Seven-Round Packers Mock Draft Starts With ‘Future Game Wrecker’

A bit of a project as a first-round defensive lineman? A receiver in the second round? Those are the results from a Packers-focused seven-round mock draft.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden catches a pass against Ohio State. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Green Bay Packers used their first-round draft pick on a high-upside, low-production defensive player.

Texas A&M defensive lineman Shemar Stewart was the pick in a seven-round Packers mock draft by The 33rd Team’s Tyler Brooke.

The Packers need better “scheme fits” on the defensive line for defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, Brooke said.

“Shemar Stewart fits that bill as someone who could be a legitimate three-down playmaker as a 4-3 defensive end,” Brooke wrote. “He's an imposing presence at 6-foot-6 and 290 pounds, along with the length and athletic ability to be a future game wrecker.”

The problem is Stewart’s length, strength and short-area quickness didn’t translate to production. Not that that’s been an issue for the Packers in past drafts. Former first-round picks Lukas Van Ness and Rashan Gary were high-upside prospects, as well.

He’s got the potential to be a “monster on the edge,” The 33rd Team’s Kyle Crabbs wrote in his scouting report.

“You simply cannot coach the blend of length, explosiveness, power, and fluidity,” Crabbs wrote. “Finding it all in one place, like with Stewart, is usually only reserved for one or two guys in a draft class.”

In three seasons with the Aggies, the 6-foot-6, 290-pounder had 4.5 sacks – 1.5 sacks in each season – and 11 tackles for losses. He set career highs in 2024 with 31 tackles and 5.5 tackles for losses. He was third-team all-SEC in 2024 and an Under Armour All-American at Monsignor Pace Academy in Miami Gardens.

“He can rush, he can play the run, he can play the pass, he can overpower you and he can out-speed you,” then-Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher said. “He’s just a tremendous athlete, and on top of that he’s a better person than he is a player.”

ESPN’s Mel Kiper said Stewart has the “potential to break out in a big way” upon arriving in the NFL. A strong Scouting Combine will crank up the hype.

“Expect to hear this name a lot more as we get into predraft events,” Kiper wrote. “Stewart still has some development ahead, but his athletic traits at 6-foot-6, 290 pounds could push him up the board this spring.”

The Packers have a long history of finding starting receivers in the second round with Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, Christian Watson and Jayden Reed. Brooke went back to the second-round well with Texas receiver Matthew Golden.

After catching 38 passes in each of his two seasons at Houston, Golden transferred to Texas for the 2024 season. He caught 58 passes for 987 yards (17.0 average) and nine touchdowns. In the SEC Championship Game loss to Georgia, he caught eight passes for 162 yards. In the playoff victory over Arizona State, he caught seven passes for 149 yards and one touchdown.

“I feel like if I put my goals that high, there’s no other way to go,” he said in 2023. “I have to go that high. I never put my goals too low. I want to put them high so I can go up there and reach them.”

Listed at 6-foot and 195 pounds, he produced at receiver as well as in the slot, and he had 13 receptions on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.

The Packers have short- and long-term needs at receiver with Christian Watson’s torn ACL likely to sideline him for the first half of the season and Watson and Doubs entering their final season under contract.

“Golden is one of the most electric receivers in this class, winning in a variety of ways but predominantly with play speed and explosiveness,” Brooke wrote. “He can take the top off of any defense but also has the deceleration and movement skills to be a precise route runner, maximizing his separation ability.”

In the third round, the Packers could potentially replace former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander with LSU cornerback Zy Alexander.

Zy Alexander spent three seasons at Southeastern Louisiana before finishing his career with two seasons at LSU. After missing the end of the 2023 season with a torn ACL, he had two interceptions and six passes defensed in 2024. PFF charged him with a catch rate of just 43.5 percent this season.

“Zy Alexander has prototypical size for an outside cornerback at 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds,” Brooke wrote. “Along with the length and speed to stay with receivers downfield, he shows good deep-ball tracking so as not to panic and start grabbing receivers, instead relying on his instincts and ball skills to make a play on the ball.”

He grabbed 13 interceptions during his final four seasons.

“He's physically developing and getting stronger,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “We like his willingness to go in there and want to make the tackle. He's got the nose for the football, too. When it's in the air, he will go out, find it and catch it.”

The Day 3 picks were spent on an SEC guard, a Big Ten linebacker, a productive pass rusher, another cornerback and a 340-pound offensive tackle.

Click here for the full mock and deeper analysis into all eight picks.

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