All-Packers Seven-Round Mock Draft 3.0

With exactly five weeks until the real NFL Draft, our third mock sends Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets for two second-rounders.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – A first-round pick is great but there’s some definite upside to the Green Bay Packers trading quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets in exchange for their two second-round choices.

In light of the New York Jets’ getting a second-round draft pick in exchange for receiver Eljiah Moore on Wednesday, Packer Central sent Rodgers to New York for the 42nd and 43rd choices of the 2023 NFL Draft in our third mock draft. Along with Green Bay’s own pick at No. 45, general manager Brian Gutekunst would have four premium draft picks to address a rather lengthy list of needs.

Let’s get rolling. In this mock, I played the role of Gutekunst while the Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator did the rest.

First round – No. 15: Clemson DT Bryan Bresee

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With size (6-foot-5) and athleticism (4.86 in the 40), Bresee could develop into a real game-wrecker on the defensive line. He missed most of 2021 with a torn ACL and a chunk of 2022 following a kidney infection and the death of his sister. So, Bresee is rawer than you’d like. The Packers might be able to trade back a bit to get him but a mock draft is make-believe enough without adding more make-believe trades.

Also considered: Safety Brian Branch, receivers Jordan Addison and Quentin Johnston, outside linebacker candidates Lukas Van Ness and Myles Murphy or any of the tight ends, but there’s more depth at those spots than there is on the defensive line. Following the free-agent departures of Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry, D-line is incredibly thin.

Second round – No. 42 (from Jets): Georgia TE Darnell Washington

This is a really good group of tight ends, so I didn’t feel too bad bypassing Utah’s Dalton Kincaid at No. 15. With size and surprising athleticism, Washington has a chance to be a three-down menace. If nothing else, he’ll get Aaron Jones around the corner. He took a predraft visit to Green Bay.

Also considered: With three of the next four picks, this was an easy selection. For tight ends, Iowa’s Sam LaPorta was on the board; Kincaid, Michael Mayer and Luke Musgrave were not.

Second round – No. 43 (from Jets): Kansas State OLB Felix Anudike-Uzomah

At 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds, he’s not quite the king-sized edge rusher that the Packers prefer but he’s not exactly a dwarf, either. In 2022, he was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s top defensive lineman and a second- and third-team All-American with 8.5 sacks, 11 tackles for losses and two forced fumbles. He had eight forced fumbles the last two seasons.

Also considered: Tennessee WR Cedric Tillman, Notre Dame OLB candidate Isaiah Foskey, Georgia Tech OLB candidate Keion White, Syracuse OT Matthew Bergeron, Boise State S JL Skinner.

Second round – No. 45: Boise State S JL Skinner

The 6-foot-4 safety stands out from the crowd. Skinner started all 30 games he played in during his final three seasons. He was first-team all-Mountain West Conference as a senior with four interceptions. He’s got to get stronger but he’s a do-it-all safety at what could be a position of need if Adrian Amos joins the Ravens. He suffered a torn pectoral during training, which could impact his early availability.

Also considered: Texas A&M S Antonio Johnson, Syracuse OT Matthew Bergeron, Tillman.

Third round – No. 78: BYU OT Blake Freeland

Freeland is a towering, athletic man at 6-foot-8 and with 4.98 speed. He allowed one sack in three seasons, including zero in 2022, when was a third-team All-American. This is a swing for the fences, which will either break Green Bay’s third-round slump in resounding fashion or continue the misery.

Also considered: Oklahoma WR/KR Marvin Mims, Mississippi WR Jonathan Mingo.

Fourth round – No. 116: Michigan State WR Jayden Reed

In 2021, Reed caught 59 passes for 1,026 yards and 10 touchdowns and returned two punts for touchdowns. He wasn’t nearly as productive in 2022 but he’s a line-up-everywhere receiver with a big-play resume on special teams.

Also considered: Oklahoma DT Jalen Redmond, Old Dominion TE Zack Kuntz, Illinois RB Chase Brown.

Fifth round – No. 149: Princeton WR Andrei Iosivas

The Packers lost Allen Lazard in free agency. Iosivas isn’t exactly a parallel skill-set but he is 6-foot-3 with 4.43 speed. He was an FCS All-American with 66 receptions for 943 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022.

Also considered: Any big receiver, such as West Virginia’s Bryce Ford-Wheaton; Cal S Daniel Scott; Mississippi State DT Cameron Young.

Fifth round – No. 170 (compensatory): Mississippi State DT Cameron Young

At 6-foot-3 and 304 pounds with 34 1/4-inch arms, Young was born to play run defense. If he collects two sacks in four seasons – like he did in college – that will be just fine so long as he adds some fangs to Green Bay’s terrible run defense.

Also considered: None, really, though I like Cincinnati TE Josh Whyle, Clemson TE Davis Allen and Louisville OLB prospect YaYa Diaby

Seventh round – No. 232: UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson

This is an unusual quarterback class. Beyond that first group of prospects, all the quarterbacks with some size are statues; all the quarterbacks who are mobile are short. Thompson-Robinson is an outlier from that perspective. He’s 6-foot-2, has big hands and can run. My gut tells me he won’t make it to this point in the draft.

Also considered: Utah LB Mohamoud Diabate, South Alabama WR Jalen Wayne and the next two players that I picked.

Seventh round – No. 235 (from L.A. Rams): Northwestern RB Evan Hull

This was from the 2021 trade of a fifth-round pick to the Rams for punter Corey Bojorquez and a seventh-rounder.

Hull rushed for 1,009 yards (5.1 average) and caught 33 passes in 2021 and rushed for 913 yards (4.1 average) and caught 55 passes in 2022. The Packers need to groom someone given the contract situations of Aaron Jones and free agent-to-be AJ Dillon.

Also considered: The next player I picked, Wayne and Georgia OLB prospect Robert Beal.

Seventh round – No. 242 (from Jacksonville): Purdue TE Payne Durham

This was from last year’s trade of Cole Van Lanen.

In retrospect, maybe I should have taken a potential matchup-problem tight end like Kuntz in the fifth round. But Durham is a solid all-around prospect who caught 101 passes for 1,027 yards and 14 touchdowns the last two seasons. He’s a quality in-line blocker, too. Because Washington and Durham can catch and block, coach Matt LaFleur would have some options on how to attack. At 6-foot-6, he ran his 40 in only 4.87 seconds.

Also considered: None.

Seventh round – No. 256 (compensatory): Michigan K Jake Moody

As we wrote in our second mock, the guess is the Packers are going to let Mason Crosby go in free agency, so they’ll need someone to battle Parker White. Moody for his career made 82.1 percent of his field-goal attempts and all 148 tries on extra points. He doesn’t have a consistently big leg but he did make a 59-yarder.

Also considered: None.

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