Packers Morning Buzz: Running back D'Andre Swift could be better fit than Jonathan Taylor

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

We'll start with Pete Dougherty fielding another question Wednesday in his weekly live chat about whether the Packers should select Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor in the April 23-25 draft if he's still on the board at No. 30.

Dougherty's response:

The more I've thought about them possibly picking an RB at 30, the more plausible the idea has become in my mind. You stated two good reasons (Aaron Jones' injury history and short shelf life of RBs), and another is the importance of the run game in this offense. And having two high-quality backs would juice up the offense, that's for sure, because the Packers were noticeably better when Jones was on the field last year. One of the questions, though, is whether Taylor is the best one for their offense. Assuming all the RBs are on the board there's a good argument Georgia's D'Andre Swift would be a better pick -- two scouts I talked to about this said he's a better zone runner than Taylor (Taylor is better in a gap scheme) and better in the passing game. Now, when you come down to it, I still think taking an RB at 30 still leans toward the luxury side of things considering their many other needs, and considering that you can find pretty good RBs later in drafts. If they took one at 30 I'd understand it, and if they thought one of those guys was special and everybody passing on him was making a big mistake, then by all means take him. But push to shove I still have to guess at this point they won't take an RB at 30.

You can read the rest of Pete's chat (which lasted more than 2 hours and covered a multitude of Packers topics) here:

The Packers figure to stock up on potential successors to right tackle Bryan Bulaga:

Green Bay goes offensive line with its pick in the latest mock draft from NFL.com's Bucky Brooks:

Joshua Jones - OT

School: Houston | Year: Senior (RS)

The Packers could add an athletic blocker to the mix to better protect Aaron Rodgers while also enabling Matt LaFleur to fully implement a zone-based running game.

Check out Brooks' entire first-round mock draft here:

The Packers' family lost an all-time great with the passing of Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis:

Tight end Jace Sternberger is determined to make an impact in his second season:

ESPN's Rob Demovsky looks at what the future could have in store for running back Aaron Jones and other Packers questions:

The Packers have been holding steady at most of the "too early" 2020 power rankings, including this one from Pro Football Focus:

The Packers, despite having a point differential of a 9- or 10-win team, return a great deal of starters from their 2-seed, 13-win team from 2019. Aaron Rodgers will have to generate positively graded dropbacks at a higher rate than he did last year (23 percent) for them to improve enough to even come close to reaching 13 wins again in 2020, though.  

You can see the entire PFF rankings here:

Kirk Cousins actually likes what the Vikings have done with their offseason (even with Packers nemesis Stefon Diggs departing):

More evidence that the NFL is making drastic contingency plans:

This NFL draft will present unique challenges:

Be sure to follow along to find out which player Pete picked for the Packers:

Former Packers executive Andrew Brandt examines the unknowns of the offseason:

And finally: What better way to spend 8:26 of your quarantine time?

Contact Stu Courtney at (920) 431-8377 or scourtney@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stucourt