Green Bay Packers: Re-drafting the 2017 NFL Draft

Round 5: Caleb Brantley, DT, Florida

Packers pick: DeAngelo Yancey, WR, Purdue

This pick made me scratch my head. At the time I wasn’t sure who I wanted the Packers to draft, but I knew it wasn’t Yancey, a receiver from Purdue. Wide receiver is a need heading into this year’s draft so maybe Thompson knew what was coming. That doesn’t make the pick any better.

Brantley was a successful defensive lineman at an SEC school and that’s usually good enough for me. He played in 12 games for the Browns this year and would fill in some of the defensive line depth the Packers were hoping to address when they drafted Adams in the third round. Adams may have a higher ceiling, but Brantley proved to be more durable during his rookie year and I think has a higher floor.

Brantley had two sacks for the 0-16 Browns. When you’re drafting for depth in the fifth round I think that kind of minimal impact is all you can ask for. These guys might not even make your roster, Yancey spent the season on the practice squad, but Brantley likely would have made the roster for the Packers. There are a lot of teams that would probably trade their own fifth-round pick for Brantley if they could.

Round 5: Aaron Jones, RB, UTEP

Packers pick: Aaron Jones, RB, UTEP

Jones was such a pleasant surprise last year that I had to re-draft him here. As great as Kamara is, having Jones as another option is a luxury few teams have. Similar to Brantley, there are a lot of teams that would trade their current fifth-round selection for Jones if they could. He averaged 5.5 yards per attempt behind a banged up offensive line and showed an ability to create good runs from bad situations.

Jones is exceeding expectations, especially if he continues to grow as a player, and could’ve easily gone higher in a league-wide re-draft. He’s the only player I re-drafted that’s actually on the team so we don’t have to imagine what he would be like in green and gold. The Packers got a steal here.