There’s an old adage, “there’s safety in numbers”, and Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst is giving that a twist this weekend by adding numbers at safety. A position that has been overhauled since last season with the departures of Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford and Jonathan Owens, Gutekunst started re-stocking the room in free agency by signing former Giant Xavier McKinney and he’s now added two safeties in the 89th NFL Draft.
Friday, he brought aboard Javon Bullard from Georgia in the second round and to open the 4th round Saturday, Gutekunst didn’t take any chances about acquiring another player for the back end. The GM traded the 126th overall pick to the New York Jets to move up 15 spots and selected Evan Williams, the safety from the Oregon Ducks. New York got the Pack’s original pick plus a sixth rounder (190) for dropping back, a pick earlier acquired in GB’s trade down in round two with New Orleans.
Evan Williams, S, Oregon.
Williams is a shade under 6 feet and 200 pounds. He piled up 82 tackles in his one and only season at Oregon, with an eye opening four and a half quarterback sacks as a safety blitzer. He started his career at Fresno State, playing three seasons and working his way to becoming an All Mountain West second team player. He said he transferred to Oregon to test himself against Pac 12 competition and to challenge himself personally in a different environment. Williams said he’s very excited about being selected by Green Bay with a new defensive approach under Coordinator Jeff Hafley he’s heard plenty about.
Green Bay’s National Scout, and a real treasure on Gutekunst’s personnel team, Sam Seale covers the West Coast primarily and he simply calls Williams “a really good football player.”
The 4th round was spiced up by the first two Wisconsin Badgers getting drafted. Center Tanor Bortolini, from Kewaunee, was taken by the Indianapolis Colts and a few picks later, running back Braelon Allen of Fon duLac was the choice of the New York Jets, where he’ll take his first pro handoffs from one Aaron Rodgers this fall.
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