Rasheed Walker validating Brian Gutekunst's team-building approach

In 2022, Rasheed Walker made the Packers' roster primarily due to draft status, irking some fans. A year later, Walker's play highlights the wisdom of Green Bay's team-building strategy.

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Since taking over as the Green Bay Packers' general manager in 2018, Brian Gutekunst has made plenty of decisions that have ingratiated himself with his team's fan base. The offseason spending spree that brought in Adrian Amos, Billy Turner, and "the Smith brothers" and helped Green Bay achieve back-to-back-to-back 13-win seasons springs to mind. Even once-controversial first-round picks like Rashan Gary and Jordan Love now engender a considerably different response than they did on draft day.

Nobody with an extended run in the GM chair ever receives purely positive reviews, and Gutekunst certainly has some misfires on his track record. Still, his team-building strategy has garnered more support than disapproval, at least among Packers fans.

However, one area of Gutekunst's approach has garnered more consternation than most: his deference to draft picks over undrafted players.

On a seemingly annual basis, a rookie signed by the Packers after the draft will shine during training camp and the preseason, often overshadowing a late-round pick. Invariably when that happens, fans call for the Packers to make space for the undrafted free agent over the draft choice when cutdown day arrives. And yet, with limited exception, Gutekunst has retained the pick instead.

In the NFL, personnel moves come with an opportunity cost. That holds true for Gutekunst's decisions as well, even those concerning the back of the roster. Those players might not contribute much or anything early in their careers, but some wind up developing into important depth pieces and significant contributors.

Three weeks into the 2023 season, Gutekunst has an even more compelling example to hold up than a nice backup or role player, one that provides proof of concept for this strategy: Rasheed Walker.