The Green Bay Packers were one of the big winners back during the 2018 NFL Draft. They entered the draft with the No. 14 overall pick but made multiple trades on draft night up and down the board.
The first trade was with the New Orleans Saints, who moved up to No. 14, trading away Nos. 27 and 147 in the 2018 NFL Draft, along with a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. With that pick, the Saints selected defensive end Marcus Davenport. The Packers didn’t stay at No. 27 very long, as they made another deal with the Seattle Seahawks.
Green Bay sent No. 27, No. 76 and No. 186 to Seattle in exchange for No. 18 and No. 248. With the No. 18 overall pick, the Packers selected cornerback Jaire Alexander out of Louisville, who has turned into a star. The Seahawks ended up selecting Rashaad Penny at No. 27.
Alexander has proven to be one of the best selections of that draft class, as he is in the discussion for the best cornerback in the NFL. In a recent top-100 player rankings piece, he came in at No. 21 with only Patrick Surtain II of the Denver Broncos and Sauce Garner of the New York Jets ranking ahead of him.
Given how much success that he has found, it should come as no surprise that Alexander doesn’t last until No. 18 in a redraft of that year’s selections by Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report. He is actually the fourth player off the board, going to the Cleveland Browns, who selected Denzel Ward originally.
At No. 18, where the Packers ended up picking, the Seahawks filled their running back need by selecting Nick Chubb, who was originally a second-round pick. With the No. 14 overall pick, their original selections before trades were made, the Packers picked a running back of their own, landing Saquon Barkley.
At the time, the Packers’ backfield was lacking explosive options, ranking 22nd in the league in rushing. Barkley, who won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award and compiled over 2,000 total yards as a rookie, would have certainly been a dynamic weapon to add alongside Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and a yet-to-fully-emerge Aaron Jones.
