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What Daniel Jeremiah’s Updated NFL Draft Rankings Mean for Packers

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah updated his list of the top 50 NFL Draft prospects. Let’s mesh his rankings with the Green Bay Packers’ biggest needs.
Bill Huber|
Oregon Ducks defensive lineman Derrick Harmon is No. 23 in Daniel Jeremiah's draft rankings. The Packers own the No. 23 pick.
Oregon Ducks defensive lineman Derrick Harmon is No. 23 in Daniel Jeremiah's draft rankings. The Packers own the No. 23 pick. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah updated his list of the top 50 prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft on Wednesday.

To be sure, Jeremiah’s rankings might not even remotely resemble Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst’s big board at Lambeau Field. In Jeremiah’s Top 150 released just days before last year’s draft, first-round pick Jordan Morgan was 47th, second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper was 29th, second-round pick Javon Bullard was 60th, third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd was 56th, third-round pick Ty’Ron Hopper was unranked and fourth-round pick Evan Williams was unranked.

Nonetheless, Jeremiah’s new rankings provide a guide of who could be available for the Packers with the 23rd pick of the first round.

Limiting the focus to positions of need:

Receiver: If the Packers truly believe the key to unlocking their passing game means drafting one of the premier receivers, Gutekunst should be able to make it happen.

The top three receivers are Texas’ Matthew Golden at No. 16, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka at No. 17 and Arizona’s Tet McMillan at No. 18. Will any of them emerge as a true No. 1 receiver? Maybe not, but Golden has elite speed, Egbuka has superb polish and McMillan has excellent size.

The Broncos at No. 20 and the Chargers at No. 22 might want a receiver in the first round, too. Leaping over them to get to No. 19 in a trade with the Buccaneers could be done for a third-round pick (with a late-round kickback).

Golden, Egbuka, McMillan and Missouri’s Luther Burden (No. 33) are the only receivers in Jeremiah’s Top 50, so there could be some inviting prospects waiting for the Packers at No. 54, though the overall lack of depth in the class could mean a run in the second round.

Offensive line: The big news from the owners meetings is the Packers are going to let last year’s first-round pick, Jordan Morgan, challenge incumbent starter Rasheed Walker at left tackle. If Morgan is out of the mix at right guard, the Packers will need depth behind the new interior trio of Aaron Banks, Elgton Jenkins and Sean Rhyan.

That player wouldn’t have to be selected in the first round, though North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel (No. 24) would be a phenomenal fit. He was an All-American left tackle at North Dakota State who Jeremiah said “aced” the Senior Bowl, where he played guard and center, and Scouting Combine, and could be a “Day 1 starter at guard.”

Marcus Mbow, who played right guard and right tackle at Purdue, is No. 48. As is the case with Zabel, he presumably would be appealing for the Packers, who highly covet O-line versatility.

With Walker and Morgan at left tackle and Zach Tom entrenched at right tackle, the Packers might be out on Texas’ Kelvin Banks (No. 31) and Ohio State’s Josh Simmons (No. 37), a pair of talented left tackles.

Defensive end/edge: The Packers brought in Georgia’s Mykel Williams, Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart and Tennessee’s James Pearce for predraft visits, which would signal the team believes it needs an upgrade even with former first-round picks Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness on the depth chart. In Jeremiah’s rankings, Williams is No. 22, Pearce is No. 26 and Stewart is No. 27.

Stewart, of course, is one of the more polarizing prospects in the draft. His Relative Athletic Score was a perfect 10.0 but he had three consecutive seasons of 1.5 sacks. Wrote Jeremiah: “I guarantee defensive line coaches are going to be lining up to work with him. … I’m sure some will struggle to see past the limited sack total, but there is just too much talent here to fall into that trap.”

There are nine edges in Jeremiah’s Top 50, including Marshall’s Mike Green at No. 21, Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku (who played for Jeff Hafley) at No. 25, Arkansas’ Landon Jackson at No. 46 and Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton at No. 49.

Because of the depth – Jeremiah’s list doesn’t include the dynamic Ohio State duo of JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer, LSU’s Bradyn Swinson and Ole Miss’ Princely Umanmielen – the Packers could fill another need in the first round and wait until Day 2.

Defensive tackle: This is a huge need. TJ Slaton, a 17-game starter each of the last two seasons, signed with the Bengals in free agency, Kenny Clark will turn 30 this season and Devonte Wyatt could be a free agent next offseason. The four veterans on the depth chart are Clark, who is coming off a down season, Wyatt and 2023 draft picks Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden.

There are five defensive tackles in Jeremiah’s Top 50, including three potential first-round picks who are ranked near Green Bay’s spot at No. 23: Oregon’s Derrick Harmon is No. 23, Mississippi’s Walter Nolen is No. 28 and Michigan’s Kenneth Grant is No. 30. Harmon is a big, athletic playmaker who lacks an “elite trait,” Nolen is a penetrating playmaker and Grant is a massive 330-pounder who would be Slaton 2.0 but with more upside.

Cornerback: Assuming the Packers eventually sever ties with Jaire Alexander, the Packers will enter 2025 with Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Nate Hobbs battling for the two perimeter positions and Hobbs and Javon Bullard battling in the slot.

That’s not a bad group, but there’s not a lockdown corner in the group capable of shutting down the likes of Justin Jefferson and Amon-Ra St. Brown in division games.

There are six corners in Jeremiah’s Top 50. Based on his rankings, there isn’t a great fit at No. 23. Presumably, Texas’ Jahdae Barron – who’s more of a slot, anyway – and Michigan’s Will Johnson will be off the board. Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston, Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison, Mississippi’s Trey Amos and Florida State’s Azareye’h Thomas range from No. 35 to No. 50.

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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.