Will the Packers select a wide receiver on Day 2 of 2022 NFL Draft?

The Green Bay Packers appeared poised to use at least one of their first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft on Thursday night to give QB Aaron Rodgers a receiving weapon. Or so we all though. In true Green Bay Packers draft fashion, GM Brian Guntkunst and the rest of the front office decided to, of course, go with two defensive players. Their picks at Nos. 22 and 28 were both in the trenches — LB Quay Walker and DT Devonte Wyatt, both from Georgia.

So that begs the question: Will the Packers take a WR in the second or third rounds?

The easy answer is absolutely. The Packers select at No. 53 and No. 59 in the second round, so chances are one of those picks will be used on a wideout. Would it surprise anyone if the Packers didn’t take a skill position player? Not really. The Packers historically have stuck with the idea of drafting the best available player on their board at any given pick. Green Bay likely won’t stray from that line of thinking, so if there aren’t any wideouts the team likes, chances are the Packers will pass.

This may have been the plan all along for Green Bay. There are plenty of solid wide receivers still on the board. North Dakota State’s Christian Walker, Alabama’s John Metchie III and Georgia’s George Pickens are all high-quality prospects. Pickens and Watson likely make more sense given their size and the Packers need for a more complete wideout. Tyquan Thornton out of Baylor got some hype as a speedster and Purdue’s David Bell has good size as well.

The Packers already have Allen Lazard, Sammy Watkins and Amari Rodgers on the roster at wide receiver. None of those players are No. 1 quality. Watkins and Lazard can both be solid second options for QB Aaron Rodgers. The Packers don’t necessarily need a traditional WR1/top option. If a wideout is selected in the second round, that player, plus Lazard, Watkins and TE Robert Tonyan, plus RBs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, make up plenty of offensive weapons.