After an early run on the wide receiver position in Round 1, the Green Bay Packers chose to bolster their already stout defense by addressing two of the bigger positions of need on that side of the ball, selecting linebacker Quay Walker at pick 22 and then interior defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt at 28.
Entering Day 2 of the draft, the Packers hold three selections at 53, 59, and 92–that is if Brian Gutekunst chooses not to trade up. While Green Bay was patient in Round 1, all of the ingredients for a move up the draft board still exist with a big need at receiver, the Packers still have nine draft picks remaining, not to mention that Gutey has a history of being aggressive.
Although the first round typically draws the most attention, as we all know, there are still plenty of good players and immediate contributors for the Green Bay Packers to find on Day 2.
Here are the top remaining prospects at positions of need for the Green Bay Packers based on the Mock Draft Database’s composite rankings.
Wide Receiver
It’s well known that the Green Bay Packers need to address the wide receiver position, but specific needs include adding a high-volume target on the boundary, finding a vertical threat to replace Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and some added YAC ability wouldn’t be a bad thing either. Maybe Gutekunst can pull out some second-round magic at the receiver position the same way Ted Thompson did on a few occasions.
George Pickens, Georgia
Skyy Moore, Western Michigan
John Metchie, Alabama
Christian Watson, NDSU
Calvin Austin, Memphis
Alec Pierce, Cincinnati
Jalen Tolbert, South Alabama
Khalil Shakir, Boise State
Romeo Doubs, Nevada
Tyquan Thornton, Baylor
Kevin Austin, Notre Dame
Danny Gray, SMU
Tight End
The tight end position looks fine for the 2022 season, but as we look ahead to 2023, only Josiah Deguara is under contract. With rookie tight ends rarely contributing during that first season due to the difficulty of the position, the prudent move would be selecting a tight end this year, so that player can gain experience in a tight end room with Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis and then hopefully hit the ground running in 2023 in a larger role.
Trey McBride, Colorado State
Greg Dulcich, UCLA
Jeremy Ruckert, Ohio State
Jelani Woods, Virginia
Cade Otton, Washington
Isaiah Likely, Coastal Carolina
Charlie Kolar, Iowa State
Jake Ferguson, Wisconsin
Offensive Tackle
The only healthy options at offensive tackle at the moment include David Bakhtiari, Yosh Nijman, and maybe Cole Van Lanen, although he may be better suited at guard. Until Elgton Jenkins returns, the Green Bay Packers are one injury away from disaster at a key position.
On top of that, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to provide Nijman with some competition since he hasn’t played right tackle since his final season at Virginia Tech–not to mention that he does have just over 600 career snaps. Whether it be Nijman, a rookie, or a free agent, if the Packers find a reliable right tackle option, it could allow them to keep Jenkins at guard, which would bolster a thin interior offensive line unit as well.
Bernhard Raimann, Central Michigan
Daniel Faalele, Minnesota
Darian Kinnard, Kentucky
Nicholas Petit-Frere, Ohio State
Abraham Lucas, Washington
Rasheed Walker, Penn State
Max Mitchell, Louisiana-Lafayette
Kellen Diesch, Arizona State
Braxton Jones, Southern Utah
Interior Offensive Line
As I just mentioned, the Green Bay Packers don’t have much depth at this position either–and we all saw a season ago how important offensive line depth can be. Not that competition can’t be brought in, but it looks like the Packers starting interior linemen are already on the roster in Royce Newman, Josh Myers, and Jon Runyan. However, the only options on the depth chart behind those three are centers Jake Hanson and Michal Menet along with Van Lanen–all of whom are late-round picks with little to no experience.
Admittedly, the Green Bay Packers may choose to address this need on Day 3, where they’ve had success finding interior players–with Runyan and Newman being examples. But we’ve also seen Gutey select Jenkins and Myers on Day 2, and this unit is a bit thin.
Dylan Parham, Memphis
Sean Rhyan, UCLA
Jamaree Salyer, Georgia
Cam Jurgens, Nebraska
Ed Ingram, LSU
Luke Goedeke, Central Michigan
Luke Fortner, Kentucky
Zach Tom, Wake Forest
Marquis Hayes, Oklahoma
Dohnovan West, Arizona State
Thayer Munford, Ohio State
Safety
Similar to the tight end position, with Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage the safety position appears to be in good shape for the 2022 season. However, if we look ahead once again, only Vernon Scott is under contract in 2023.
It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring in some outside competition for that third safety spot, a position that was on the field for 283 snaps last season, per PFF ($$)–although the addition of Quay Walker suggests that we are going to see more traditional nickel looks from Green Bay, which decreases the need for that third safety.
Jalen Pitre, Baylor
Jaquan Brisker, Penn State
Nick Cross, Maryland
Bryan Cook, Cincinnati
Kerby Joseph, Illinois
Verone McKinley, Oregon
JT Woods, Baylor
Edge Rusher
OLB coach Jason Rabrovich mentioned that he wanted a rotation of four edge rushers next season. We know who two of those players will be with Rashan Gary and Preston Smith; however, the third and fourth spots will be up for grabs.
As productive as Smith and Gary were last season, depth was an issue all season as the impact plays were lacking when those two were on the sidelines — which was about one-third of the time — and issues against the run as well. Edge rusher is arguably the second-most important position in football, so adding to it should always be on the Packers’ radar.
David Ojabo, Michigan
Boye Mafe, Minnesota
Arnold Ebiketie, Penn State
Nik Bonitto, Oklahoma
Cameron Thomas, San Diego State
Drake Jackson, USC
Josh Paschal, Kentucky
Myjai Sanders, Cincinnati
Kingsley Enagbare, South Carolina
Sam Williams, Ole Miss
DeAngelo Malone, Western Kentucky
Dominique Robinson, Miami (OH)
Alex Wright, UAB
Isaiah Thomas, Oklahoma
Michale Clemons, Texas A&M
Tyreke Smith, Ohio State
Amare Barno, Virginia Tech
Cornerback
This isn’t a massive need by any means with Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, and Eric Stokes, but I wanted to include it because I do believe there is value in adding to it–specifically a slot option. Alexander will see his fair share of snaps in the slot this season, but he is also going to follow around the opponent’s top receiver as well, and when he does, there is very little slot experience on this roster.
Adding that element to this defense would provide Joe Barry with a massive amount of flexibility, with one example being putting Alexander and Stokes on the boundary and Douglas over the middle and in the box like a third safety. Perhaps this is more of a luxury than a need, and if the prospect strictly plays on the boundary, the Packers likely look elsewhere, but it’s worth exploring depending on how the board falls.
Andrew Booth, Clemson
Kyler Gordon, Washington
Roger McCreary, Auburn
Tariq Woolen, UTSA
Marcus Jones, Houston
Cam Taylor-Britt, Nebraska
Coby Bryant, Cincinnati
Martin Emerson, Mississippi State
Alontae Taylor, Tennessee
Zyon McCollum, Sam Houston State
Jalyn Armour-Davis, Alabama
Mario Goodrich, Clemson
Joshua Williams, Fayetteville State
Josh Jobe, Alabama
Derion Kendrick, Georgia
Akayleb Evans, Missouri
Tariq Castro-Fields, Penn State
Damarri Mathis, Pittsburgh