Mock Draft after 1st Day of Free Agency

[Packer Dave]

Hello all,

Was going to play a poker tournament tonight, but got caught up in all the free agency articles.

Haven't done one of these for years, I won't go into free agency because I think the Packers are done except for some minor signings (ie... Lewis)

This is a straight up mock and no trades and some wishful thinking.

 

Round 1 Pick 12: Devin White LB LSU 6'0" 237,  Best inside LB in draft, immediate starter and 3 down player with pro bowl potential. Also gives protection if Blake Martinez leaves in free agency next year.

 

Round 1 Pick 30: Jeffery Simmons DL Miss St 6'4" 300, Top 10 pick that slides due to injury and background concerns, extremely talented athletically and possesses a ton of upside. Possible replacement for Mike Daniels next year.

 

Round 2 Pick 44: Dalton Risner OL Kansas St 6'5" 312, Played right tackle, had a good week at Senior Bowl, But had trouble with Monte Sweat and the Texas Longhorns edge players. Good run blocker and would be ideal for Risner to start as a backup to Bulaga to improve his ability to handle fast edge rushers, could also start at right quard and have Billy Turner take over left guard for Lane Taylor. Also has experience at center.

 

Round 3 Pick 75: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson FS Florida 6'0" 208, Played slot corner for the Gators, solid tackler and aggressive run defender.

 

Round 4 Pick 114: Anthony Nelson DL Iowa 6'7" 271, Solid edge rusher, contributed to a tough defensive line for Iowa.

 

Round 4 Pick 118: Foster Moreau TE LSU 6'4" 253, Decent week at Senior Bowl as a blocking TE, could be a Y-TE who helps in ground game and short yardage-goal line situations. 

 

Round 5 Pick 150: Brice Love RB Stanford 5'11" 213, The speedster was banged up in 2018 and defenses sold out to stop him, resulting to a down year. Sources say Love is better than smaller backs who have gone in round one, saying he is on par with Chris Johnson. L over isn't as straight line fast, but possesses more elusiveness and moves in the open field than Johnson. Love is extremely fast, tough runner and has great vision.

 

Round 6 Pick 185: Olisaemeka Udoh OL Elon 6'5" 323, One of the most impressive players in the one-on-ones at the East-West Shrine game. Has good size for a tackle or guard, needs to work on his feet and improve his ability to handle speed rushers.

 

Round 6 pick 194: Preston Williams WR Colorado St 6'4" 210, Started out in Tennessee before moving to Colorado St, didn't get much playing time in Tennessee, but had 96 catches for 1,345 yards and 14 TDs at Colorado St. Has some background concerns, but his WR coach at Colorado is now the Packers WR coach.

 

Round 7 Pick 226: Kendall Blanton TE Missouri 6'6" 260, Was solid but unimpressive at the East-West Shrine game. Should be a Y blocking TE who can contribute as a reciever. Blanton goes under the radar because Albert Okwuegbunam is such a dynamic reciever, but Blanton is said to be a good reciever in his own right.

 

Would really like to see the first 3 rounds to unfold like this as it solidifies some of the holes we may have next year as free agency comes around and can fill the holes we may have as they can step in for the people who may not have much left to give us or may be too expensive to keep,  Kenny Clark's 5th year tender will be around 8.8 million, leaving the Packers with around 17 million next year. Playing around with the roster manager on Spotrac, and with cutting Lane Taylor and Jimmy Graham the Packers could have another 12.5 million.

[Cadmus]

Needs moar EDGE. 

Seriously, though. 

In THIS class, I'd be extremely disappointed if one of our first three selections isn't an OLB. 

[n8ghee]

I’d gladly sign up for this draft.

[OneTwoSixFive]

I just don't think the Packers view ILB as the choice for a very high pick. They've addressed that spot in the last three drafts with 4th, 4th, and 3rd round picks. I'd take Oliver, Wilkins, Ferrell, Sweat, Burns, over White.

After that though, I thought you knocked it out of the park. Loved Simmons at #30, loved the early addition of an OT, loved one of the few FS types available in Gardner-Johnson. I was a fan of Omenihu earlier in the draft process, but I have cooled on him in favour of Nelson, who has the same great length and weight as Omenihu, but plays harder. Taken as a whole, very nice.

[pacman5252]

The only pick I don’t like is Simmons. I get it, he was a potential top 10 pick. With that said I don’t like the concept of taking a guy round 1 who is going to miss an entire year. Simmons also has character red flags. That is a lot of extra risk. I’d say 44 at the earliest.

[jleisher]

I have no problems with it, nice job for not having done one in a while.

[VegasDan]

Perfect draft! White is not just a great player, but will provide the aggressive leadership that will elevate the whole defense. Coverage skills will go along ways as well.

 

On 3/14/2019 at 5:49 AM, pacman5252 said:

The only pick I don’t like is Simmons. I get it, he was a potential top 10 pick. With that said I don’t like the concept of taking a guy round 1 who is going to miss an entire year. Simmons also has character red flags. That is a lot of extra risk. I’d say 44 at the earliest.

