Winners and Losers from Green Bay Packers' Draft

The prospects selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2015 NFL draft have seen their life's greatest aspiration realized, and for that they are already winners before they even take a snap with the team. 

But the addition of new prospects has repercussions for Packers players and coaches, and those are the individuals on whom we're going to focus today.

What does the addition of inside linebacker Jake Ryan from Michigan mean for Clay Matthews? How pleased is cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt to develop his talented, young and raw rookie defensive backs?

Let's take a look at the many winners as a result of draft weekend, whose roles and jobs could be improved by the arrival of the new rookies, as well as two players for whom the moves could have potentially negative consequences. 

Winner: Cornerbacks Coach Joe Whitt

Uncredited/Associated Press

Packers cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt got the ultimate vote of confidence from general manager Ted Thompson during the 2015 NFL draft.

Thompson gave Whitt a pair of young, talented defensive backs who both have a lot of developing to do, and he clearly thinks Whitt is up to the task.

Part of Whitt's challenge will be taking two players for whom cornerback was not their primary position and making sure they can produce in defensive coordinator Dom Capers' scheme.

First-round pick Damarious Randall, who played primarily safety at Arizona State, originally enrolled at Butler Community College to play baseball in 2010-11, playing shortstop and center field. He switched to football after suffering a right shoulder injury, transferred to Mesa Community College and was eventually recruited to play at Arizona State. 

Quinten Rollins was a basketball star at Miami of Ohio, a four-year starter at point guard. He took up football his senior year and was a natural at cornerback—he was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year with 72 tackles and seven interceptions, which was third in the nation.

"I'm gonna give them opportunities to play the different positions—left, right, inside, outside—but you never really know what you get till you get them in the room," Whitt said in a press conference Friday.

Both prospects are pure football players, which Thompson stressed in a press conference after Day 2 was extremely important to Green Bay this draft. 

Thompson has certainly given Whitt a pair of football players in Randall and Rollins, athletically gifted and versatile players who are raw in technique but big on skills. Now Whitt, who excels in developing prospects, will help make them pros. 

Loser: Scott Tolzien

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

Backup quarterback Scott Tolzien spent two years behind Matt Flynn, who in turn sat behind Aaron Rodgers. 

When Tolzien signed a one-year, $1.35 million deal prior to entering unrestricted free agency in March, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said that the "Packers have vaulted him into the backup spot behind Aaron Rodgers and let him know his apprenticeship is complete."

The Packers also informed Flynn they would not be re-signing him, which seemed to signify faith in Tolzien moving forward. 

Still, the one-year deal had something of a "prove-it" feel about it, as if the Packers wanted to see Tolzien spend a full season taking second-team reps before bringing him on to be Rodgers' long-term backup. 

And now that the Packers traded up to draft UCLA rookie quarterback Brett Hundley in Round 5, perhaps Tolzien's days of being Rodgers' trusty No. 2 are numbered. 

There's no telling how well Hundley will develop in the NFL. And if, knock on wood, Rodgers were to be injured early in the 2015 season, given his experience Tolzien would likely be the guy to replace him over Hundley.

But after Hundley gets a year of NFL experience under his belt—and Tolzien is facing unrestricted free agency again—the latter may not be Green Bay's choice to be Rodgers' primary backup.

Winner: Clay Matthews

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

The Packers ensured that Clay Matthews won't have to play inside linebacker full time in 2015 by selecting Michigan linebacker Jake Ryan in Round 4 on Saturday. 

After his exit interview with Green Bay's coaches last season, Matthews was prepared to play more snaps at inside linebacker in 2015, but he diplomatically emphasized that his best position on the field is rushing passers off the edge.

"I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the change. At the same time, I'm very good at getting after the quarterback off the edge, so I think there's a fine line," Matthews said after the season, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

When the Packers didn't select an inside linebacker in the first three rounds, it was looking like Matthews was going to end up on the side of that "fine line" he didn't want to be on. 

"It looks like the Green Bay Packers have no problem with playing Clay Matthews at inside linebacker again this season," ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky wrote Friday night. "What else can you conclude after general manager Ted Thompson went three rounds into the 2015 NFL draft without picking a player at that position?"

Well, he wasn't selected until Round 4, but Ryan will help ensure that Matthews can be used from the edge in 2015. Though he likely won't be ready to start inside next to Sam Barrington in September, of the inside linebacker options available in the mid-rounds, including Taiwan Jones, Ben Heeney and Mike Hull, Ryan seemed to have the most potential to become a three-down linebacker in the NFL. 

