The Green Bay Packers are about to turn a major organizational page going from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love. That makes the 2023 NFL Draft the first of the Jordan Love era. With that in mind, it makes the Packers draft incredibly important this offseason, which is why the team needs to avoid making the same mistakes again. That means not taking Clemson defensive end Myles Murphy or Alabama safety Brian Branch in April.

Murphy and Branch are both good players, but there are larger reasons at play for the Packers to not take these two.

The Packers have a new quarterback that they picked in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft when the team could have used that pick on a player to help Rodgers in his (likely) final two seasons in Green Bay. For Brian Gutekunst not to look bad for this pick, he needs to give Love all the weapons and protection he can.

The problem is, the Packers front office almost never did this with Rodgers. Since 2012, outside of Love, every Packers first-round pick has been on the defensive side of the ball. This includes DE Nick Perry (2012), DE Datone Jones (2013), S Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix (2014), S Damarious Randall (2015), Kenny Clark (2016), Jaire Alexander (2018), LB Rashan Gary and S Darnell Savage Jr. (2019), DB Eric Stokes (2021), LB Quay Walker and DT Devonte Wyatt (2022).

And with all these defensive picks in the last decade-plus, the Packers still had a middle-of-the-pack D this season (18th in scoring).

It is time for Green Bay to invest on the offensive side of the ball in this Packers draft, and that means that Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer or Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba need to be in, while Myles Murphy and Brian Branch need to be out.

DE Myles Murphy, Clemson

Clemson pass-rusher Myles Murphy is a good player with some nice upside. He would probably be worthy of the No. 15 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft for many teams. However, he’s not the right pick for the Packers draft.

At 6-foot-5, 268 pounds, Murphy is one of the more athletic pass rushers in this draft, and that helped him make 14.0 sacks and 23 tackles for loss over the past two seasons for the Tigers. However, he’s out-muscled or out-quicked tackles in the ACC over that time.

That athletic edge won’t be there in the NFL, and Murphy will have to come with more pass-rush moves and more of a plan to get to the quarterback. It’s unclear whether he’ll be able to do that in the NFL.

Yes, Rashan Gary went out with an ACL injury last year. He went out in Week 9, though, so he should be back in a reasonable time. It never hurts to have more pass-rushers but the Packers can spend a later-round pick (or two) on the position.

Pick No. 15 is not the place where the team should try to shoot the moon with Myles Murphy at a position they are already OK at on defense.

S Brian Branch, Alabama

While the Packers are OK on the edge, they could definitely use an upgrade at safety. Right now, the starters at the position are Darnell Savage and Tarvarius Moore.

Brian Branch would not only be an upgrade at safety. He is also a productive nickel corner who would give the team all kinds of flexibility on defense. And while Branch is an excellent player and a safe pick, he is not worth the No. 15 pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

Safety is just not a premium position. Picking a defensive back like this in the top half of the first round rarely gives a team back the value they put in. A case in point is Savage, who the Packers picked No. 21 overall and is fine, but not a game-changer by any means.

It’s easy to see how a player who can play multiple positions and should be a long-time starter for the team would be a tempting pick. But the Packers need to fight that urge when it comes to Brian Branch.

Even if the Packers were to trade back to the end of the first round, they still shouldn’t take Branch.

To re-emphasize this one more time, the Packers must take a player in the first round who can help Jordan Love on the offensive side of the ball. This is the only way to justify his pick in 2020, and frankly should be the only way for Brian Gutekunst to save his job.

So, not to pick on only Myles Murphy and Brian Branch, it’s safe to say that the players that the Packers draft should avoid this year is anyone of the defensive die of the ball.