Simmons is worth it, even if we have to wait a year.  He would be one of the best characters coming out, if it wasnt for that one incident. The incident was, a grown woman was beating up his little sister back when he was in high school. He repeatedly tried to break it up and then he snapped. I dont blame him at all, at some point he is allowed to protect his little sister, even if it means beating up a woman. Yes, he went beyond what he should have. But he was 17 and in the heat of the moment. He has taken responsibility for it, and doesnt shy away from answering questions about it.

Other than that, everyone says he is very humble and polite. He speaks to little kids motivationalky to stay away from drugs and stay in school. He was his universities black delegate to a minority Congress.

 

I'm not going to hold one regrettable moment against him. It does not appear to be part of any pattern.

[vegas492]

Dig this draft.  All of it.  

I know that White is an off-ball linebacker, but I could see him being amazing in this defense.

We can debate all we want about Simmons and that value at #30, but he's talented and should be ready to go when the Daniels contract is up.

Preston Williams.  Enormous boom/bust pick, character issue galore.  But, he's talented and that is a great spot to take a chance.

 

[pacman5252]

1 hour ago, VegasDan said:

Perfect draft! White is not just a great player, but will provide the aggressive leadership that will elevate the whole defense. Coverage skills will go along ways as well.

 

Simmons is worth it, even if we have to wait a year.  He would be one of the best characters coming out, if it wasnt for that one incident. The incident was, a grown woman was beating up his little sister back when he was in high school. He repeatedly tried to break it up and then he snapped. I dont blame him at all, at some point he is allowed to protect his little sister, even if it means beating up a woman. Yes, he went beyond what he should have. But he was 17 and in the heat of the moment. He has taken responsibility for it, and doesnt shy away from answering questions about it.

Other than that, everyone says he is very humble and polite. He speaks to little kids motivationalky to stay away from drugs and stay in school. He was his universities black delegate to a minority Congress.

 

I'm not going to hold one regrettable moment against him. It does not appear to be part of any pattern.

I’ll say the incident is probably overblown. The ACL year is a bigger deal. 1 year of lost production. We don’t know how he’ll recover. There aren’t a lot of great examples of an injured rookie sitting out a year and then becoming a high end player. Jaylon Smith and like W McGahee are probably like the only picks that really worked out like this. 

[vegas492]

9 minutes ago, pacman5252 said:

I’ll say the incident is probably overblown. The ACL year is a bigger deal. 1 year of lost production. We don’t know how he’ll recover. There aren’t a lot of great examples of an injured rookie sitting out a year and then becoming a high end player. Jaylon Smith and like W McGahee are probably like the only picks that really worked out like this. 

Outside of the two you mentioned, who are the other top 25 draft picks that have blown out their ACL?  I can't recall many, so I'm probably missing some.

I have J. Smith, W. McGahee and S. Jones.  Right now 2 of the 3 made it back just fine.  Jury still out on Jones.  Who am I missing?

[VegasDan]

38 minutes ago, pacman5252 said:

I’ll say the incident is probably overblown. The ACL year is a bigger deal. 1 year of lost production. We don’t know how he’ll recover. There aren’t a lot of great examples of an injured rookie sitting out a year and then becoming a high end player. Jaylon Smith and like W McGahee are probably like the only picks that really worked out like this. 

If he goes in the 1st, then you get a 5th year or 4 full years. Now is a good time for us because we are okay at DL for next season. Im willing to go with Daniels, Adams, Lowry, and hopefully Wilkerson. Year 2020, however, Daniels may be about ready to be replaced.

All in all, without the medical reports, we are just guessing at his value. I'm betting that at 30, the risk is worth the reward 

[pacman5252]

3 hours ago, vegas492 said:

Outside of the two you mentioned, who are the other top 25 draft picks that have blown out their ACL?  I can't recall many, so I'm probably missing some.

I have J. Smith, W. McGahee and S. Jones.  Right now 2 of the 3 made it back just fine.  Jury still out on Jones.  Who am I missing?

There are many examples. Jake Butt,Marcus Lattimore, Greg Childs were all first round prospects who had tissue injuries, slipped in the draft and haven’t panned. 

Even McGahee was good, but he was getting generational back hype. Smith took about 2 years to get right.

 

I’m not opposed to Simmons, but top 30 is too rich. I don’t like assuming that we are eventually get the athlete he was. We ended up with Harrell that way (remember hearing, he was healthy he could have been a top 5 pick). Simmons if healthy would have gone 10-20. A year off is worth at least a round.

[vegas492]

 I don't remember Jake Butt being a first round guy.  Remember Lattimore was.  I have no clue who Greg Childs was.

I get what you are saying about Simmons.  I wouldn't be furious at the pick, but I'm more comfortable at #44 or later on him.

[pacman5252]

3 hours ago, vegas492 said:

 I don't remember Jake Butt being a first round guy.  Remember Lattimore was.  I have no clue who Greg Childs was.

I get what you are saying about Simmons.  I wouldn't be furious at the pick, but I'm more comfortable at #44 or later on him.

Butt was considered a late 1 to mid second rounder.

Childs was a stud wr at Arkansas and got hurt midway through his jr year. He then went back to college, got drafted by MN in round 4 in 2010.

It really isn’t that uncommon to find injured players who fell hard. Simmons is just really fresh/unique since he completed his entire season before declaring. 

I’d also agree even 44 might be too high for him. Smith and McGahee were like blue chip stud top 3 picks if healthy. Simmons is a good prospect but not in that tier.