Green Bay Packers have two of the best rookies in the National Football League. Darnell Savage and Elgton Jenkins both were first-team All-Pros on the Pro Football Focus Rookie Team. Both players have been fantastic for the Packers. Savage had his ups and downs, but Green Bay would be lost without him in the backend. Jenkins deserves some offensive Rookie of the Year love for the way he stabilized the Packers’ interior offensive line. This is a tribute to Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst having an amazing second year.

Gutekunst is doing a great job. I do not think people are talking enough about the season he had building this Green Bay roster. The noise around the Packers right now is ‘They’re frauds’ or ‘They don’t deserve to be 13-3.’ Regardless of all that, they still built a winner. That is all in tribute to Gutekunst. Not only did he add some of the most impactful Packers free agents in recent memory, but he also had a great draft with Savage and Jenkins alone.

Savage and Jenkins are important with what Gutekunst did because it is directly opposite of what happened with Ted Thompson in the latter part of his career. When a team gets good, it is usually due to having strong first, second, and third-round picks versus picking up unknown rookie free agents. Look when New Orleans turned it around, they drafted Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara in the first two rounds. Those draft pick matters more than people think and part of the reason why the Los Angeles Rams are completely fucked moving forward.

Looking at the playoff teams, is there a better example of the general manager and coach turning it around then the Packers? They are one of four teams that are back in the playoffs after missing it last season. Minnesota should have been in the playoffs last season. Buffalo had a rookie quarterback. San Francisco didn’t have Jimmy Grappaolo, and if they did, they might have made the playoffs last season. Tennessee is the only team that might contend with the Packers when it comes to the best turnaround, but they’re the sixth seed and had to snake in. No one did it better than Gutekunst and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.

No matter what happens in January, Green Bay is a step ahead of where they should be right now. Yes, Aaron Rodgers’ window is a thing, but year two with LaFleur and Rodgers is the year. And with that said, Gutekunst is going to keep making this roster better.

Charlie.