The Green Bay Packers had one pick in round six and two in round seven to conclude the 2017 NFL Draft.
Frankly, I am exhausted and so we’re cramming all three of these guys into one post. Here’s who they are and what we know.
Sixth Round — Kofi Amichia, Center, South Florida
The Packers certainly could use some depth on the offensive line. They could also use a true backup center, now that J.C. Tretter is a Cleveland Brown. Corey Linsley has had his share of injuries. Amichia would appear to be that insurance policy.
Here’s the thing…
There’s his height and weight, but there’s no other information available on him via the league’s official site. There isn’t much info elsewhere either.
Essentially, another completely off-the-radar prospect that the Packers think they’ve unearthed. They were among five teams who showed interest at South Florida’s pro day. Amichia actually performed pretty well there, but you can see what the league thinks of him, since he wasn’t invited to the combine.
Seventh Round — Devante Mays, Running Back, Utah State
Well, the Packers certainly have a surplus of running backs now. None of them are the running backs we wanted, but they’re running backs nonetheless.
Mays joins fellow draftees Jamaal Williams (fourth round) and Aaron Jones (fifth round) as new Packers running backs. They’ll get to compete for roster spots and playing time with Ty Montgomery, Christine Michael and Don Jackson.
At least one of the draftees is going to have a tough time making the roster.
Regardless, Mays is a bull at 5’11”, 230 and despite that size and his muscular build, he ran a 4.5 40. The reasons he was sitting there in the seventh round is his 2016 season was limited to just 37 carries because of an ankle injury.
If he’s healthy, Mays has the ability to stick. The player isn’t similar, but this pick is similar to when the Packers drafted James Starks in round six back in 2010 after he had missed his senior season because of a shoulder injury.
Seventh Round — Malachi Dupre, Receiver, LSU
Dupre is an athlete. He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school and won state championships in the high, triple and long jump. At 6’2″, 196, he has ideal size.
The numbers were never there at LSU, though.
Dupre caught 43 balls for 698 yards and six TDs in 2015. He caught 41 for 593 and three TDs in 2016. It seems most everyone blames Dupre’s lack of production on terrible quarterback play.
There may be some truth to that. If you watch Dupre, he’s the type of receiver who can go up and make a play on the ball.
If anybody can get the most of this guy, it’s Aaron Rodgers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8_agldf20k
This year’s Packers draft is an odd mix of success and failure.
The need at CB was addressed. King should be a great player. The needs at OG and RB were not. (No, taking a 7th round RB in the 4th round and total free agent RBs in rounds 5 and 7 is not addressing the need.)
The success was the first 4 picks, which, of course, are the most important picks.
King was a 11-20 in round one value.
SS Josh Jones I actually had as a Top 10 pick value. Safety may not be a need but if you can get a Top 10 value end of round 2 you do it. Goodbye Barnett after this year.
Adams in the third was a late 2nd value. Of course, any DT drafted by the Packers meets terrible performance or terrible play so this probably won’t end well anyway. I know I know, “what about Mike Daniels?” Hey, there is a reason he employs a part time voodoo witch doctor. Do you really think he would be so good without the voodoo witch doctor?
Biegel was round three value in the 4th. Good pick good guy.
Then… the wheels fell off.
The second 4th rounder was really a 7th rounder taken three rounds too early.
The first 5th rounder should not have been drafted.
The second 5th rounder should not have been drafted.
The first 6th rounder should not have been drafted.
The second 6th rounder was worth a shot.
The seventh rounder was actually worth a 6th rounder.
So, overall, a very good draft for the Packers in blunt value but with the greater majority of needs not addressed and with the mid to later round picks frittered away. With King and Jones I have to give it a better than average grade but there were quite a few big fish that got away.
I will also throw this out there: What if the Packers took Cook or Mixon top of round 3? After them no other RB was close in potential. But there were quite a few good CBs. But… Josh Jones was a total steal.
