 1993 as a security guard. While his father never played for the Packers, he had brief tenures with the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles that spanned a total of 13 games from 1993 to 1997. When asked if his dad still has Packers equipment, Watson said: “I definitely think he has. That was a big achievement for him. It’s his roots, so he definitely keeps it. I’m sure he has a lot of green and yellow around it. home to throw it when he gets home “. The 6-foot-4, 208-pound Watson caught 43 passes for 801 yards with seven touchdowns last season for North Dakota, which won the FCS national title. In four years for Bison, he averaged 20.4 yards per catch and also had two career returns for touchdowns. “His physical qualities and athleticism will make it much easier [to contribute immediately] from someone who is 6 feet, 185 pounds, “said Packers’s director of football operations Milt Hendrickson. he is a great man “. This off-season, the Packers traded Adams, who wanted to leave, to the Las Vegas Raiders. The 53rd option, which was sent to Minnesota, was part of this trade with Las Vegas, along with No. 22 overall. Green Bay also lost receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown at a free agency. The Packers’ top receiver is Allen Lazard, who had 40 catches for 513 yards and eight touchdowns last season. No other sideline right now on the Green Bay roster, including newcomer Sammy Watkins, had 400 yards last season. Green Bay did not have a problem with the receiver on Thursday and instead focused on the defense in the first round by taking a pair of Georgia teammates, using the 22nd overall choice in the defense of Quay Walker and taking the tackle Devende Wyatt at No. 28. The Packers have not selected a wide receiver in the first round since taking Javon Walker of Florida in 20th place overall in 2002. But this is the highest that the Packers have received from the Walker option. Although Hendrickson would not say if the Packers tried to return to the first round on Thursday to select Watson, he did say something his former Baltimore Ravens boss, Ozzie Newsome, said. “I spent many years in Baltimore and [Newsome] he would always say, “A choice is just a choice until he becomes a player,” Hendrickson said. “And in that sense, if you love the player, you just find a way to get him.” Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
