Packers: Ranking 10 best and worst moves of Gutekunst’s tenure

No. 5 best: In-season additions

Gutekunst has correctly been criticized for failing to make trades at the deadline for desperately needed help. The Packers routinely balk at any and all opportunities to make their roster better even after having half the season to tell them exactly what it is they may need. The exact same situation arose again this past year, when the Packers passed on the chance to trade for either Will Fuller or Dalvin Tomlinson.

However, when it comes to scouring the waiver wire, Gutekunst has been quite effective. While in charge, he’s brought in Pleasant, Williams, Breeland, Tyler Ervin, Tavon Austin, Damon Harrison, and Jared Veldheer, among others in-season. While he is most unwilling to take the big swing so often necessary to get the Packers over the hump, he can’t be completely accused of resting on his laurels.

No. 5 worst: Not improving defensive line

There is no more familiar feeling among Packer fans than seeing an opposing running back pick up six yards on first-and-10. Year after year, game after game, snap after snap, the front seven of the Packers hemorrhages yards left and right. It singe-handedly lost them multiple playoff games against the 49ers twice, and virtually every loss the Packers have suffered in the regular season over the last two years centers around their inability to win at the line of scrimmage.

Keeping Dean Lowry as a starting defensive lineman after the embarrassment against the 49ers in the playoffs was a pathetically poor decision by management. Lowry has been the worst starting defensive lineman in the NFL for two years, and how he remained one of the central figures across the front seven this past year is completely inexplicable.