I would have taken Mixon at #33. Then Josh Jones, yes. Then, in round 3, CB Cordrea Tankersley. He is as good a value as Kevin King, worth a #1 pick in 11-20 range. So, basically, you are swapping Montravius Adams for Joe Mixon. When Adam was taken there were lots of better value DTs available. Instead of squandering a pick on Jamaal Williams — no longer needed with Mixon (or Cook) on board, a DT better than Adams could have selected. I would have taken Carlos Watkins there. Would you rather have Mixon/Cook and Watkins or Jamaal Williams and Adams? That is a rhetorical question.
B- (Really could have been an A+, the players were there ripe for the plucking)
Was great to see Jim Taylor announce pick on Friday night…. what an amazing player !
Sadly i heard that even Packers “fans” present at the draft didn’t know who he was.
This is a Hall of Famer, the only guy to beat Jim Brown for a rushing title
I assigned draft slot worth and a point value to each player. There were four slots in round 1 (Top 5, Top 10, 11-20, Late 1st), 2 slots in round 2 (Early 2nd and Late 2nd), and then all other rounds stand alone. 7th round value picks worth 1 point, 6th worth 2 points, 5th worth 4 points, 4th worth 8 points, etc. The point increase was more gradual in the 2nd and 1st.
Packers picks — after trades were all said and done — had a total value of 100 if corresponding players were taken. They ended up obtaining 201, a little more than double value. That is quite good. They were able to obtain a Top 10 player and one worth 11-20 range in round one. The Josh Jones pick alone was responsible for 62 points of the 101 point overage. The pick was worth 24 in my system but the player was worth 86.
The Vikings had a draft value for picks of 78 so they were at a 22 point disadvantage to the Packers. Not surprising considering no 1st round pick. However, they achieved a whopping 218 point haul, very nearly tripling value. Cook was a +18 pick, Elflein was a +16, Isadora a +28, Bucky Hodges a whopping +66, and Elijah Lee in the 7th a +15. Another way of looking at it is that the Vikings, with no round 1 pick but extra 3rds and 4ths entering the draft, emerged with an 11-20 1st rounder, a late 1st rounder, 2 early 2nd rounders, a 3rd, and a 4th, among others. Very great work work by Trader Rick (who made 7 trades — out of 39 total trades during the entire draft among the 32 teams).
Despite the original disadvantage the Vikings were able to improve their team more than the Packers. Packers did well, just not nearly as well. Combine that with a better free agency than the Packers and, hopefully, a return to injury equilibrium and equality, and it looks very promising for the division to be taken by the Vikings.
After exhaustingly crunching the #’s. If the Vikings can start 5-0 again, they have a 2.184% probability of getting into the playoffs.
SKOL!
Monty, I thought you quit your own site! I was about to never post on this site again but, since you’re back, I have now signed up for at least another 18 months.
So they did end up giving you 18 more months of the State assisted internet access program. I told you. keep applying.
I’m glad it worked out for you.
You just have to see how all the picks develop. No way can anyone determine how well the draft picks are going to project to the pro game and how well the coaching staff develops players.
As an example I will use the Vikings draft last year. A few self professed draft experts indicated in part the following:
KILLER
05/03/2016 at 10:29 am
I am used to rude belligerent nonsensical Packers fans but, even so, you really take the cake. To error on the side of kindness, I will just attribute this overwhelming hostility and poor sportsmanship to your having consumed too many bratwurst far past their freshness date.
In a few years we can revisit this conversation. Trust me, the Vikings draft will be the clear winner. As per expertise, neither of us are professional scouts obviously, but the things you say could apply just as well to yourself. Are you conscious of your hypocrisy or does that escape you?
Consistently the Vikings draft has received higher grades than the Packers draft from experts. You may not consider Mike Mayock or Mel Kiper and so forth experts but surely even you can admit they know more than you about prospects? I don’t know, maybe you can’t see that. Common sense seems like rare sense to a fellow like you.
Now, we are obviously both a little biased being fans of our teams. I felt the Vikings beat the Packers in every round and you obviously feel the opposite.
