Green Bay Packers: Draft shows trust in defensive line
By Hunter Noll
The Green Bay Packers only added one piece to their defensive line in the 2018 NFL Draft. This shows trust in their usual names to produce this season.
Okay, first of all, I understand that this is the exact thing I have complained about when it comes to the Green Bay Packers offensive line. They only drafted one player at a “position of need”. There’s one major difference between the defensive and offensive lines that makes this a positive though.
The Packers defensive line added someone who could contribute in a huge when already this offseason. Muhammad Wilkerson isn’t the “monster” he once was stat-wise. He’s only two years removed from a 12-sack season though. At the same time, even if the sacks aren’t there, he’ll take tons of pressure off Mike Daniels. Meanwhile, he could help free up someone like Kenny Clark a lot more.
Those three could form a formidable trio, and Dean Lowry has potential to mix it up as well. James Looney was their lone defensive lineman drafted — and he was taken in the seventh round. Kendall Donnerson was also drafted in the seventh, and could see time on the line as well (although he was a linebacker in college).
The fact that both were taken so late, shows that Green Bay feels comfortable with the players already on their roster.
Now, they could still add someone to the group before the season starts. I wouldn’t be against, but I don’t think it’s completely necessary. Mike Daniels is elite, and Clark and Wilkerson are more-than-solid complimentary pieces. However, adding another true beast to the group would be major.
That being said, secondary was clearly the biggest need. Tramon Williams gave them a mentor at the position, so taking players for him to mentor was clearly the way to go early. Because of that, the defensive line suffering in the draft isn’t much of a surprise.
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While depth is still a little bit of a problem for the Green Bay Packers defensive line, it’s nothing like their offensive line. Therefore, this seems like much more of a showing of faith than a whiff.