Seven-Round Packers Mock Drafts 9.1 and 9.2: The Trade-Down Editions

With the 2024 NFL Draft starting on Thursday, our final mock drafts of the year will be done with specific goals in mind. Today, it’s two mocks using trade-down proposals.

Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton at the Senior Bowl / Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – What’s better than having five picks in the Top 100 of the 2024 NFL Draft? Having six.

For Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, the more the merrier when it comes to draft picks. While the Packers have a young and ascending roster that appears ready to contend, they also have significant holes at offensive tackle, interior offensive line, safety, linebacker and cornerback. They need a fourth defensive and they could use a young running back with some speed.

That’s seven positions. From that perspective, trading back to gain that sixth premium pick makes sense.

“I like the flexibility of maybe not feeling like we have to just stick,” Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine. “We can probably move around a little bit.”

Option 1: The Small Trade

At NFL.com, Chad Reuter had the Packers move back from No. 25 to No. 31 in a deal with San Francisco that gained an extra third-round pick. That gave them one pick in the first round, two in the second and three late in the third.

Here’s how that looked using the Pro Football Focus simulator, which allowed the trade. (The Pro Football Network simulator did not.)

First Round: Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton

I had to hit refresh a few times to get the top quarterbacks off the board, which seems a necessity to create any sense of realism. By trading back, the Packers lost out on Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims at No. 25, Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson at No. 26, Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins at No. 27, Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry at No. 28, Michigan cornerback Mike Sainristil at No. 29 and Georgia receiver Ladd McConkey at No. 30. The big loss was missing out Wiggins and McKinstry.

Looking at positions of need, all the linebackers and safeties were on the board. So were edge rushers Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac, and offensive linemen Tyler Guyton, Jordan Morgan and Zach Frazier,

I went with Guyton. If nothing else, having Guyton would allow the Packers to move Zach Tom inside in case of emergency.

Second Round: Washington State S Jaden Hicks

Hicks is my No. 1 safety with the physical skill-set to be the perfect complement alongside Xavier McKinney. At 6-foot-2 and with 4.50 speed, he had six passes defensed and six tackles for losses in 2023.

Second Round: Michigan LB Junior Colson

With Payton Wilson and Edgerrin Cooper off the board, I took the best pure middle linebacker and one of the best tacklers in the draft.

Third Round: Kansas DE Austin Booker

Booker was Capt. Invisible in two years at Minnesota but had eight sacks and 12 tackles for losses during his lone season for the Jayhawks. He had a predraft visit with the Packers.

Third Round: USC RB Marshawn Lloyd

Lloyd is short but he’s not small. At 5-foot-8 3/4 and 220 pounds, Lloyd is a physical runner with 4.46 speed in the 40. It’s not breakaway speed but the explosiveness allowed him to average 7.1 yards per carry.

Third Round: Kansas OT Dominick Puni

This is the pick from the 49ers trade. Puni started at left guard in 2022 and left tackle in 2023. While he doesn’t have great athleticism and he lacks the desire length to perhaps stick at tackle, he didn’t allow any sacks in those two seasons.

Fourth Round: Notre Dame CB Cam Hart

Cornerback was the one position I didn’t get to in those first three rounds. At 6-foot-3, Hart provides a different skill-set than Jaire Alexander and Carrington Valentine. In 2023, he allowed just 15 completions in 28 targets and zero touchdowns.

Fifth Round: Auburn CB Nehemiah Pritchett

Having failed to get a cornerback in the first three rounds, we’ll double-up in Day 3. Pritchett’s got size (6-foot 1/8), speed (4.36 in the 40) and experience (40 starts over his final four seasons at Auburn). What he doesn’t have is a lot of big plays with just three interceptions on the resume.

Sixth Round: LSU DT Jordan Jefferson

Jefferson isn’t much of a pass rusher (six sacks in 55 career games) but he used his quickness and length to collect 21.5 tackles for losses and bat down eight passes.

Sixth Round: North Dakota State OL Jalen Sundell

Sundell started 25 games at center before moving back to left tackle, where he was a first-team FCS All-American in 15 starts in 2023. Other than Zach Tom, the Packers lack a backup center.

Seventh Round: Texas DB Ryan Watts

Watts played cornerback with so-so results but maybe he’d be better at safety. At 6-foot-3 and with a 4.53 in the 40 and a 40.5-inch vertical, he’s worth a shot to chase kicks, if nothing else.

Seventh Round: Indiana LB Aaron Casey

If Watts is a bet on athleticism, Casey is a bet on production. He was second-team all-Big Ten in 2023 with 109 tackles, which included 6.5 sacks and 20 tackles for losses. He added three forced fumbles.

