Seven-Round Packers Mock Draft After First Waves of Free Agency
GREEN BAY, Wis. – It’s been an eventful first week of NFL free agency for the Green Bay Packers. Really, though, the needs haven’t changed entering the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Packers needed a safety, and signed the best one with Xavier McKinney. They still need a safety. The Packers needed a running back, and signed perhaps the best one with Josh Jacobs. Even after re-signing AJ Dillon, they still need a running back. There is still an alarming need at linebacker.
We hit on those needs in our fourth mock draft of the year. This time, we used the simulator at Pro Football Network to make the other picks.
First Round: Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry
Sometimes, the 40-yard dash and the various testing numbers are overrated. They won’t be for McKinstry. There are questions about his speed, which an injury prevented him from answering at the Scouting Combine. He’ll test next month. If he posts a good time, this would be a good spot to grab the sticky cover man. If not, there’s a good chance he’ll tumble into the second round.
While he intercepted only two passes in his career, with zero in 2023, he also allowed a sub-50 percent completion rate for his career, according to Pro Football Focus.
Second Round: Texas A&M LB Edgerrin Cooper
What had been a bumper crop of free agents at linebacker has been picked mostly clean. The Packers haven’t signed one, so this will be a huge need. Whether it’s 3-4 or 4-3, the reality is most teams play with two off-the-ball linebackers for about 75 percent of the snaps. That’ll be Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie, at least for now. However, there’s no depth. Last year’s backups, McDuffie and Eric Wilson, combined to play about 57 percent of the snaps. Right now, the top backup is Kristian Welch, who was re-signed to play special teams.
Cooper is a playmaker. He had 84 tackles, eight sacks and 17 tackles for losses as a senior. His testing at the Scouting Combine was elite. A strong argument could be made to take Cooper at No. 25 and McKinstry at No. 41.
Second Round: Yale OT Kiran Amegadjie
In the first round, the choice was between McKinstry and Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton. Here’s why I like Amegadjie, who was the 58th player on Dane Brugler’s big board for The Athletic: He’s all upside. Really, the Packers are fine with Rasheed Walker as the left tackle for 2024. There wasn’t a single game last year in which he was overmatched down after down after down. But why not take a swing on a player with “awesome” potential, as Brugler put it?
Third Round: Tennessee RB Jaylen Wright
The Packers have Jacobs, AJ Dillon and Emanuel Wilson in the backfield. Those are three big, powerful runners. So here comes the counterpuncher, Wright, who at 5-foot-10 1/2 and 210 pounds broke 4.40 in the 40 at the Combine. As a senior, he rushed for 1,013 yards on a 7.4-yard average and caught 22 passes. Because of his explosiveness, he was a tackle-breaking machine. Thundering away with Jacobs and Dillon for the first four series and unleashing Wright for the fifth could be dynamic.
Third Round: Washington State S Jaden Hicks
I really wanted Utah safety Cole Bishop at this spot but he was off the board. So, we’ll happily take Hicks to play more of the box and slot role while McKinney plays centerfield. Hicks measured 6-foot-1 and 211 pounds, so he’s got the size to handle that run-support role. He didn’t run a 40. In 2023, he had 79 tackles, including 2.5 sacks and six for losses, and picked off two passes.
Fourth Round: Wisconsin C Tanor Bortolini
Bortolini destroyed the Scouting Combine with a sensational workout. More than that, the Packers love versatile blockers and Bortolini is that. He played center in 2023, mostly guard in 2022 and mostly right tackle in 2021. Wherever he’s played, he’s played well. For Year 1, he can the next man up on the interior before potentially replacing Josh Myers at center in 2025.
Fifth Round: Mississippi DE/edge Cedric Johnson
The Packers will be a man down with Kingsley Enagbare recovering from his torn ACL. So, let’s add Johnson to battle Brenton Cox and Keshawn Banks to be the fourth end. Johnson during his final three seasons had 16 sacks and 19 tackles for losses. At 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, he aced the Combine workouts with a 4.63 in the 40 and superb numbers in the jumps.
Sixth Round: Temple LB Jordan Magee
Every year, there’s a player you like that seems to slip under the radar. That’s Magee as we double-up on linebackers. As a senior, he had 3.5 sacks and 14 tackles for losses among his 80 total stops. He added four passes defensed. Undersized at 6-foot-1 and 228 pounds, he ran a 4.55 in the 40 as part of a strong overall workout.
Sixth Round: Auburn S Jaylin Simpson
Let’s double-up on safeties, too, to build depth behind McKinney, Hicks and second-year player Anthony Johnson. Simpson isn’t big – 5-foot-11 5/8 and just 179 pounds – but he ran a 4.45 in the 40 with a 39.5-inch vertical jump. He was a cornerback in 2021, a cornerback and safety in 2022 and a safety in 2023, when he had a career-high four interceptions. That versatility and athleticism sounds like an enticing combination.
Seventh Round: Central Florida OT Tylan Grable
Grable didn’t allow any sacks and just 10 pressures at left tackle in 2023, according to PFF. At 6-foot-5 3/4 and 306 pounds, he ran a 4.95 in the 40 and posted an elite RAS. The 33 5/8-inch arms will ding him a bit but who can pass on an athletic pass protector in the seventh round?
Seventh Round: BYU QB Kedon Slovis
General manager Brian Gutekunst loves his quarterback duo of Jordan Love and Sean Clifford. It won’t stop him from drafting another, though. After three years at USC and one at Pitt, Slovis landed at BYU for his final season. He completed 57.5 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions for the Cougars, down sharply from his freshman numbers of 71.9 percent and 30 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
At 6-foot-2 1/2 and 223 pounds, he ran his 40 in 4.55 seconds. Could he get on the field in some sort of gadget role? He’s got the requisite hand size (9 7/8).
