Packers First-Round Pick? Daniel Jeremiah Mentions Disruptive SEC D-Tackle

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers need more “juice” on defense. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has an idea about where to squeeze.

“They have a pattern. They love athletic, front-seven SEC players,” the draft expert said on the new 40s and Free Agents podcast, which focused on draft needs for the 14 playoff teams.

One possibility for the Packers’ first-round pick? Jeremiah singled out Mississippi defensive tackle Walter Nolen.

“I'm like, just throw him into that mix of all those guys,” Jeremiah explained. “You’ve got a bunch of really athletic, explosive players in that front seven. Now, you’d like to see it all come together. Edgerrin Cooper, by the way, is going to be awesome. So, they've got a lot of talent there. It hasn't all bubbled up to the surface yet, but I think they just continue to throw more guys into the mix. So, that’s the direction I went.”

General manager Brian Gutekunst, indeed, loves SEC defenders. In 2022, he used his first-round picks on linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, who were teammates at Georgia. In 2024, he grabbed Cooper, an All-Rookie linebacker from Texas A&M, in the second round.

Plus, defensive end Kingsley Enagbare is from Texas A&M, defensive end Brenton Cox is from Florida, defensive tackle Colby Wooden is from Auburn and linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper is from Missouri. That’s not even mentioning defensive tackle TJ Slaton, who started the last two seasons before signing with the Bengals in free agency.

Of our unofficial two-deep on the defensive front seven, seven players are from SEC schools.

The pass rush is a big deal entering the draft. While the Packers finished in the top 10 in sacks and sack percentage, they were 26th in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate.

Nolen would help. He was a Consensus All-American in 2024 with 6.5 sacks and 14 tackles for losses. Of 162 draft-eligible defensive tackles with at least 200 pass-rushing snaps last season, Nolen was eighth in total pressures and 18th in pass-rush win rate, according to Pro Football Focus.

“Violent. Just plain violent,” he said of his game at the Scouting Combine, where he measured 6-foot-3 3/4 and 296 pounds but did not go through testing. “I feel like I play fast. Fast and violent, that’s how the game is supposed to be played.”

The five-star recruit spent his first two seasons at Texas A&M, where he was teammates with Cooper.

“My get-off” is what he improved at Ole Miss. “Being violent in the game. I’m just a naturally good football player. Now it’s time to clean up the small things.”

In his latest top-50 rankings, Jeremiah ranked Nolen at No. 28.

“If he lands with the right scheme/coach, he could emerge as one of the better players in this draft class,” Jeremiah wrote at the end of a more extensive breakdown.

On the podcast, Jeremiah said to not “sleep on a corner” in the first round, though there might not be a good fit at No. 23, calling it an “in-between spot” between the top prospects and the next tiers.

However, he did say Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston, the fastest player in this year’s draft class – and another SEC performer – “could make some sense.”

Hairston is Jeremiah’s No. 35 prospect. He had five interceptions in 2023 but only one in 2024, when a shoulder injury limited him to seven games.

In Jeremiah’s rankings, Georgia’s Mykel Williams, Tennessee’s James Pearce, Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart and Nolen are front-seven defenders from the SEC who rank between No. 22 and No. 28.

“Just find a real athletic, traits-y SEC defensive player and him in there,” Jeremiah said of the Packers.

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