Following draft, Packers backup QB Alex McGough making position change to WR?
The Green Bay Packers drafted quarterback Michael Pratt in the seventh round and didn’t select a receiver during the draft or sign one post-draft. Neither was surprising; Brian Gutekunst said he wanted to get back to drafting quarterbacks every year, and the Packers are as well stocked at receiver as any team in football.
So, how’s this for a post-draft curveball: Backup quarterback Alex McGough, a USFL MVP who spent all of last season on the practice squad as the No. 3 quarterback, is now listed as a wide receiver on the team’s official depth chart as of Wednesday night.
McGough has no known wide receiver experience. The 28-year-old is listed at 6-3 and 214 pounds. At his pro day before the 2018 draft, McGough ran the 40-yard dash in 4.62 seconds, hit 32.5″ in the vertical and ran the three-cone drill in 7.27 seconds — all good marks for a quarterback but well below average for a receiver.
This could be nothing more than a radical offseason experiment for a player who no longer has a legitimate path to the 53-man roster or even the practice squad. The Packers went with Sean Clifford as Jordan Love’s backup in 2023, and Pratt — despite being a seventh-rounder — is coming to Green Bay with a legitimate chance to compete with Clifford for the job. At the very least, Pratt must be considered the new developmental quarterback for Matt LaFleur and Tom Clements.
Last preseason, McGough completed four of five attempts for 69 yards in two appearances. He was the 2023 USFL MVP after leading the league in touchdown passes and guiding the Birmingham Stallions to back-to-back titles.
