Green Bay Packers: Thoughts on Day 3 of the 2015 NFL Draft

Before the final day of the 2015 NFL draft began on Saturday, I wrote an article that talked about the first three rounds of the draft for the Green Bay Packers.

Near the end of that piece, I wrote this:

I believe the Packers will address the depth at inside linebacker in the final day of draft. Perhaps they can select someone like Jake Ryan of Michigan, who can play both inside and outside linebacker.

And that is exactly what the Packers did to begin Day 3 of the draft, when they drafted Ryan in the fourth round.

I also had the Packers selecting Ryan in my final mock draft for the team.

The Packers had a chance to select any of the top five inside linebackers in the first round but decided to pick defensive back Damarious Randall instead.

In both the second and third rounds, the Packers passed on the chance to select inside linebacker Paul Dawson and instead went with cornerback Quinten Rollins and wide receiver/kick returner Ty Montgomery respectively.

Finally in the fourth round, the Packers addressed the inside linebacker position with their selection of Ryan.

Why so late? It tells me that the Packers are satisfied with the progress that players like Carl Bradford, Nate Palmer and Joe Thomas are making at the position.

Still, the selection of Ryan was a good one. Eliot Wolf, the director of player personnel for the team, talked about what Ryan can bring to the team when he met with the media.

"He can get through traffic, he can make plays on the outside, he can penetrate and make plays on the inside run," said Wolf. "Pretty good in coverage, kind of an all-around guy that we felt adds really good value to our team."

In his career at Michigan, Ryan had 267 tackles, 45.5 tackles for a loss, 9.5 sacks, one interception, seven passes defended and seven forced fumbles.

The 6'2", 240-pound Ryan didn't hurt himself at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he ran a 4.65 in the 40 and an 11.65 in the 60-yard shuttle.

Now Ryan will have to battle players like Bradford, Palmer and Thomas to see who becomes the other starting inside linebacker next to Sam Barrington.

Ryan will wear No. 47 with the Packers, the same number he had at Michigan.

In the fifth round, the Packers surprised everyone by trading up from the 30th spot in the round to the 11th spot and selecting quarterback Brett Hundley of UCLA.

Actually, if not for a phone call from the New England Patriots, the Packers may not have made that move. The Pats were looking for an additional seventh-round pick and asked the Packers if they were willing to do that, along with giving up their fifth-round pick.

Seeing that the talented Hundley was still on the board, the Packers said yes and selected the 6'3", 226-pound former Bruin.

I expected the Packers to pick a quarterback on the final day of the draft, but I never expected that a player like Hundley would still be available.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Although Hundley had stretches of inconsistency at UCLA that possibly led to the area of the draft in which he was picked, there is no question that he is a multi-talented quarterback.

At the combine, Hundley ran a 4.63 in the 40 and excelled in all the other drills. He also showed off that he has a cannon for an arm.

If you check out his three-year stats at UCLA, you would have to be impressed.

Hundley threw 75 touchdown passes versus 25 interceptions for 9,966 yards in his career as a Bruin. He also ran for 1,747 yards and scored 30 rushing touchdowns.

As Wolf said when he first addressed the media about the new quarterback, "You guys asked me last time if each draft pick has a chance to start," said Wolf talking about Hundley. "This one probably doesn't."

That's for sure, as two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers has no chance to be unseated anytime soon as the starting quarterback of the Packers.

In many ways, Hundley is still raw and needs development, but maybe not as much as some people think.

"I wouldn't say he's completely developmental," Wolf said. "He's played at a big-time program. Their offense is obviously different from ours, but you can see all the big-time throws that he can make."

But with Hundley, the Packers have a chance to advance the talents of the player who will wear No. 7 in Green Bay.

It will also give the team a much better option at quarterback in case Rodgers is sidelined due to an injury—like the broken clavicle he suffered in the 2013 season, which caused him to miss seven games.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Hundley first has to battle with Scott Tolzien and Matt Blanchard in training camp this year to try to become the primary backup to No. 12.

With their remaining three picks in the sixth round, the Packers looked more towards improving their special teams when they selected fullback Aaron Ripkowski of Oklahoma, defensive end Christian Ringo of Louisiana-Lafayette and tight end Kennard Backman of UAB.

Improving special teams in 2015 will be a a major focus for the Packers.

All in all, it was a very interesting third day for the Packers in this year's NFL draft.

Time will tell how the selections on Day 3 will turn out for the Packers down the road, but if the past three drafts for Green Bay are any indication, the Packers drafted a future starter.

On the third day of the draft in 2012, the Packers selected defensive lineman Mike Daniels. On Day 3 of the draft in 2013, the Packers selected left tackle David Bakhtiari and also Barrington. And in 2014 on the third day of the draft, the Packers picked center Corey Linsley.

In the near future, as in 2015, Ryan has the best chance to become that starter.