Packers Pick BYU OT Kingsley Suamataia in Kiper’s First Mock Draft
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are in an interesting spot at offensive tackle. David Bakhtiari, one of the premier players of the era, is under contract and coming off yet another surgery and Rasheed Walker played well down the stretch.
Do the Packers go into 2024 with Bakhtiari as Plan A and Walker as Plan B and use their draft resources elsewhere? Or do they pick a left tackle in hopes of having a lockdown player for the next decade?
In his first mock draft of the season, ESPN’s Mel Kiper selected BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia’s with the 25th overall selection.
“The 6-foot-6 Suamataia started 23 games for the Cougars over the past two seasons, 12 at right tackle and 11 at left tackle,” Kiper wrote. “I love the potential he showed this past season when he gave up three sacks and only eight total pressures. He is a mountain of a man who can move to the second level and take on linebackers in the run game.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Suamataia allowed two sacks and 15 total pressures in 11 games in 2023.
The Packers love athletic linemen, and Suamataia certainly fits. He was No. 3 on Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freaks List” for The Athletic.
“(BYU) had him at 21.5 (mph) on the GPS, which is flying,” Feldman said during Andy Staples’ On3 podcast. “21.5, if you’re 218 pounds, is pretty good; 21.5, if you’re 318, means I maybe could have made the case he should be No. 1.”
The former five-star recruit started his career at Oregon. Among his cousins is Detroit Lions right tackle Penei Sewell.
Bakhtiari is due a base salary of $20.2 million for 2024, his final season under contract. Releasing him would take that off the salary cap but would leave behind a little more than $19 million of dead cap space.
“He’s a hell of player, right? He is a hell of a player,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “He had a big-time injury, so I’m sure we’ll evaluate that, get more information, talk to Dave and some of those decisions will be made in the near future.”
Walker was a seventh-round pick in 2022 who played zero snaps from scrimmage as a rookie. With Bakhtiari shut down after Week 1, he started the final 18 games. He worked in a timeshare with Yosh Nijman for seven games but ultimately took the job full-time for the final five games.
In those five games, according to PFF, Walker allowed one sack (against Chicago) and one quarterback hit (against San Francisco).
“He’s a dog, man,” Bakhtiari’s longtime line partner, left guard Elgton Jenkins, said on Monday. “He’s athletically gifted. The mindset that he comes with on Sunday or whenever we play, it’s very special to have that mindset.”
