Mock Draft: How Picking Love Makes Filling Holes Huge Challenge

Picking Jordan Love in the first round and losing a fourth-round pick will make filling the remaining holes a challenge for GM Brian Gutekunst.

Bill Huber | Apr 24, 2020

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The NFL Draft isn’t only about the upcoming season. It’s about upcoming seasons. With the Green Bay Packers selecting Jordan Love in the first round on Thursday night, general manager Brian Gutekunst hopes to have secured the team’s standard of success well into the next decade.

However, it made taking the next step after reaching the NFC Championship Game incredibly difficult.

Love isn’t going to play slot receiver to catch passes from his mentor, Aaron Rodgers. He’s not going to create havoc alongside Kenny Clark on the defensive line. He’s not going to add to the linebacker corps. He’s not going to be the No. 3 offensive tackle. He’s not going to intercept any passes.

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The Packers own the 62nd pick of the second round and the 94th pick of the third round on Friday. Having sent their fourth-round pick to Miami in moving up to get Love, the Packers have one pick in the fifth round, three picks in the sixth round and two picks in the seventh round on Saturday. It’s a challenge not filling a need in the first round. It’s even a bigger challenge not having a fourth-rounder. That was clear in this simulation I did at Pro Football Network. (I did a separate mock in the Draft Network’s simulator; that is the associated video.)

Second: TCU OT Lucas Niang. (Best available included DTs Raekwon Davis, Justin Madubuike, Jordan Elliott, Neville Gallimore; S Jeremy Chinn; WR Gabriel Davis, LB Logan Wilson.)

Third: Texas WR Devin Duvernay. (Best available included WRs Lynn Bowden, Bryan Edwards, Donovan Peoples-Jones; OL Robert Hunt; CB Tony Pride; S Ashtyn Davis.)

Fifth: Temple LB Shaun Bradley. (Best available included OL Hakeem Adeniji; TE Josiah Deguara, Dalton Keane; WRs Joe Reed, Isaiah Hodgins, RB James Robinson, Quartney Davis.

Sixth: Virginia Tech TE Dalton Keane. (Best available included WRs Joe Reed, Quartney Davis, Dezmon Patton, G Cordel Iwuagwu, Tremayne Anchrum, Kevin Dotson.)

Sixth: Louisiana G Kevin Dotson.

Sixth: Michigan State DT Raequan Williams. (Best available included edge Anfernee Jennings, DB Julian Blackmon, WRs Juwan Johnson, Ja’Marcus Bradley, Quez Watkins; OT Alex Taylor.)

Seventh: Temple CB Harrison Hand. (Best available included WR Quez Watkins, edge Carter Coughlin, S Geno Stone, OL Jon Runyan.)

Seventh: Cincinnati RB Michael Warren. (Best available included OL Jon Runyan, S Geno Stone, RB Darius Anderson, CB Lamar Jackson, DL Tyler Clark).

Published Apr 24, 2020

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.