100 Days of Mocks: The Wright Tackle?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – In a mock draft season in which one make-believe draft after another has focused on tight ends for the Green Bay Packers’ first-round pick, Pro Football Network’s Ian Valentino went with a new name built on a solid foundation of reason.
Do the Green Bay Packers need additional weapons for Jordan Love? Yes. But the Packers never have been a draft-for-today team. There is a long-term need at offensive tackle, with left tackle David Bakhtiari set to have a $40 million cap charge in 2024 and right tackle Yosh Nijman set to be an unrestricted free agent next offseason.
In this mock, the Packers could have gone with Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski, the grandson of Packers legend Bob Skoronski. Instead, Valentino led off his three-round mock with Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright.
“It would be a trend-bucking decision for the Green Bay Packers to take a shorter-armed tackle than they’ve historically valued, so we’re passing on Peter Skoronski for Darnell Wright,” he wrote. “With Jordan Love set to take over, the Packers have to upgrade their blocking situation. Wright is a fantastic pass-blocker who projects well to either tackle position.”
At 6-foot-5 and 333 pounds, Wright showed his athleticism at the Scouting Combine with a 5.01 in the 40. His 33 3/4-inch arms still aren’t quite at the 34-inch threshold but probably close enough.
Wright played left tackle in 2020, right tackle in 2021 and was back to left tackle in 2022, when he allowed zero sacks in 507 pass-protecting snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
He’s one of the top run blockers in the class. He’ll probably end up at right tackle in the NFL. This pick would make a lot of sense considering how well Nijman played left tackle in Bakhtiari’s absence.
In this mock, the Packers might have done a backflip to see these tight ends available in the second round: Michael Mayer, Darnell Washington and Luke Musgrave. And the outside linebacker help came in the third round via Louisville’s YaYa Diaby, who somehow has floated under the radar despite his nine sacks in 2022 and his 4.51 in the 40 at 263 pounds at the Scouting Combine.
The Chicago Sun-Times’ Jason Lieser took Mayer in his mock.
“ESPN’s scouting department gave Mayer the ninth-highest grade in this draft class, but he’ll still be available here as teams chase quarterbacks and other premium positions early,” Lieser wrote.
Tankathon, which keeps tabs on the draft order throughout the season, went with undersized pass rusher Nolan Smith. That would make it four players from Georgia in the past three first rounds, with Smith following Eric Stokes in 2021 and Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt in 2022.
Joe Serpico of Press Box Online grabbed Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
In analyzing 12 “expert” mock drafts, Insider concluded the Packers would take Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness. A “prototypical Brian Gutekunst draft pick” would provide needed depth and give the Packers a potentially fearsome pass rush when joined by Rashan Gary and Preston Smith.
One of those “expert” mocks was built by Brendan Donahue of Sharp Football.
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100 Days of Mocks
Starting Jan. 17, when there were 100 days until the start of the NFL Draft, we started our mock-worthy goal of 100 mock drafts in 100 days. Here are the last 10 days of the series.
26 days: A “plug-and-play” tight end
27 days: NFL.com picks Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Packer Central’s fifth seven-round mock draft
Breaking down ESPN.com’s seven-round mock
29 days: Tannenbaum takes a tackle
30 days: Three mocks, three different first-round tight ends
31 days: First-round receiver streak in Jeopardy
32 days: A Rodgers trade and a short story
33 days: Breaking down NFL.com four-round mock
