Green Bay Packers Scouts Meet w/ OL Shamarious Gilmore

It may be mid-February, but NFL Draft season is in full swing, and you can argue that it has been for some time. And with that, we are beginning to hear rumblings about NFL teams, including the Green Bay Packers, meeting with draft-eligible players.

In recent weeks, many of these meetings would have taken place at the college All-Star games, and they will continue to ramp up once the NFL Combine arrives in just a few short weeks.

Now, of course, these meetings don’t mean that the Packers are going to draft that player; this is all part of Green Bay doing their due diligence and part of the pre-draft process. However, it does show that there is some interest and gives us names to keep our eyes on over the coming months.

One of the best in the business at reporting these meetings is Justin Melo of The Draft Network, who does a terrific job of keeping us up to date.

His most recent report that included the Green Bay Packers was that they met with Georgia State OL Shamarious Gilmore at the College Gridiron Showcase. Here is what you need to know.

At 6’3″ – 295 pounds, Gilmore is one of the more experienced players you will find in this year’s draft. He spent five seasons at Georgia State and logged nearly 4,000 career snaps, according to PFF ($$). Almost every one of those snaps came at left guard, but he did make a start at right tackle as well.

During that span, which covered 1,936 pass-blocking snaps, Gilmore allowed just eight total sacks, never more than three in a single season, and only 34 pressures, allowing more than nine in a season on only one occasion. While still an effective run-blocker, by PFF’s grading system, Gilmore was better in pass protection throughout his career.

"“I feel like I’m a great player on the field,” Gilmore told Draft Wire in an interview. “I feel like I’m a durable player. Physical, nasty. I finish. Pass game, lockouts. I feel like I’m just a great overall, all-around player. You’re not bringing a bad seed into your organization. I feel like you’re bringing in a great player and a great person."

The current state of the Green Bay Packers interior offensive line is in pretty good shape at the moment with Jon Runyan, Josh Myers, Royce Newman, and Elgton Jenkins when he returns from injury — that is if he’s not at right tackle — as players with starting experience. In terms of depth, Green Bay also has Cole Van Lanen and Jake Hanson–two former draft picks.

If Gilmore did end up in Green Bay, he would be here for depth and likely competing for a roster spot. He would not be someone expected to compete for playing time–or at least not right away. PFF would call him “undersized” for a guard and a “tryout type player.”

Over the last two drafts, the Packers have invested six draft picks into their offensive line. It’s a position where there is no such thing as too much depth, so I’d expect them to add to it again this year, and it’s also one that Green Bay has been very good at developing.