Green Bay Packers - Player News (2024)

Packers selected Penn State CB Kalen King with the No. 255 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

A four-star cornerback from the 2021 prep class, King (5’11/190) has a twin brother, Kobe, who is a starting linebacker for the Nittany Lions. While his brother redshirted as a freshman, Kalen played in 13 games, logging 279 snaps and making one start before taking over a starting role in 2022. King experienced a meteoric sophom*ore year rise allowing a 46% completion rate with a Big Ten leading 21 PBU and three interceptions, while earning the fourth-highest PFF cover grade in FBS. With King having achieved Second Team All-American honors, he projected as a first round selection in almost every prominent mock draft in the country heading into the 2023 season. He failed to deliver on the expectations, allowing a 61% completion rate with a concerning 56th% cover grade and just two PBU in 481 snaps. Exacerbating concerns is King’s 4.61s 40-yard dash. With an average physical profile, King will need to make waves in camp if he intends to carve out a meaningful NFL role.

Packers selected Tulane QB Michael Pratt with the No. 245 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Pratt (6’2/217) saw a significant amount of playing time during his four years at Tulane. As a true freshman, Pratt started nine games and threw for 1,806-20-8, and finished his career with a line of 9,611-90-26 in 46 games. A high rate of fumbles and sacks are two concerning marks on his resumé, but his experience and accuracy – particularly over the last two years – are promising. He could eventually earn a spot as a backup but may need to spend ample time on a practice squad before getting that chance. The Packers will give him time to develop behind Jordan Love to start his career.

Packers selected Georgia State OT Travis Glover with the No. 202 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Glover (6’6/317) is a below-average athlete for an offensive tackle, as evidenced by the 4.71 RAS he produced at his Pro Day. A six-year prospect who spent five seasons as a starter at Georgia State, Glover allowed 11 sacks and 85 pressures per PFF, and also has experience at guard (five games in 2022). He’s shown steady improvement over each season and is a physical blocker who seems to have an affinity for burying his opponent whenever he gets the chance. Glover’s physicality along with his ability to fill multiple positions along the line will make him an intriguing prospect to monitor in camp.

Packers selected Oregon State S Kitan Oladapo with the No. 169 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Oladapo (6’2/216) arrived on campus as a preferred walk-on cornerback and molded himself into the rocked-up, versatile playmaker of today after six years at academies of higher learning. He barely saw game action during his first three years on campus, but in 2021 he ran with his opportunity by recording 68 tackles, 6.0 TFL and 10 PBU to go with 20 stops. Oladapo would post 154 tackles with 16 PBU over the next two seasons, while earning the fifth-highest PFF defensive grade in the nation and number-one run defense grade among all Power Five back line contemporaries in 2023. Oladapo is unusually shifty for his build and can adequately patrol his half of the side of the field in deep coverage. A captain who directs traffic and is a fierce run supporter, Oladapo can be clunky in his transitions and is vulnerable if asked to carry receivers downfield. However, he has an NFL caliber physical profile and could eventually be deployed as a run-down box safety.

Packers traded up with the Bills to select Duke C Jacob Monk with the No. 163 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Packers sent picks 168 and 219 to the Bills for a chance to take Monk (6’3/308) at No. 163. Monk is a rare five-year starter, who started all 12 games as a true freshman for the Blue Devils in 2019. After opening his career at right tackle, Monk moved to right guard for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, and split time at guard and center in 2022. Of the 59 games he’s appeared in, Monk played 47 games somewhere along the interior. He received Second-Team All-ACC honors in 2023. An elite athlete who earned a 9.74 RAS at the NFL Scouting Combine, Monk has the experience and makeup to carve out a career as a backup, who can fill in at both guard positions and center.

Packers traded up with the Jets to select Oregon S Evan Williams with the No. 111 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

A bay area native with a mid three-star recruiting profile, Williams (5’11/206) initially enrolled at nearby Fresno State where he earned five starts as a true freshman despite enrolling in July 2019. He proceeded to become a fixture in the Bulldogs’ lineup for the next three years, recording 185 tackles and 11.0 TFL while receiving All-MWC recognition in each. Williams grad-transferred to Oregon for his final year and didn’t skip a beat despite the jump in competition. The Second Team All-Pac-12 safety led the Ducks with 82 tackles while wreaking havoc in blitz packages with 4.5 sacks. Oregon HC Dan Lanning split his reps pretty evenly across the formation, logging a career-high 165 slot snaps as opposed to his previous strong safety-heavy usage at Fresno State. Williams profiles as a hard-hitting enforcer who is ill-suited to carry receivers down the field and struggled to make plays on the ball at Oregon.

