Packer Central

100 Days of Mocks: Packers Get Massive Haul for Trading Rodgers

In a new two-round mock draft by CBS, the Green Bay Packers traded Aaron Rodgers and drafted a big-time pass rusher who grew up in Wisconsin.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – A recent trend from the mock draft metroplex has been Aaron Rodgers staying with the Packers and Green Bay having only the 15th pick of the first round at its disposal in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports did not follow that trend. Nor did he listen to the drumbeat that the Jets might prefer Derek Carr.

In his new two-round mock draft, the Packers received first- and third-round picks in 2023, first- and third-round picks in 2024 and edge defender Micheal Clemons, who had 2.5 sacks as a rookie fourth-round pick.

With the pick acquired from the Jets, No. 13 overall, the Packers selected Alabama safety Brian Branch. He’s someone we’ve written about regularly in this series and would help the Packers deal with the potential losses of Adrian Amos and Rudy Ford in free agency.

“Branch can be a Swiss Army knife in the Packers secondary, and GM Brian Gutekunst has a history of prioritizing defensive backs early in the draft,” Trapasso explained.

The Packers added an explosive tight end with their own pick at No. 15 to handle the potential losses of Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis. See the mock for that pick.

With their second-round pick, No. 45 overall, Green Bay added another piece to their defense with edge defender Will McDonald IV of Iowa State.

In 2020, McDonald led the Big 12 and tied for the national lead with 10.5 sacks. In 2021, he earned some first-team All-American honors with a Big 12-leading and conference-record 11.5 sacks. In 2022, he was merely first-team all-conference with 5.5 sacks.

Reads part of his scouting report at SI.com’s NFL Draft Bible: “Ankle and hip flexibility to flatten his rush path. Useful hands that can swipe and work through linemen's grasps, forcing them to recover. Initial get-off helps him split double teams and reach the backfield. Laterally adept, with the speed and agility to set the edge on perimeter runs if he’s free. Effort and motor to chase backs across the field. Teams repeatedly started double-chipping him as the season went on.”

McDonald is a Wisconsin native who played his high school ball at Waukesha North. Just a couple games into his varsity career, the Badgers brought him to Madison on a recruiting trip. Here’s how that went down, via 247 Sports.

Recruiter: “We’re going to turn you into an NFL outside linebacker.”

McDonald: “Oh, OK, cool.”

Recruiter: “Do you know who T.J. Watt is? And J.J. Watt?”

McDonald: “No, I don’t know any of them.”

A few weeks later, Iowa State reached out.

“I just had to tell them, he’s never played before, you’re going to talk to him and you’re going to think he has no clue, but it’s because he doesn’t,” Waukesha North coach Matthew Harris said. “I said the first time you talk to him, if you talk to him on the phone, it’s like talking to a brand new kid who does not know the sport at all. The second they met him they just fell in love with him and they were like, ‘Now we get it.’”

Why did McDonald know so little about football? Because he didn’t have time. He worked at McDonald’s to help his family pay the bills. Finally, Harris convinced McDonald’s mom to let him play.

“Right away, I was like, 'Holy cow, he is the most incredible athlete I’ve ever seen,’” Harris told The Des Moines Register.

As a senior, his mom had to move. To stay with his friends and teammates at Waukesha North, McDonald moved in with Harris.

“I think that helps maturity when you've not only had those experiences, but you've overcome those experiences,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “He's somebody that, in a lot of ways, has overcome those experiences in a really impressive way. He's a guy that you're rooting for because of the adversity that he's been able to already show that he can overcome. I think that's why he's always going to have great success.”

More Green Bay Packers Offseason News

Allen Lazard discusses upcoming free agency

Stay or Go: Mason Crosby

Stay of Go: Randall Cobb

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’s the 100-day-countdown series.

64 days: Three team-issued mock drafts

Packers take tight end in Daniel Jeremiah’s second mock

65 days: Pass-rushing defensive lineman in two-rounder

66 days: A slot/safety?

67 days: Three-rounder starts with receiver

68 days: Grandson of Glory Years legend

69 days: Mayer to Packers in SI mock

70 days: Football Outsiders picks pass rusher

71 days: 33rd Team trades Rodgers in two-rounder

71 days (bonus): Todd McShay 2.0

72 days: Packers take receiver to start NFL.com three-rounder

73 days: Packers fill big need with big man

74 days: Rodgers traded, take two pass-catchers in first round

75 days: Two NFL.com mocks, two different tight ends

76 days: Tight end and pass rusher in two-rounder by NFL Draft Bible

77 days: Rodgers traded to Raiders for No. 7 pick

78 days: A seven-round mock includes Big Ten playmakers

79 days: Rodgers traded in two-round mock

80 days: Packers take safety in ESPN mock

81 days: Aaron Rodgers traded in three-round mock

82 days: Seven mocks, including NFL.com

83 days: Two pass-catchers in first-round mocks

84 days: Aaron Rodgers traded for extra first-round pick

85 days: PFF picks a pass rusher

86 days: Tight end in NFL Draft Bible Mock

87 days: Packers trade back, get extra second-rounder

88 days: Sorry, vacation day.

89 days: A “Eureka!” moment in two-round mock

90 days: Playmaking cornerback at PFF

91 days: Three defensive backs in seven-round mock

92 days: Kiper takes a tight end

93 days: Safety first for Bucky Brooks in NFL.com mock

94 days: College Football News mocks Mayer

95 days: Two firsts if Rodgers is traded

96 days: NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah goes back to Georgia

97 days: This pick would break a long drought

98 days: Stud tight end

99 days: Trading for outside linebacker

100 days: First-round quarterback?

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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.

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