From an overall standpoint, Brian Gutekunst has done a solid job as it pertains to the NFL draft since taking over as general manager of the Green Bay Packers in 2018, which makes sense seeing as how he started his career with the franchise as a scout in 1999 and was the team's director of college scouting from 2012 to 2015.
That said, however, there's no getting around the reality that the Packers' 2021 draft class wasn't Gutekunst's best effort. The fact of the matter is this. Of the nine players taken by Green Bay that year, the only one still with the team is linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, who was taken in the sixth round at No. 220 overall. So, that pretty much tells you all you need to know.
Now, we could dive into each of the other eight selections and find plenty to criticize on every single one of them. But we'll instead keep our focus on just one, that being wide receiver Amari Rodgers, a pick that continues to look worse and worse with each passing year.
The Packers opted to draft Amari Rodgers over Nico Collins and Amon-Ra St. Brown
Recently, Bleacher Report's Damian Parson compiled a list of the eight biggest steals of the 2021 NFL Draft heading into 2025 training camp.
And unsurprisingly, included in those eight were wide receivers Nico Collins and Amon-Ra St. Brown, both of whom are unquestionably among the elite at their position at this point.
Of the two, Collins went off the board first during the 2021 draft, going in the third round at No. 89 overall to the Houston Texans, with whom he's recorded 218 receptions for 3,230 yards and 18 touchdowns over the last four years. The Michigan alum was snubbed from the Pro Bowl following a 1,297-yard season in 2023 but did earn his first nod this past year despite missing five games.
St. Brown, whose brother, Equanimeous, was a sixth-round selection of the Packers in 2018, fell to the fourth round, going to the Detroit Lions at No. 112 overall.
With a clear chip on his shoulder, the USC product came to the Motor City and contributed immediately, catching 90 passes for 912 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie. And in the three years since, he's tacked on an additional 340 receptions for 3,939 yards and 28 scores, earning three straight Pro Bowl selections, also being named a First-Team All-Pro in each of the last two seasons.
As the Packers held the No. 85 overall pick in 2021, moving up seven spots after making a trade with the Tennessee Titans, they obviously had the chance to take either one of these guys. Instead, though, they opted for Amari Rodgers.
Now, to be fair, the pick didn't look all that bad at the time, as Rodgers was coming off a solid senior season at Clemson in 2020, recording an ACC-best 77 receptions for 1,020 yards with seven touchdowns.
Green Bay didn't necessarily need to take a wideout that early, as the receiver room at that time included the likes of Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, among others. And it was bolstered even further when the team reacquired Randall Cobb just ahead of the preseason, clearly a move to make Aaron Rodgers happy.
As such, Rodgers didn't see much time as a receiver as a rookie, getting only eight targets and catching just four passes for 45 yards. He was, however, utilized often on special teams, recording a combined 31 kickoff and punt returns for 365 yards.
Even with Adams out of the picture the following season, Rodgers' position on the depth chart at receiver didn't really change, as the Packers used two of their first five picks in the 2022 draft on receivers, selecting Christian Watson in Round 2 and Romeo Doubs in Round 4.
Rodgers remained Green Bay's top punt returner but developed an issue where he couldn't hang on to the football, fumbling five times in 10 games, at which point he was benched.
And just two days later, he was released, thus ending his career in Green Bay with eight receptions for 95 yards and zero touchdowns as a receiver, 57 combined kick/punt returns for 626 yards and no scores, and seven fumbles.
Oddly enough, Rodgers was picked up by the Texans, thus becoming teammates with Collins, and tallied 12 catches for 154 yards in six games with Houston, including his first and what turned out to be his only NFL touchdown.
He appeared in three games for the Indianapolis Colts in 2023 before being waived midway through the season, and spent the last two years with the UFL's Birmingham Stallions.
It's obviously impossible to know if Nico Collins and Amon-Ra St. Brown would be the superstars they are today had they been drafted by the Packers. But one can't help but imagine what could have been.