GREEN BAY – The Packers' eight-player draft class is set to join the rest of the team this week, as Green Bay's offseason program rolls on.
Here are eight things to know about the draft picks:
- The Steelers now own the NFL's longest streak without taking a receiver in the first round.
The Packers' streak of 22 consecutive years without drafting a receiver in the first round ended last month when they selected Texas' Matthew Golden 23rd overall.
With Green Bay off the board, the Pittsburgh Steelers became the possessors of the NFL's longest streak without drafting a wideout in the first round at 19 years (Santonio Holmes, 2006).
The next closest clubs are the Los Angeles Rams and Houston at 12 years. The Rams selected Tavon Austin eighth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft prior to the Texans taking DeAndre Hopkins at No. 27.
Golden is the first Round 1 receiver the Packers have drafted since Javon Walker in 2002 and fifth since the 1970 merger, joining Barry Smith (1973) and Pro Football Hall of Famers James Lofton (1978) and Sterling Sharpe (1988).
While first-round draft status may trigger external expectations, Golden told reporters at the Packers' rookie minicamp he didn't feel any additional pressure.
"I don't pay no attention to it," Golden said. "I got myself here being myself, so that's all I'm gonna do and I'm gonna come in here and compete and work, just like I did my whole life. So, it's nothing new to me. I'm just happy to be here."
- Anthony Belton is one of the largest offensive linemen the Packers have ever drafted.
Listed at 6-foot-6, 335 pounds, Anthony Belton is the heaviest offensive linemen that Green Bay has drafted since Will Whittaker in 2005 and tallest since Breno Giacomini in 2008.
Among Packers draft picks on the offensive line who played in regular-season games, only Whittaker (338 pounds) was heavier than Belton and only Bill Hayhoe (6-8), Gary Hoffman (6-7), John Michels (6-7) and Giacomini (6-7) were taller.
Belton puts that size to use, too. He was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference third team in 2023 after registering 51 pancake blocks and then added another 35 this past year.
The Packers' second-round pick developed rapidly into his body during high school and has learned over time how to use his imposing size to engulf the competition.
"In my opinion, a pancake block is the equivalent of a receiver getting a touchdown, running back getting a touchdown," Belton said. "That's how it feels for me."
- Savion Williams wants a cheesehead.
It felt like destiny for the former TCU receiver to land with the Packers. A former quarterback who grew up watching Aaron Rodgers, Savion Williams said he kept his fingers crossed that Green Bay would pick him.
While Jordan Love has replaced Rodgers under center, Williams still had two prevailing reasons for wanting to join the Packers: Head Coach Matt LaFleur…and cheeseheads.
"I love being a cheesehead," said Williams during rookie minicamp on May 2.
But does he own one?
"No, I'm buying one before I leave," Williams replied.
- Barryn Sorrell was the only Texas Longhorn to attend the Senior Bowl.
And justifiably so. The Longhorns played 16 games, finishing their season with a 28-14 loss to eventual national champion Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Jan. 10.
Feeling healthy, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive lineman accepted an invite to Mobile and shined. Three months later, Barryn Sorrell flew with his close family to Green Bay for the NFL Draft and was chosen in the fourth round by the Packers.
"Regardless of how long we played, I made that decision once I got the invite," Sorrell said. "I was like, 'This is where the top players are gonna be. I wanna be there and I wanna compete and I wanna show everybody what I'm about.'
"I felt like I had some stuff to prove, and I went out there and did what I expected to do."
- Collin Oliver knew he could play from Day 1 at Oklahoma State.
It's hard to envision a better start to a college career for a pass rusher than the one the Packers' fifth-round pick experienced as a true freshman in 2021.
Collin Oliver led the Big 12 with 15½ tackles for loss and 11½ sacks, which not only shattered the Cowboys' freshman record but also ranks seventh-best in program history for single-season sacks.
Predictably, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound defensive lineman was chosen as the unanimous Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year by the league's head coaches.
"I knew I was a baller. That was never in question," Oliver said. "The scheme that we ran and the coach that we had, everything just worked out well my freshman year. I had great teammates around me. That was a great environment to be a part of."
- Warren Brinson has the personality to match his size.
The 6-foot-5, 310-pound defensive lineman majored in housing management and policy, but Warren Brinson may have a future in broadcasting once his playing days are over.
The Packers' sixth-round pick aspires to possibly work at ESPN someday.
Brinson, who hosted his own "Between the Hedges" podcast during his time at Georgia, even jumped on the CBS Sports set after the Bulldogs won the national championship two years ago.
It led to a viral moment and impromptu interview where Brinson asked questions to analysts Brady Quinn and Danny Kanell about Georgia's win.
"That is the goal," Brinson said. "I didn't have to go get a journalism degree – no knock on you guys, but I want to be on ESPN one day so I was like, 'Let me just get in front of a camera and just talk to my friends, my peers.' It's easy to talk to people, so let's do it."
- Packers made some Tulane history with Micah Robinson's selection.
After going 27 years without drafting a member of the Green Wave, Green Bay has now selected a Tulane player in back-to-back years for the first time since 1954-55.
Prior to selecting Micah Robinson in the seventh round this year, the Packers took former Green Wave quarterback Michael Pratt in the seventh round of last year's draft.
Robinson's and Pratt's paths never crossed since Robinson first arrived in New Orleans this past year as a graduate transfer after four years at Furman, a jump that proved the 6-foot cornerback could hang against tougher competition.
"We had a lot of older guys transfer in with me at Tulane," Robinson said. "Just being in the film room with those guys, becoming a film junkie, that's where I think I grew the most."
- John Williams is a rocket scientist (literally).
The Packers' second seventh-round pick majored in aerospace engineering at Cincinnati while starting two years at left tackle for the Bearcats.
The 6-foot-4, 322-pound offensive lineman said he drew a few looks from classmates when he began taking classes in his curriculum, but science has been his passion for as long as he can remember.
"I'd loved science since I was a kid, and just naturally as I grew up I kind of narrowed it down to what I wanted to do," John Williams said. "I'd want to work somewhere like Lockheed Martin or SpaceX, in like a research division, something like that."