Packers selected Missouri LB Ty’Ron Hopper with the No. 91 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Hopper (6’2/231) was named a captain leading into 2023 and was reasonably productive over his first 10 games until sustaining a shoulder injury that cost him the remainder of the year. He managed to record 55 tackles, 6.0 TFL, and 3.0 sacks in that time frame while receiving Second Team All-SEC honors for his play. He’s most comfortable bringing heat up the middle and breaking forward in run support, but his fills can be inconsistent and he’s lacking the upper body mass to stand up to pulling linemen. While Hopper has the juice to run with both running backs and tight ends, he can sometimes abandon his coverage area in the zone. A weakside linebacker with ample special teams experience, Hopper has the athleticism to carve out a role in the NFL and possibly challenge for regular playing time if he can take to NFL coaching.

Packers selected USC RB MarShawn Lloyd with the No. 88 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

And just like that, the Packers have re-crowded their remade, Josh Jacobs-led backfield. Spending all but one of his college seasons at South Carolina, Lloyd (5’9/220) redshirted his freshman season due to a torn ACL and transferred to USC for an efficient 2023. He rushed for 820 yards and nine touchdowns on 116 carries, adding 13 receptions for 232 yards. Lloyd was the lead back for Lincoln Riley, complementing Caleb Williams’ quarterback play with chunk gains and pass-catching utility. He ran a 4.46 40-yard dash at the combine, showcasing above-average speed for a back of his size. Lloyd’s athleticism and ability to make tacklers miss in the open field should make him a contributor as both a rusher and a pass-catcher, though, with fewer than 300 carries to his name in college, he may be viewed as a committee back at the NFL level. Third downs will undoubtedly be where he begins his NFL career.

Packers selected Texas A&M LB Edgerrin Cooper with the No. 45 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Cooper (6’2/230) arrived in College Station as a four-star recruit during the tumultuous 2020 pandemic campaign and took a redshirt before assuming a more prominent role the following year. His redshirt freshman year started slowly with Cooper recording just six stops and seven missed tackles through the first five games. He flipped the switch down the stretch though, posting 22 stops and just two missed tackles in his last seven contests to garner SEC All-Freshman Team recognition. He slid into a starting role in 2022 and was productive enough to accrue 61 tackles, 8.0 RFL and five PBU for a decent 66th% PFF defensive grade. However, that was just a warm-up act for his terrific 2023 with Cooper accumulating 17.0 TFL, 56 stops (5th in P5) and 27 pressures (7th in P5) while earning First Team All-American accolades for his accomplishments. His 91st percentile PFF defensive grade was the highest mark of any linebacker in the nation, with Cooper emphatically staking his claim as the top linebacker in the SEC. The Covington, LA product dazzled Combine onlookers with a blazing 1.54s 10-yard split (95th%) and 4.51s 40-yard dash (97th%). Cooper’s 34” arms are unnaturally long for off-ball duty, but his 7.20s 3-Cone is a middling 58th% time and he chose not to bench. Cooper Led LBs in sacks thanks to advanced quickness and get-off off which helps to offset his height. Despite verified elite athleticism, he could use another 5-10 pounds to handle the rigors of the NFL game. Very crafty when diagnosing run concepts and works around blocks efficiently, but isn’t going to stun blockers with his power. Born hitter with sideline-to-sideline speed and range who wants to deliver a crushing blow every play. Cooper is one of the premier linebackers in the 2024 group and is well-equipped to be a key cog in the middle of an NFL defense.

Saints traded up with the Packers to select Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry with the No. 41 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Saints moved into the 41st spot and sent picks 45, 168, and 190 back to the Packers to land McKinstry (5'11/196). McKinstry excelled as a two-way CB/WR and state-champion basketball player who scored over 1,000 points in his high school career. McKinstry pulled off the rare Alabama feat of starting six games as a true freshman (479 snaps) but proved the decision to be warranted by being named to the Freshman All-SEC Team. The five-star prodigy fulfilled his potential in 2022, leading the SEC with 16 PBU while earning First Team All-SEC and Second Team All-American honors. PFF graded him above the 75th percentile in every relevant phase of the game, with Kool-Aid allowing a scorching 2.6 yards per target and a 36% completion rate. Arguably the 2024 NFL Draft CB1 heading into this season, McKinstry allowed 37 receptions on 80 targets in 2022. He managed to cut that number in half to 19 catches allowed on 39 targets while ranking fifth nationally with .35 receiving yards allowed per coverage snap. A right foot ailment shelved him for the Combine, but he ran a strong 4.47s 40-yard dash (78th%) at his pro day, though a pair of uninspiring jumping tests and no agility testing means we have an incomplete athletic profile to work with from a testing perspective. Is more instinctive in zone diagnosing route concepts as opposed to being a pugnacious in-your-face man corner. McKinstry profiles as a solid all-around player who doesn’t possess supersonic long speed but has a firm grasp of the nuances of the position and also can return kicks.