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ESPN Experts’ Three-Round Mock Draft Hits Home Run for Packers

Mel Kiper and others did a three-round mock draft at ESPN.com. Here are the results for the Packers.
Bill Huber|
Texas Tech defensive lineman Lee Hunter (DL15) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Texas Tech defensive lineman Lee Hunter (DL15) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers have some key areas to address when the NFL Draft begins in exactly three weeks. In a new three-round mock draft at ESPN, the Packers filled those holes with touted prospects.

In a fun approach, Mel Kiper Jr., Matt Miller, Jordan Reid and Field Yates alternated the picks. As it turned out, Yates made both selections for the Packers.

In the second round, the selection was Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter.

“Green Bay will have some 3-4 elements under new coordinator Jonathan Gannon; Hunter has the right skill-set to anchor a run defense,” Yates explained.

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After three seasons at Central Florida, Hunter had 2.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for losses in his lone season a Texas Tech.

Hunter is the No. 36 prospect in Daniel Jeremiah’s new rankings at NFL.com.

“Hunter is a thick, wide-bodied defensive tackle,” Jeremiah wrote as part of a larger assessment. “To see his potential, watch the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Oregon. He was dominant. Overall, Hunter has a high floor because of his run-stuffing ability and there’s room for growth in the passing game.”

Hunter measured 6-foot-3 1/2 and 318 pounds at the Scouting Combine. He lacks athletic juice, but that’s not the name of the game as a defensive tackle.

“Mindset,” he said at the Combine of his best trait. “If an offensive lineman gets in front of me, I know I’m going to beat you. That’s just how I practice. That’s how I prepare myself throughout the week. Sunday through Friday. On Saturday, I take it (to the field).”

Putting Hunter on the field alongside Devonte Wyatt and Javon Hargrave would give the Packers a formidable starting front.

In the third round, Yates went with Arizona cornerback Treydan Stukes.

“A versatile defensive back who can fit into any scheme, Stukes posted four interceptions in 2025 and then cruised to a 4.33-second 40 at the Combine,” Yates explained.

Stukes in 2025, according to PFF, allowed a 59.0 percent completion rate but yielded only 9.3 yards per completion with zero touchdowns. That meant a passer rating of 34.4.

Stukes measured 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds at the Combine. He had a dominant workout for an elite Relative Athletic Score.

Stukes is an interesting study. He’s got the size of a perimeter cornerback, which is what the Packers need after signing Benjmain St-Juste to add to the returning pair of Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine.

But Stukes did not play on the perimeter. During his breakout final season, he played 608 defensive snaps. Those included 380 in the slot, 197 as a box safety, 19 as a free safety and just four at cornerback.

Similarly, he played 534 snaps in the slot and 61 at corner in 2023, and 152 snaps in the slot and 11 at corner in 2024, when he missed most of the season with a torn ACL.

However, just because he did not play cornerback doesn’t mean he can’t play cornerback. College coaches are trying to win games and use their players accordingly. It will be up to the Packers’ scouts to determine if Stukes can play corner.

“I would say it’s a mixed bag so far,” he told Pro Football Network on how scouts view his role in the NFL. “Obviously, everyone has their own style of defense, and they all have different players that work in different personnel groupings. It’s definitely been all over the board, but I think it’s only helped my stock to be able to learn and play multiple positions.

Stukes arrived at Arizona as a walk-on and spent six seasons on campus, making him an older prospect.

“It was all a blessing,” he told On SI’s Justin Melo. “I don’t have a single complaint. I’m thankful for everything I’ve been through. I wouldn’t trade my journey for anybody else’s. I grew so much as a person and as a player throughout that time at Arizona.

“I’m so thankful to so many people I had an opportunity to work closely with. They all helped me grow. I think my story is the result of the effort that so many great people poured into me. I was willing to put in the work required to get to this point.”

Three pure perimeter corners, Texas’ Malik Muhammad, Georgia’s Daylen Everette and Arkansas’ Julian Neal, went off the board later in the third round. 

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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.