Brugler’s Seven-Round Mock Starts With Oregon’s Powers-Johnson
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler dropped one of the biggest mock drafts of the year, a seven-rounder that included a linebacker and safety with the Day 2 picks.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – In his seven-round mock draft for The Athletic, Dane Brugler selected Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson with the Green Bay Packers’ first-round pick.
“There are several ways the Packers can attack the offensive line in the draft,” Brugler explained. “One of those is to select Powers-Johnson, who can provide an upgrade at center and allow Green Bay to keep Zach Tom at tackle while moving Josh Myers to guard.”
Powers-Johnson, who won the Rimington Award as the best center in the nation, is a stud. A bit shorter than has been general manager Brian Gutekunst’s preference, he allowed a total of one pressure in almost 500 pass-protecting snaps in 2023. He’s arguably the best run blocker in the draft.
“I’m a bigger center and I think I move pretty good, too,” he said at the Scouting Combine. “So just being a physical, nasty center and just having fun playing football. I think you can see that on film, see it every play.”
Powers-Johnson entered the season with four college starts on his resume. And one of those was on defense. Nonetheless, he stepped into the lineup with sky-high expectations. That should help him adjust to the pressure of being a potential first-round pick.
“Coming into this year, I had a lot of struggles with the pressure of it,” Powers-Johnson said at pro day. “Slated for all these preseason awards, slated to be the guy at center and I hadn’t even played a full year. So, I had a little bit of imposter syndrome like, ‘All right, everybody, let’s just chill out. Just let me get in there.’ I just figured out how to navigate that through mental health and also just believing in myself and in the people around me.”
In this simulation, Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean went to Arizona at No. 23, Oklahoma right tackle Tyler Guyton went to Dallas at No. 24, and cornerbacks Nate Wiggins of Clemson and Kool-Aid McKinstry of Alabama went at No. 26 and No. 28.
With four picks in Day 2, the Packers snared Missouri defensive end Darius Robinson and Texas A&M linebacker Edgerrin Cooper in the second round and USC safety Calen Bullock and Penn State offensive tackle Caedan Wallace in the third round.
Robinson would add critical depth on the edge, where Kingsley Enagbare is coming off a torn ACL and Preston Smith is the oldest player on the team. Cooper, the third linebacker off the board, would be an instant starter in Jeff Hafley’s 4-3 scheme. Bullock is a big-time ballhawk who must get stronger to improve his tackling. With 40 career starts at right tackle, Wallace might not even on the board.
Cooper, Kentucky running back Ray Davis and Missouri linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper had predraft visits with the Packers. Davis was the pick in the fourth round and Hopper was the choice in the sixth round. In between, the fifth-round pick was Boston College cornerback Elijah Jones.
Jones is a big-time prospect. At 6-foot-1 1/2, he ran his 40 in 4.44 seconds with a 42.5-inch vertical leap at the Scouting Combine. During his final two seasons, he had seven interceptions and 28 passes defensed.
The coach at Boston College, of course, was Hafley.
“I love Coach Haf, man,” Jones told Packer Central at the Combine. “Great football mind. Biggest thing I think he helped my game was just how I learned about football. That it's not just going out there and playing the game, it's more about understanding your opponent, understand how you’re going to attack, and he was just a great teacher.”
Elijah Jones
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
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