Thinking about this I saw a Bleacher Report article by Chris Roling grading every pick in the draft. I did not “shop around” I just took from that one as a sort of “tie breaker”. As far as I know Roling has no preference for Vikings or for Packers or against either. He gave no Fs and very few Ds.
Round 1 = He gave Treadwell a B+ and Clark a C+.
WINNER: Vikes.
Round 2 = He gave Spriggs an A- and Alexander an A. (He judged the players and did not facotr in the Packers gave up a 4th and a 7th to get Spriggs. If that was factored in he likely would have given it a C+)
WINNER: Vikes.
Round 3 = He gave Fackrell a B+. No Viking pick this round. However, wouldn’t you happily give up Fackrell for Moritz Boehringer + a 3rd and a 4th next year? If you wouldn’t then truly there is something wrong with your brain.
WINNER = Vikes.
Round 4 = He gave Beavers a B and Martinez a B and Lowry a C-. So Beavers and Martinez are a tie and the Packers had an extra 4th rounder. But they squandered it on Lowry, just threw it away. Remember, a C- from Roling is like anyone else’s F.
WINNER = We’ll call this round a tie then.
Round 5 = He gave the Brothers pick an A and the Davis pick a C-.
WINNER = Vikes by a mile.
Rounds 6 and 7 = Roling gave the Packers single pick a B (which I totally agree with). He gave the Vikings picks C, C-, C-, and a B+. I very much disagree with the Cs there but, hey, I am no expert right, fellow non-expert? Still, one of the Vikes picks is rated higher than the Packers pick soooooo
WINNER = Vikes.
So here we have someone with no horse in the race who spends far more time than either of us analyzing prospects.
This article addresses how the Vikings draft picks worked out last year. The initial grades by the so called experts were not realized on the field.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2017/04/zulgad-underwhelming-opening-vikings-2016-draft-class-flopped-first-year/
You just have to wait a year or two to see how your draft really goes. Most of the time you cannot trust those so called experts. One thing they do not judge is the ability of the positional coaches in the coaching staff to get players ready even if they are not rated as high as the Vikings on draft day.
Way to keep hold of my posts, Howard!
I stand by the post. Although you kept my post you did not read it or fully understand it. For instance, you missed the part that said “In a few years we can revisit this conversation”. It has been one year, not yet a few years. We really can’t say yet which team had the better draft as a matter of fact. I estimated the Vikings did and still feel that way.
Not much has happened yet with that Vikings draft class. But keep in mind the Vikings have a deeper more talented team and don’t usually go into the draft with huge gaping holes waiting for any drafted player to step in and “be productive” to some degree even if they play poorly. That is one of the key differences in how the Vikings and Packers are run. We don’t even expect draft picks to play year one. If they do it is a happy surprise and they have earned it.
You seem to think last year’s Packers draft beat the Vikings draft in performance:
Granted, Treadwell hardly played but he was just 20 and still recovering from a nasty foot injury we were aware of when we drafted him. Clark did nothing. A street free agent would have played better than him. So that is a push even after one year.
Alexander also took a red-shirt-type teaching year and is now set to be our third corner possibly. We’ll see if Newman is the nickel or Alexander is. Meanwhile Spriggs was very poor his rookie year. So this is a push so far.
Fackrell may become a good player but basically had no impact last year. Vikes gave away their 3rd last year and obtained a 3rd and 4th this year. The 4th enabled us to trade up and get Dalvin Cook. Huge. The 3rd was used in various trades and by extension trades ultimately becoming a 4th, a 5th, and a couple 7ths. These became DT Jaleel Johnson, OG, Danny Isadora, DE Ifedi Odenigbo, and LB Elijah Lee. Johnson alone will end up having a better career than Fackrell in my best guess estimation. So, yes, looks like Vikes “won” round three last year.
Martinez and Lowry? Are you kidding me? On the other hand it sure looks like our guy Beavers is going to be a bust. I normally like Beavers but not bad Beavers. If you know what I mean. OK, gonna have to give, preliminarily, round 4 of 2016 to the Packers.