Option 2: The Big Trade

Also at NFL.com, Dan Parr had the Packers trade completely out of the first round. In a trade with the Jaguars, the Packers swapped No. 25 for Nos. 40 and 48. That gave them four picks in the second round and six in the top 91.

Here’s how that looked via the PFF simulator:

First, it would have been a long Thursday night for Gutekunst. Before the Packers were up at No. 25, eight offensive linemen were off the board – including Graham Barton, Troy Fautanu, Tyler Guyton and Amarius Mims from No. 18 through No. 24.

So, in this case, a big trade back might have made some sense. Between No. 25 and their new spot at No. 40, offensive linemen Patrick Paul and Roger Rosengarten, defensive backs Cooper DeJean and Kool Aid McKinstry and edge defenders Chop Robinson and Darius Robinson were selected.

But the payoff is having four shots in the second round.

Second Round: BYU OT Kingsley Suamataia

This is No. 40 from the trade. Suamataia is viewed as a fringe first-rounder. With his experience at right tackle in 2022 and left tackle in 2023, he can be the Day 1 swing tackle. With Zach Tom being the starting right tackle and the next man up everywhere else, the swing-tackle role is critical. I’m not sure Arizona’s Jordan Morgan, who also was available, has the length to stick at tackle.

Second Round: Iowa State CB T.J. Tampa

The top-of-the-draft cornerback group was pretty well picked over. Tampa doesn’t have that explosive athleticism that you’d prefer but he’s got good size (6-foot-1), quickness (4.07 in the 20-yard shuttle), physicality and ball skills (three interceptions and 19 passes defensed the last two seasons).

Second Round: Texas A&M LB Edgerrin Cooper

This is No. 48 from the draft. A first-team All-American with eight sacks and 17 tackles for losses, Cooper is one of the most athletic and impactful linebackers in the draft. NC State’s Payton Wilson was gone but Michigan’s Junior Colson was available; we picked Colson in the earlier model.

Second Round: Utah S Cole Bishop

Washington State’s Jaden Hicks and Bishop are among the best fits to be the safety opposite McKinney. We took Hicks in the first earlier model. With 4.45 speed, Bishop is just a bit more athletic than Hicks but his lack of arm length – among the shortest in the safety class – is an issue.

Third Round: Kansas State DE Austin Booker

We really tried to avoid repeat picks but the Packers like bigger players on the edge. Looking at the range of players available, Booker was the only player heavier than 250 pounds. As mentioned before, he had a predraft visit.

Third Round: Wisconsin C Tanor Bortolini

PFF’s model still has Bortolini available in the sixth round but that’s probably nonsense. The Wisconsin native has elite athleticism and played all over the Badgers’ line. He seems a perfect fit for the Packers.

Fourth Round: Louisville CB Jarvis Brownlee

The Packers were fortunate last season that Keisean Nixon was available for every game, because there was no obvious backup in the slot. Enter Brownlee, who had six interceptions and 28 passes defensed for his career and plays with the necessary toughness.

Fifth Round: Louisville RB Isaac Guerendo

With a 4.33 in the 40 at 222 pounds, not to mention explosive production as a runner (6.0 career average) and skill as a returner and receiver, Guerendo should be long gone by this spot in the draft. However, his lengthy injury history could push him into range. The talented Green Bay backfield lacks a big-time breakaway threat.

Sixth Round: Air Force S Trey Taylor

Taylor is rather remarkable. He was a first-team All-American and won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back. And yet he wasn’t invited to the Scouting Combine. He had six interceptions and 11 tackles for losses as a three-year starter.

Sixth Round: Mississippi State LB Nathaniel Watson

The Packers will need to add more than one linebacker in this draft. Watson in 2023 had 137 tackles, including 10 sacks and 13 for losses. He started every game the last three years. His 4.63 and all-around athletic limitations will push him down.

Seventh Round: Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman

The Packers loved Sean Clifford’s experience when they drafted him last year. With 57 career starts (and 134 career touchdown passes), they’d love Hartman’s experience, as well.

Seventh Round: Eastern Kentucky OT Josiah Ezirim

We’ve drafted Holy Cross guard C.J. Hanson a few times during Mock Season, so we’ll veer in another direction and take Ezirim. He moved to offensive tackle in the middle of his college career and earned FCS All-American honors in 2023. At 6-foot-5 3/4 and 329 pounds with 35 3/4-inch arms, he’s got some promising tools.

Tyler Guyton / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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