NFL.com Experts Agree on Packers’ First-Round Pick

Who will the Green Bay Packers select with their first-round pick on Thursday night? Daniel Jeremian and Peter Schrager agree on the player.

Author:
Bill Huber
Apr 25, 2024

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NFL Draft

Green Bay Packers draft

Cooper DeJean

Daniel Jeremiah

GREEN BAY, Wis. – At the NFL Draft in Detroit on Thursday night, expect Commissioner Roger Goodell to say, “With the 25th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers select Cooper DeJean, Iowa.”

That’s what NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah and Peter Schrager say, anyway. Here are their final mock drafts.

Daniel Jeremiah

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst will want to improve the offensive line in this draft but, in this simulation, seven offensive tackles were selected in the Top 20 and Duke’s Graham Barton went to Dallas at No. 24. So, the pick is DeJean, the playmaking cornerback from Iowa.

“The Packers have loaded up on defense in recent drafts and they stay at it here. DeJean can play nickel back, outside corner and he could develop into a really good safety, as well,” Jeremiah wrote.

At 6-foot 1/2 and 202 pounds, DeJean has excellent size for a corner and above-average size for a safety. With a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash and a 38 1/2-inch vertical, he’s got excellent athleticism for any position.

He is the total package as a player, with seven interceptions and 20 passes defensed the last two seasons in coverage and toughness and quality tackling against the run. In 2023, he was named the Big Ten’s top defensive back and top returner.

“Highly competitive defensive back with plus ball skills and noteworthy special teams value,” reads the start of his NFL.com scouting report. “DeJean is big and bundled for a cornerback, with muscular arms and tight hips. He has fantastic interception production, but his movements are more linear than fluid, and he doesn’t have the easy change of direction needed in man coverage on the next level.”

Peter Schrager

Schrager is known for picking the Super Bowl winner. How about the Packers’ pick at No. 25?

In Schrager’s first-round mock, seven offensive tackles were off the board before Green Bay was on the clock. So, Schrager took DeJean over Duke lineman Graham Barton, edge defenders Laiatu Latu of UCLA and Chop Robinson of Penn State, and a couple top corners.

“New defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley gets an elite defender on the back end,” Schrager wrote. “DeJean can play any position in the secondary and contribute on special teams. If not to Green Bay, I think he goes somewhere in the 20 to 32 range.”

Lance Zierlein

Sticking with the NFL.com crew: In Zierlein’s first-round mock, the Packers traded out of the first round so the Las Vegas Raiders could move up to select quarterback Michael Penix.

In this simulation, DeJean went 22nd and seven offensive linemen were off the board. However, Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims was on the board, as were cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Nate Wiggins. So was this wide receiver, who took a predraft visit to Green Bay and landed with the Chiefs in the mock.