When Ryan moved to middle linebacker his senior year at Michigan, he had his best season, with a career-best 112 total tackles and First-Team All-Big Ten honors. He lives for football and spent a lot of time in the film room at Michigan, and though he's limited athletically, he should be able to do anything Green Bay would ask of him—including allowing Matthews to continue playing outside. 

Loser: Jarrett Bush

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Free agent cornerback Jarrett Bush's days in Green Bay were likely over before the 2015 NFL draft started. Bush has been on the open market for nearly two months now and remains unsigned. 

However, if there were any thoughts that the Packers might re-sign Bush to a low-cost deal this offseason, they effectively quelched them during the draft, taking two defensive backs in Round 1 and Round 2.

With a cornerback group that now includes Sam Shields, Casey Hayward, Demetri Goodson, Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins, there's no longer any room for Bush. 

Bush was a key special teams contributor for the Packers during his career. According to Pro Football Focus, he was the 19th-best overall special teams player in the league last season, out of 1,202 total players. 

It's unlikely that the Packers' decision not to re-sign Bush was due to his arrest and subsequent release by police in March for public intoxication. No charges were filed in the incident.

Rather, the Packers chose to add some players who might be able to not only replace Bush's special teams role, but also contribute more on defense as well. 

Winner: Head Coach Mike McCarthy

Brian Blanco/Associated Press

Prior to the draft, in his many press conferences and public appearances, Packers coach Mike McCarthy made two things clear: He wanted to improve Green Bay's special teams unit, and he wanted another young quarterback to develop. 

He got both his wishes during the 2015 NFL draft. 

Green Bay's first three selections—defensive backs Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins and wide receiver Ty Montgomery—will have roles on the defense and offense, respectively, but undoubtedly they'll be important special teams contributors as well. 

Montgomery earned consensus All-American honors as a kick returner, averaging 30.3 yards per return and multiple scores. He also led Stanford with 61 catches for 958 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

In addition to possibly becoming Green Bay's primary kick returner, however, Montgomery, who is like a bigger version of Randall Cobb, could also be used as a pass-catcher out of the backfield as Cobb often was in 2014. 

Randall and Rollins could be used as special teams gunners, but they'll also compete for the nickel corner role as Casey Hayward will likely move outside to join Sam Shields as the starting perimeter cornerbacks.

McCarthy, who runs the Packers' offseason quarterback school that helped refine Aaron Rodgers' mechanics, is one of the best in the league at developing young quarterback talent. Ted Thompson gave him a promising project in UCLA's Brett Hundley. 

Hundley's play has been inconsistent, but when he's on, he's flashed excellence. 

"On the surface, Hundley's skill-set seems every bit as tantalizing as Oregon's Marcus Mariota or Florida State's Jameis Winston," wrote CBSSports.com's Dane Brugler and Rob Rang. "However, Hundley needs to improve in the critical subtleties of the quarterback position—pocket presence, reading defenses and ball placement."

McCarthy is just the coach to develop those qualities. Hundley could become a reliable backup for Rodgers for years to come and potentially a future trade asset. 

Winner: Aaron Rodgers

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Aaron Rodgers is possibly the most well-supported quarterback in the league—and he should be, given what an asset he has been to the Packers. 

Rodgers lines up behind one of the league's best offensive lines with starters David Bakhtiari, Josh Sitton, Corey Linsley, T.J. Lang and Bryan Bulaga. Additionally, Ted Thompson added four weapons to his potent arsenal in the 2014 draft in Richard Rodgers, Davante Adams, Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Janis and made sure that Randall Cobb did not reach free agency. 

But three wide receivers in 2014 was apparently not enough, as Thompson targeted Stanford wide receiver Ty Montgomery in Round 3. While Montgomery will have a prominent role on special teams, he will also be a weapon in Green Bay's offense, possibly used to catch passes out of the backfield and as a supplement to Cobb in the slot. 

Thompson also added another tight end to supplement Richard Rodgers and Andrew Quarless and hopefully provide another red-zone threat for Aaron Rodgers. UAB's Kennard Backman has good hands and can secure the ball in traffic, per NFL.com's Lance Zierlein. 

Given the depth chart at wide receiver especially, Rodgers should always have an available option to throw to in 2015.