Here’s Who We Picked for Packers in Pro Football Network’s Mock Draft

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Pro Football Network’s content-creator NFL mock draft included Packers On SI serving as Brian Gutekunst. In the mock, the Green Bay Packers selected Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.

The Packers have several key needs, including receiver, but Harmon would kill two birds with one stone.

First, as Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur said after the season, the Packers need to improve their front-four pass rush.

“Initially, we were going to jet off the football with our front and try to create havoc,” LaFleur said last week at the NFL owners meetings.

The plan under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley was to rely on four-man pressure and play Cover-3 behind it. Instead, the pass rush never consistently materialized, so Hafley adjusted to simulated pressures and a lot of Cover-2.

Harmon is one of the top pass-rushing interior linemen in the draft. He had five sacks and 55 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. That was 11 more pressures than any other defensive lineman in the nation. He finished in the top four in not only pressures but pass-rush win rate and pass-rush productivity (the latter measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap).

“He just lives on the other side of the line of scrimmage,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, who has Harmon ranked 23rd overall, said during a pre-Scouting Combine conference call. “He’s really instinctive. He’s aware. He knows where blocks are coming from, and he gets up the field. So, he’s a fun, fun player.”

Second, he would fill a need. With just two sacks and six tackles for losses in his career, TJ Slaton might not have been a great player, but he started all 34 games the past two seasons. One of the best run defenses in the NFL last season was a half-yard per carry better when Slaton was on the field.

With Slaton signing with the Bengals in free agency, Kenny Clark poised to turn 30 in October and coming off his worst statistical season since his rookie year and Devonte Wyatt perhaps set to enter his final season under contract, Harmon would fill a void. He could take Slaton’s place in the starting lineup (or at least take his snaps) as a rookie with the hope that he could replace Clark’s role as the interior playmaker.

At 6-foot-4 1/2 and 313 pounds with 34 3/8-inch arms and 4.95 speed in the 40, Harmon is a big, athletic man with a rare skill-set.

According to PFN’s scouting report, Harmon has an “elite first step.” Against the run, his “raw power makes him immovable” on running plays.

As noted by PFN in the mock, “The Packers’ pass rush only ranked 13th in pressure rate last season but … third from Weeks 15-18. Even if Green Bay isn’t a true top-three pass rush, adding a player like Harmon would be a move toward ensuring they can finish in the top 10 in 2025.”

As is the case for many taller defensive linemen, pad level can be an issue. He also missed too many tackles; his 17 percent missed-tackle rate is among the worst among the top defensive line prospects, according to Sports Info Solutions. One scout compared him to Steelers great Cam Heyward.

Once the draft got to Pittsburgh at No. 21, the choices for me were Harmon, Texas receiver Matthew Golden (who was in Green Bay for a predraft visit at the time), Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant (a mountain of a man with excellent athleticism) and Texas A&M edge Shemar Stewart (who, with his elite tools, seems like a Packers type of prospect).

Grant went to the Steelers; Harmon, Golden and Stewart were on the board.

Here’s the full draft, with the Vikings taking a safety at No. 24 and the Lions a “crush the can” pass rusher at No. 28.

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