Packer Central

100 Days of Mocks: Edge, Linebacker, Tight End in PFF Three-Rounder

When you've got seven first-round picks on defense, why not make it eight?

Bill Huber

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ on-paper starting defense features seven first-round picks.

With Joe Barry playing the role of Dick Van Patten, maybe Eight is Enough.

In a new three-round mock draft at Pro Football Focus published exactly six weeks before the 2023 NFL Draft, the Packers led off with Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness. He’d provide critical depth behind the veteran starting tandem of Preston Smith and Rashan Gary – especially with Gary coming off a torn ACL.

“The Packers can go a handful of directions here, but if Van Ness is still around, I think he will be high on their board,” Trevor Sikkema wrote. “He has experience playing on the interior and the speed to play on the edge. Given the lack of starting experience, he's a bit green, but he has shown flashes of impact ability.”

Despite not starting a game in his two seasons at Iowa, he finished with career numbers of 13.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for losses.

With size and explosiveness, he fits the Packers’ mold.

With the Day 2 picks, Sikkema went with Arkansas linebacker Drew Sanders in the second round and Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta in the third round.

The Sanders pick doesn’t make much sense. The Packers already have De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker to man those positions. They are every-down players – so long as Walker keeps his temper in check.

Not that Sanders isn’t good. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was a first-team All-American and one of three finalists for the Butkus Award, which goes to the nation’s top linebacker. He had 9.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for losses among his 103 tackles.

Perhaps with that stat line, you’re thinking about Dallas’ defensive dynamo, Micah Parsons, who also is an off-the-ball linebacker with big-time pass rushing skills.

“Sanders’ 11 sacks and 39 pressures from a season ago are why he’ll be coveted in the league,” reads a snippet of PFF’s scouting report. “Everyone wants the next Micah Parsons, and while he’s not that, Sanders can bring juice to a third-down package.”

LaPorta measured 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds at the Scouting Combine, where he ran his 40 in 4.59 seconds. He caught 53 passes for 670 yards and three touchdowns as a junior and 58 passes for 657 yards and one touchdown as a senior.

Green Bay’s third-round history is dreary, overall, and especially at tight end with Richard Rodgers, Jace Sternberger and Josiah Deguara over the last decade.

At USA Today’s Touchdown Wire, the Packers traded Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets for the No. 13 pick. With that selection, Green Bay landed Ohio State slot receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. With their own choice at No. 15, Green Bay grabbed Clemson edge defender Myles Murphy.

Good-Bye (Soon), Aaron Rodgers; Hello, Jordan Love

Updating the Aaron Rodgers trade talks

Aaron Rodgers wants to be traded to the Jets

“They want to move on and, now, so do I.”

It’s now Jordan Love’s time

Aaron Rodgers’ career highlights

Aaron Rodgers’ career disappointments

From 2020: Senior Bowl’s Jim Nagy on Jordan Love

Green Bay Packers Free Agency News

Krys Barnes won’t return to Packers

Packers sign long snapper in free agency

Packers running out of couch cushions

Packers tender Yosh Nijman

Start of free agency paints bleak outlook for Packers

What compensatory pick for losing Jarran Reed?

What compensatory pick for losing Allen Lazard?

Could Packers get receiver in Aaron Rodgers trade?

Has Mason Crosby kicked his last field goal for Packers?

100 Days of Mocks

Starting Jan. 17, when there were 100 days until the start of the NFL Draft, we started our mock-worthy goal of 100 mock drafts in 100 days. Here are the last 10 days of the series.

43 days: Van Ness at No. 13 and No. 15 in new mocks

44 days: Four-rounder starts with pass rusher

45 days: Sorry, free agency

46 days: A first-round quarterback?

47 days: A fistful of tight ends

48 days: Rodgers traded; Packers take pass rusher, tight end

49 days: First-round playmakers and a seven-round mock

50 days: Rodgers, Jets and the first-round dilemma

51 days: Todd McShay 3.0

52 days: Post-Scouting Combine roundup

Published
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.

Home/News