Vikes won round 5. Davis is nothing and Brothers made the all special teams team. Currently a back-up (like almost all 1st year players are meant to be) he is crucial for our special teams and makes a big difference.
Later round picks Vikes had 4 to Packers 1. Packers got a back up offensive lineman who has not yet shown anything special. The Vikings got 3 back-ups who made the roster and a practice squad player. Morgan, back up TE, was used a lot for blocking and has a good role going forward taking over for Rhett Ellison. DE Weatherly has almost exactly the same physical tools as the amazing incredible wonderful Danielle Hunter. And he has the same coaches as Hunter! SS Jayron Kearse has an extremely high ceiling. He is basically Obi Melifonwu one year ahead of Obi Melifonwu. So, yeah, Vikings certainly seem to have won rounds 6 and 7 in last year’s draft over the Packers.
But, really, as I originally stated “In a few years we can revisit this conversation”. Patience, Howard. Bring this up again maybe in 2019.
I don’t keep anything. There is a search section on this site as is usual on most sites. I just remember you debating with Phatgzus last year and as usual your take was wrong. So what do you think of that unbiased article that I attached. We know you are biased, and do not know anything about how this or any years drafts are going to play out for any team. Even though you tried to show you did last year and in your first comment above.
I know the Packers draft last year performed better than the Vikings draft class just look at snaps played on offense and defense during the regular season. The snaps in the playoffs are also critical and I believe the Packer rookies far exceeded the Vikings in playoff snaps. I know the Vikings didn’t make the playoffs. Maybe if the Vikings rookie class had performed as you had hoped they would have. The Packer rookies contributed to the team going to the playoffs something the Vikings rookies didn’t achieve.
By the way I’m not the one who brings up the draft it is you. Someone just has to remind you how blinded you are by your biases.
OoooooooooKaaaaaaaaay, Howard.
You are critical of self-professed draft experts yet you cite on in the included article. I cited some in my post to show I was not alone in feeling the Vikings did better in the 2016 draft than did the Packers. That was not convincing to you but now, when one other one says something you agree with, that is oh so very convincing. You must watch FOX news.
Two points you keep not getting:
1. TT and MM create vacuums at some positions, do not fill them via free agency, and draft for those positions. Rookies walk into gaping holes where they are forced to get playing time. Clark and Lowry would not have seen the field on other teams. Same thing Martinez. Fackrell was actually drafted at a position with competition so, what happened? No playing time. Same thing Spriggs and Murphy. Show me a Packers rookie who beat out an established veteran? Twernt none. Playing time means nothing unless the play is above average. Who was above average for the Packers from the 2016 draft class? No one. None. Zilch.
Sure, we can say much the same for the Vikings as is. But remember, we are not designed to desperately start unready rookies. I’d say our 5th rounder Kentrell Brothers via special teams coverage work alone, had more of a positive impact last year than the Packers entire draft class. Kearse was also great on special teams and has amazing potential. Morgan was a great blocker.
Yeah, one year in the Vikings 2016 draft does beat the Packers even though they did little. Which brings me to…..
2. I’ll just have to keep saying it: “In a few years we can revisit this conversation”. Patience, Howard. Bring this up again maybe in 2019. I think the more years pass the even more obvious it will be the Vikings draft was better than the Packers draft.
By the way, Vikings excellence over the Packers happened yet again this year in the 2017 draft.
Howard likes to school killer in an analytical fashion.
I don’t read killers articles, so my style is a little more direct and condescending. Sure…i could read killers drivel and counter point them. But i learned long ago, that it isn’t worth the time and being dumbed down.
Either way, he’s getting schooled. But he keeps coming back. Sad as that may be for him. Even i sometimes can’t help but feel sorry for him that he doesn’t have anything better to do in his life.
Thanks Howard. Great research.
I’d give this draft a B. I loved the first four picks but drafting 3 running backs late, come on. Use those late rounders to get another corner or another offensive lineman.