Green Bay Packers Bolster Defensive Front in Recent NFL.com Mock Draft

With the offseason here for the Green Bay Packers, it’s time to turn at least some of our attention to the NFL Draft, which is just about three months away at this time.

Following the Packers’ loss last weekend to San Francisco, we now know that they hold the 28th pick in this year’s draft. Ultimately we will have to see how free agency plays out, but a few positions that could be on Green Bay’s radar early on include edge rusher, and wide receiver, not to mention that it’s never a bad idea to bolster the offensive line or interior defensive line depth either.

In a recent mock draft from Bucky Brooks of NFL.com, he has the Green Bay Packers addressing the defensive front with the selection of DeMarvin Leal from Texas A&M.

Brooks had this to say about the pick for the Green Bay Packers:

"“The ultra-athletic Leal possesses the length, athleticism and versatility to thrive in the Packers’ defense. Given the team’s success in developing raw prototypes, Leal could be a perfect fit as a gifted prospect with huge upside.”"

Standing 6’4″ and weighing 290 pounds, Leal is a true junior, having seen significant snaps during each of his three seasons with the Aggies. Over his career, Leal has totaled 79 pressures, including 13 sacks, with 133 tackles, 25 of which were for a loss. Leal also force two fumbles, came away with an interception, and he had five pass deflections as well.

Leal posted career highs during this 2021 season recording nine of his13 total sacks and 37 of his 79 total pressures this year. He was also PFF’s ($$) eighth highest-graded edge rusher during the 2020 season. Leal has been a very versatile defender along the defensive front, having taken a majority of his college snaps lined up as an edge rusher out over the tackle, but he also has nearly 500 snaps lined up inside.

Here is a look at what The Draft Network had to say about Leal in their pre-draft scouting report:

"“As a prospect, Leal possesses rare size, athleticism, and functional strength that makes him a dominant and versatile defensive lineman. In the Texas A&M defensive scheme, Leal lines up in every alignment and is impactful at every position. He has the power to collapse pockets from the interior and the speed to be an effective edge rusher. In the NFL, Leal will be best utilized as an interior defensive lineman who can overwhelm offensive linemen with his ability to convert speed to power. Overall, Leal has rare athleticism will become a physically dominant defensive lineman once he is placed in one specific role.”"

For the Green Bay Packers, regardless of the changes that could take place this offseason on the defensive side of the ball, they still have a very good core made up of Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, Eric Stokes, and Jaire Alexander. However, one area that can still be improved upon is their play against the run.

As always, Clark was fantastic, while Dean Lowry had the most productive season of his career as a pass rusher. We also saw flashes from Tyler Lancaster as well as rookie TJ Slaton. But as a group, Green Bay still allowed 4.7 yards per rush, which ranked 30th and was actually worse than their 2020 performance–although they did do a better job overall of not letting the opposing run game take games over.

Football Outsider’s DVOA metric tells a similar story as the one above, which in short, says that Green Bay still needs to find Clark consistent help. In Barry’s defensive system that emphasizes taking away the pass first, the Packer run defense may never be dominant, but that doesn’t mean they can’t improve.

Although The Draft Network believes that Leal will be best utilized as an interior defender at the NFL level, it certainly doesn’t hurt that he has experience as an edge rusher. This gives Joe Barry added flexibility with alignments–not to mention that the Packers could be without both Preston and Za’Darius Smith this upcoming season.

Whether up against the run or the pass, the best way to wreck an offensive play is by generating a quick push up the middle–something that Leal often did during his college career.