Packer Central

First-Round Receiver? Yes, First-Round Receiver for Packers in New Mock Draft

Don’t laugh. With potentially limited options available on the veteran market, could this be the year the Packers draft a receiver in the first round?

Bill Huber

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) celebrates with the championship trophy.
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) celebrates with the championship trophy. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – In case you’ve forgotten, here’s the history lesson:

The Green Bay Packers haven’t used their first-round draft pick on a receiver since 2002. Before that, it was 1988.

However, none of the Packers’ young receivers took a step forward in 2024, Christian Watson (ACL) and Romeo Doubs (concussions) have injury questions, and the free-agent market is weak.

So, perhaps Cam Mellor’s new NFL mock draft for College Football Network, in which he sent Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka to the Packers with the 23rd overall selection, isn’t totally preposterous.

“With WR1 skills and the versatility to excel from any alignment, his elite ball skills and unmatched body control make him a game-changer who can thrive in any offense, offering an immediate impact with his ability to dominate from the line of scrimmage,” Mellor wrote.

While he might not be a “proven … No. 1” receiver, like Josh Jacobs said the Packers need, he could be the missing piece needed for a passing attack that was inconsistent throughout 2024 and will start 2025 without Watson.

In four seasons, Egbuka caught 205 passes for 2,868 yards and 24 touchdowns, with most of that production coming over the final three seasons. In 2022, he caught 74 passes for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns. In 2024, he caught 81 passes for 1,011 yards and 10 more touchdowns.

“Emeka can do so many things,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said at Big Ten Media Days. “Whether it’s on punt, punt return, he can take a handoff, he can catch a bubble, he can block, he can run a deep route, there’s not much Emeka can’t do.

“When I think of Emeka, I think about someone who’s strong. Strong as a player, strong mentally and strong in his faith. He’s somebody that’s a warrior and somebody we’re going to count on this year in big spots.” 

Despite excellent production, Egbuka was somehow lost in the shuffle of Ohio State’s brilliant receivers, which included former first-round picks Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison and Jaxon Smith-Njigba and future first-round pick Jeremiah Smith.

Still, he left Ohio State as the school’s career leader in receptions.

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“Numbers come and go, but the way you make people feel echoes in eternity,” Egbuka said before the national championship game. “That’s a saying that Coach Hart [Buckeyes receivers coach Brian Hartline] hammered home to us since I was a freshman, so really trying to leave my legacy other than just the numbers that I put up.”

Egbuka is the No. 25 overall prospect, according to NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah. He envisions Egbuka as an “impact slot receiver” similar to Smith-Njigba. About 80 percent of his passing-game snaps in 2024 came in the slot.

He is the No. 35 prospect, according to Dane Brugler of The Athletic.

While he doesn’t have a single excellent trait, Brugler said, “he already looks like a Sunday player with his route-running nuance, the way he frames the football and his willingness to block. An NFL offense will welcome that consistency with open arms.”

He is the No. 14 prospect and No. 3 receiver, according to Pro Football Focus. According to PFF, he dropped 12 passes (5.5 percent) and averaged 6.6 yards after the catch per catch for his career.

While Egbuka might not blow anyone away with his pre-draft testing, his production, tape and personality will endear himself to teams.

“When he speaks, people listen,” Day said before the championship game. “He’s very well thought out. You sit down and have a conversation with Emeka, you’re going to walk away extremely impressed.

“But then when you talk about his play on the field, he’s made a lot of great plays. He’s been very clutch. He’s been very consistent. This is a guy I know who wants to finish his career out with a great game Monday night.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.