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Evan Williams and Edgerrin Cooper lead the way for Green Bay’s rookie class
We’re only a couple of weeks away from the first wave of free agency coming to an end, meaning that we’ll be in full-blown NFL draft mode. As we enter the 2025 offseason, I wanted to take the last couple of moments of calm to reflect on last year’s draft.
Join us as we run through the Green Bay Packers’ 2024 draft picks, their expectations and whether or not they’ve met them. Vote in our poll and drop a line in the comment section below.
Due to injuries or the players not making the 53-man roster, I feel like it’s only fair to give incomplete grades to offensive lineman Jordan Morgan, running back MarShawn Lloyd and cornerback Kalen King. At least the Packers were able to retain King on the practice squad, unlike quarterback Michael Pratt — who was allowed to walk to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ reserve unit.
On the high end, the picks of Edgerrin Cooper, Evan Williams and Kitan Oladapo seem like steals. Cooper likely would have been the defensive rookie of the year in the NFL had he played a full season, based on the impact he had when he was healthy in 2024. Williams is set to be a full-time starter going into his second season, which is unusual for a fourth-round pick. When Williams was down, too, Oladapo did not limit the defense.
I’ll own up to not liking the Ty’Ron Hopper pick at the time of the draft, but it looks even worse now. Despite the Packers’ struggles in the Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson department, the top-100 pick only played 18 defensive snaps — mostly in garbage time — as a rookie.
Unlike Hopper, I did like Jacob Monk’s tape coming out. I thought he would be a useful, undersized center. While Monk had a solid summer, we saw him slowly add healthy scratches down the stretch, opening the door to Travis Glover receiving playing time. When Glover did get on the field, he was a penalty machine and wound up getting benched for Kadeem Telfort, a former undrafted free agent.
Beyond the players who dealt with significant injuries, there’s really only one selection that isn’t trending in a clear positive or clear negative direction: safety Javon Bullard. Bullard, a second-round pick, is sort of wedged into the slot role moving forward because of Xavier McKinney and Williams taking over the starting safety jobs. Whether or not you think that’s a positive result for the 58th overall pick is sort of a Rorschach test.
