Green Bay Packers: Recapping Live 4-Round 2021 NFL Mock Draft
By Paul Bretl
It is the penultimate Mock Draft Monday before the NFL Draft takes place, so for this week, I did a live four-round mock draft for the Green Bay Packers, walking through each pick and giving my reasoning behind each selection. You can find the recording here if you wish to watch it.
The reason I chose a four-round mock draft instead of seven like last week was that I wanted the live draft to center around potential immediate impact players. Of course, statistically, those players are going to be found in the earlier rounds.
As I mentioned on the recording, here are some of the objectives that I wanted to accomplish:
Potential OT starter but at a minimum depth: Offensive tackle is a big need, and finding a Day 1 starter will alleviate many of the question marks along the offensive line. But at a minimum, I wanted to bolster the depth with a swing tackle and find my right tackle of the future.
Address CB often: The Green Bay Packers need to upgrade the cornerback position, but with Jaire Alexander being the only lock to be on the roster in 2022, the cornerback room needs an overhaul as well. This is a deep class, so after finding some help, go find some more.
Plan ahead at WR: Of course, it would be great to add another weapon to this already potent Green Bay Packers’ offense, but with no wide receivers under contract beyond this season, Brian Gutekunst needs to load up for the coming years as well. So just like with cornerback, it would be wise to take more than one player at this position.
IDL help: Kenny Clark needs help inside, while the position as a whole just needs more depth. Unfortunately, it’s not a very deep interior defensive line class, so I’ll need the board to fall the right way if I’m going to find value and an impact player early on.
Boost the Safety depth: The Green Bay Packers have the best duo in football in Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage, but some unknowns on the depth chart after them. The safeties in Joe Barry’s defense play a very important yet difficult role, and trying to bolster the position with someone who is versatile, a good tackler, and can hold their own in coverage would be a plus, and something that I imagine is on the Packers’ radar.
Add to ILB depth: I don’t think that Green Bay has to address linebacker in Round 1 as so many mock drafts have suggested, but with Ty Summers primarily being a special teams player, and the same goes for Oren Burks, who is in the final year of his contract, adding to this room would make sense.
Now, in only four rounds, there is no way that I can hit on all of these needs, and even in the real draft, the Packers might not be able to either. But I wanted you to be aware of what boxes I was looking to check off.
So with all of that out of the way, using The Draft Network’s mock draft machine, here is how the live four-round mock draft turned out.
At Pick 29, the Green Bay Packers Select: Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech
As I recently wrote in my “NFL Draft Superlatives” article, I really do feel that this is about as good as it gets for Green Bay in the first round–I was thrilled that Farley was still available. Yes, there are some injury concerns that have to be vetted, but assuming that everything checks out with Green Bay’s medical staff, the value of landing Farley at pick 29 was just too much for me to pass up.
From a pure football standpoint and prior to his recent back surgery, Farley was considered by many the best cornerback in this class and a potential top-10 pick. He is a relatively complete prospect, capable in both man and zone coverages, displaying excellent ball-skills, and at 6’2″ — 207 pounds, he has the size and athleticism that team’s desire.
From Day 1, he would be CB2 in Green Bay, and the combination of Farley and Alexander could very well form the best cornerback duo in the NFL much sooner than later. As I said, there is some risk given his past injuries, but at pick 29, with not having to trade up, there was no way that I could pass on Farley–even with tackle being a primary focus.