Packer Central

100 Days of Mocks: Seven-Round Mock Shows Challenge

New mock drafts included a safety, cornerback, offensive lineman and pass rusher in the first round.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – A new seven-round mock draft by Shane Hallam of Draft Countdown shows how difficult it’s going to be for the Green Bay Packers to address all their needs in one draft.

If Adrian Amos leaves in free agency, the Packers will have a hole at safety. Hallam took care of that in the first round with Alabama’s Brian Branch. The All-American is a versatile defender with superior tackling skills.

The Packers could use an offensive tackle to provide immediate depth this year and potentially replace David Bakhtiari in 2024. Hallam grabbed Oklahoma’s Anton Harrison in the second round. He allowed one sack and nine total pressures in 2022, according to Pro Football Focus.

The needs at tight end, outside linebacker and receiver are obvious, too. Hallam took care of those with his next three picks.

The Packers have a huge vacancy on the defensive line after losing veterans Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry in free agency. By filling all the other holes in the first five rounds, defensive line waited until the seventh round.

Before getting to defensive line, Hallam addressed quarterback. Assuming the Aaron Rodgers trade happens, Jordan Love will move into the starting lineup but the only other player on the roster is Danny Etling, who hasn’t played in a game in his five NFL seasons.

The free-agent group has been decimated, so general manager Brian Gutekunst is going to need to find a quarterback in the draft. With the second of the fifth-round picks, Hallam went with UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

At 6-foot-1 5/8, he’s a bit undersized but should fall within Green Bay’s thresholds. He checks a big box with 9 7/8-inch hands. He ran his 40 at the Scouting Combine in 4.56 seconds.

He was highly productive for the Bruins. During his final season, he completed 69.3 percent of his passes with 27 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions, good for a 106.7 passer rating. He has some moldable traits. The knock in his game is broken down by SI’s NFL Draft Bible.

“When pressured, his play suffers due to below-average poise,” reads a snippet of his scouting report. “Thompson-Robinson projects as a camp quarterback who can stick on a practice squad thanks to his intriguing athleticism and solid arm strength. To make a roster he has to significantly improve accuracy and performance under pressure.”

In a new mock by The 33rd Team, the Packers traded Rodgers but didn’t give Love a passing-game weapon.

With the 13th choice, the pick was Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon.

“Devon Witherspoon pairs with Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes to make the Packers’ secondary a strength,” the authors wrote.

Apparently either Rasul Douglas was forgotten or he’d be moved to safety. Regardless, this really doesn’t address the need in the slot.

At No. 15, the pick was Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson. Johnson allowed zero sacks as the Buckeyes’ right guard in 2021 and two sacks as their left tackle in 2022. Perhaps he could challenge Yosh Nijman at right tackle as a rookie before being the long-term replacement for David Bakhtiari at left tackle.

“Johnson is an athletic offensive tackle from Ohio State, who should help protect Love,” the authors wrote. “Johnson is also a strong contributor in the run game, which would help the Packers’ RB duo of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon.”

In a four-round mock at Walter Football, Notre Dame’s all-time sacks leader, Isaiah Foskey, was the choice at No. 15.

“The Packers need a receiver, but with the two top prospects at the position off the board, they can focus on bolstering their offensive line or front seven,” the author wrote. “The latter is an issue, as Green Bay had to blitz frequently last year as a result of four players not being able to get to the quarterback consistently.”

Green Bay got that receiver in the second round with Ole Miss’ Jonathan Mingo, then grabbed South Dakota State tight end Tucker Kraft in the third. The final pick was spent a linebacker.

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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.

38 days: Rodgers traded, Smith-Njigba picked

Packer Central’s second seven-round mock

39 days: Bryan Bresee leads seven-round mock

40 days: A big, bad Bulldog

41 days: Trading back, helping defense

42 days: Van Ness leads off PFF three-rounder

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

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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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