NFL.com Mock Draft: Packers Shop Big and Tall

GREEN BAY, Wis. – If Ted Thompson were alive and running the Green Bay Packers, he’d say, “The Good Lord doesn’t make too many people like Jordan Davis.”

Davis, Georgia’s mammoth and ridiculously athletic defensive tackle, was the initial pick for the Packers in Lance Zierlein’s latest mock draft at NFL.com.

“Green Bay needs a receiver, but the Packers won't reach for one if they see a better player on their board. Davis has rare traits, and his best football may be in front of him,” Zierlein wrote.

You want rare traits? At 6-foot-6 3/8 and 341 pounds, Davis ran his 40-yard dash in 4.77 seconds at the Scouting Combine. That makes him the fastest defensive lineman in the draft, even while outweighing just about everyone by 20 or 30 (or more) pounds.

More than just a big guy, he earned All-American honors as a junior and was a unanimous first-team All-American as a senior. His two sacks and 5.5 tackles for losses in 15 games in 2021 hardly spoke to his performance. He drew five holding penalties, according to Sports Info Solutions, second-most among defensive linemen in this year’s draft.

“Davis is an enormous defensive tackle prospect with surprising quickness and athleticism,” NFL.com’s Daniel Jermiah wrote in his Top 50 list. “As a pass rusher, he's primarily a pocket-collapse player rather than a polished technician. He's able to bend, latch on and walk opposing linemen right back to the quarterback. He flashes quick hands, and I believe he has upside to develop into more of a threat. He is at his best versus the run. He is immovable inside, locks out blocks and eliminates space for runners. He has outstanding block recognition, handles double teams and possesses surprising range. He makes plays down the field, which is incredible to see at his size. Not every team will value his skill set, but I think he can be a dominant force in the right scheme.”

Adding Davis to Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry, Jarran Reed and TJ Slaton would give the Packers a potentially superb defensive front.

Even with the free-agent addition of Reed, the Packers do need help on the defensive line, where there are only five players under contract. (Jack Heflin, who barely played as an undrafted free agent last year, is the fifth.)

“Just like any coach in the league, you always want to add more talent,” defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said on Tuesday. “So, we’ll leave that up to Gutey and those guys to figure that out, and they’ll do that. But, ultimately, you would love to add a high-level third-down pass rusher. I think we’ve got a solid group that can do both, but I think you (would like to) have a little bit twitchier guy that can add to the rush from that standpoint. But anything he gives us, we’ll be happy with.”

To get Davis, the Packers bypassed receivers Chris Olave, Christian Watson and Jahan Dotson. They grabbed one of those players with the 28th selection.

Click here for the full mock draft.

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