It takes at least three years to grade a draft class fully. Concrete judgments must wait until players have time to gain experience, develop their skills, and learn from their mistakes.
That said, some draft picks enter the league with higher expectations than others. First-rounders don't have the luxury of using their entire rookie contract to become reliable starters (unless they are Jordan Love). In today's NFL, teams need fast returns on their biggest investments.
Brian Gutekunst had a tough act to follow after sculpting a draft-weekend masterpiece in 2023, a class featuring Jayden Reed, Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave, and Dontayvion Wicks.
Well, if we ignore Reed and Wicks forgetting how to catch last season.
Could Gutekunst's next act follow suit?
Injuries held the Packers' most recent class back throughout their rookie campaigns, but Gutekunst can enter Year 2 with optimism. Green Bay needs to see more from its 2024 class, but two rising stars give this group home-run potential.
Grading the Packers' 2024 rookie class with one season in the books
Round 1 (25): Jordan Morgan, OL
Packers fans understandably compare Jordan Morgan to cornerback Cooper DeJean, whom the team passed on in favor of the Arizona tackle. DeJean earned all-rookie honors before helping the Philadelphia Eagles dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs with his Super Bowl pick-six.
Morgan's frustrating injury luck prevented him from taking his rookie campaign beyond first gear, but there were positives. Before a preseason shoulder injury, the Packers' first-rounder was on track to win the right guard job ahead of Sean Rhyan. While Morgan only played in six games with one start, Pro Football Focus credited him with zero sacks allowed.
He showed positional versatility in Year 1, although Matt LaFleur hinted at a return to left tackle in 2025.
Grade: C
Round 2 (45): Edgerrin Cooper, LB
Superstar. We could honestly end it there. Edgerrin Cooper was everything the Packers hoped for in his rookie season, and it's clear why so many mock drafts connected him to Green Bay last spring.
A preseason hamstring injury slowed his progress but only delayed the inevitable. By season's end, Cooper had become arguably the Packers' best defensive player. He took home two NFC Defensive Player of the Week awards and one NFC Defensive Rookie of the Month honor, and the rookie made some Packers history along the way.
Cooper dominated in the final month of the season, making one sack, three quarterback hits, eight tackles for loss, one interception, and two pass defenses.
Grade: A
Round 2 (58): Javon Bullard, S
The Packers put a lot on Javon Bullard's plate as a rookie, rotating him between safety and slot corner. His trial by fire totaled 786 defensive snaps — only Xavier McKinney and Keisean Nixon played more. Bullard entered his rookie year with sky-high expectations, but it's fair to say he didn't make the start we hoped.
Bullard's tackling and run defense provided encouragement, but his coverage became a hard watch, and opponents went after him. According to Pro Football Focus, quarterbacks completed 48 of 57 passes for 487 yards and three touchdowns versus Bullard, good for a 119.8 rating.
With McKinney and Williams starting at safety and the Packers presumably planning for Nate Hobbs to play a bunch of nickel snaps, Bullard faces some uncertainty about his role in 2025.
Grade: C
Round 3 (88): MarShawn Lloyd, RB
Six carries — that's all we got to see from the Packers' third-round pick in 2024. Few players endured worse luck than MarShawn Lloyd, who battled injury after injury and, when finally ready to return, suffered appendicitis.
The good news? Lloyd may not have gotten the regular-season snaps he needed, but he did enough to earn glowing reviews from Matt LaFleur at every opportunity.
"When the time is right, we'll certainly let him go out there because he does bring a dimension," said LaFleur. "Just that explosiveness, his ability to run routes, catch balls out of the backfield, that's a little different from the rest of the guys in the group."
Grade: Incomplete
Round 3 (91): Ty'Ron Hopper, LB
Draft analysts blasted the Packers for selecting Ty'Ron Hopper in the third round, especially as he was 190th on the consensus board. The Packers took him almost 100 picks earlier. Uh, well, the analysts might've been right. The rookie played 18 defensive snaps, and it's concerning that even when injuries piled up, Hopper didn't get a chance to sink or swim on defense.
Grade: D
Round 4 (111): Evan Williams, S
Tyler Nubin, Kamren Kinchens, and Jaden Hicks received the most pre-draft love, but the Packers unearthed a star in the fourth round in Evan Williams. He was considered a reach when Green Bay selected him 111th overall, but he quickly silenced those concerns with an impressive training camp and preseason.
Williams saved the best for when the real football began. He made a team-best 10 tackles and a game-winning pass breakup in his first career start to help beat the Los Angeles Rams. He excelled in coverage, tackled well, and provided the consistency at safety Green Bay had lacked after Adrian Amos' departure.
Williams soon became the Packers' preferred starter alongside McKinney and deservedly joined Cooper in the PFWA All-Rookie Team. The Micah Hyde comparisons go beyond wearing the No. 33 jersey.
Grade: A
Round 5 (163): Jacob Monk, OL
It's far too early to make any judgments on Jacob Monk, but it's hardly ideal that the Packers couldn't have kept him any further away from the starting lineup. Monk was a healthy scratch for six games and had to watch Travis Glover and Kadeem Telfort get opportunities before him. Monk has time, but the Packers need more from him in 2025.
Grade: D
Round 5 (169): Kitan Oladapo, S
Kitan Oladapo had to wait until Week 18 to get significant playing time, but he was among the only positives in a loss to the Chicago Bears we will all pretend never happened. The rookie made four tackles and received an excellent 73.9 PFF grade.
Grade: C
Round 6 (202): Travis Glover, T
OK, maybe a D is a little unfair, as Travis Glover played just 13 regular-season snaps before his trial by fire in the playoffs. But it's impossible to ignore that game, considering he had three penalties on just 28 snaps before LaFleur sent him back to the bench.
Grade: D
Round 7 (245): Michael Pratt, QB
Is it a little harsh to give a seventh-round pick an F grade? Maybe, but the reality is that Michael Pratt lost a positional battle to a player not even on the roster. The Packers released him at the end of training camp to make room for the Malik Willis trade.
Grade: F
Round 7 (255): Kalen King, CB
Kalen King turned heads at training camp, including a pick-six on Jordan Love, but he didn't play a single snap all year.
Grade: Incomplete