Packers select EDGE Kingsley Enagbare with 179th pick in 2022 NFL Draft

For just the second time ever, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst traded back in the draft, moving from the 171st to the 179th pick while adding the 234th pick via the Denver Broncos along the way. Gutekunst and team president Mark Murphy have been saying all week that the draft’s deepest point is the final two rounds, due to players getting an extra year of eligibility for the 2020 Covid-impacted season, and the trade back gave them a fourth seventh-round pick to play with.

According to the Rich Hill and Fitzgerald-Spielberger trade charts, the Packers won the trade. According to the Jimmy Johnson trade chart, the Broncos won the trade. Obviously, the margins are very low from any perspective.

The selection the Packers made could be one of the most highly-regarded in this class: South Carolina edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare. Enagbare was ranked 83th overall by the consensus draft board, relative to a mid-third-round selection. Fortunately for Green Bay, they were able to select him with the last pick in the fifth round.

Despite playing four full years with the Gamecocks, Enagbare is a young 22-year-old who was named First-Team All-SEC in 2020 and was a team captain in 2021. Over his career, he registered 24 tackles for loss and 15 sacks over 44 games and 12 starts. Unfortunately, he did not have the combine that many expected of him and ran a 4.87-second 40-yard dash at 6’4” and 258 pounds. He bumped his weight up to 271 pounds and ran a 4.96-second 40-yard dash and 7.51-second three-cone at his pro day.

Enagbare should fit in as Preston Smith’s backup, filling out the role of an edge-setter who can keep the team’s star pass-rushers fresh. It is interesting that Gutekunst choice to spend a draft pick on an edge rusher today because he stated yesterday that the team “kind of likes the group as it is,” and mentioned the potential for hybrid linebacker Randy Ramsey to see more time as an outside linebacker.