The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft is 100 days away. To help draft nerds everywhere celebrate, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler released a two-round mock draft for us to digest. Let’s take a look at who he has the Green Bay Packers selecting:
25th overall: Troy Fautanu, OL, Washington
The starting left tackle for the best offensive line in college football, Fautanu finished his career at Washington with 31 starts, with 29 coming at left tackle and two coming at left guard. The Washington left tackle has the feet and lateral quickness to stick at left tackle.
The #Washington OL vs. the #Texas DL is going to be one of the best match-ups to evaluate in the CFP Semifinals.
LT Troy Fautanu was excellent Friday night vs. Oregon. Outstanding range on the pin-pull design on the 1Q TD. pic.twitter.com/7HrEDaDe1w
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) December 4, 2023
From Brugler:
The Packers haven’t drafted a first-round offensive lineman in more than a dozen years (2011), but I really like this fit. A college left tackle, Fautanu has the feet and length to stay outside, but a lot of scouts feel his skill set is ideally suited at guard.
As Brugler mentioned, the Packers haven’t selected an offensive lineman since they drafted Dered Sherrod with the 32nd overall pick in the 2011 draft.
Even if the Packers opt to move on from David Bakhtiari this offseason, Rasheed Walker has played well enough to take up the mantle from the veteran left tackle.
What about depth? If the Packers move on from Bakhtiari, Yosh Nijman is set to be a free agent, leaving the offensive tackle room at 1265 Lombardi Avenue a lonely place.
Fautanu could be a plug-and-play starter at either tackle or guard. While Walker has played well at left tackle, there have been games in which he looked like a revolving door (at home against the Detroit Lions, against the Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers). It’s never a bad thing to have quality depth at the second most important position in football.
41st overall: Jaden Hicks, S, Washington State
Jaden Hicks is one of my favorite prospects in the upcoming draft. Hicks is an active run defender and explodes downhill to meet the ball carrier. Hicks has disciplined eyes and arrives on time to disrupt the catch point. Line him up in the slot, in the box or deep, it doesn’t matter, the physicality that Hicks plays with is exactly what Green Bay’s defense needs.
Jaden Hicks had himself a day yesterday against Colorado State. The WA State safety finished the game with seven tackles, .5 sack, two PDs and this pick-six.
He was one of the six prospects I highlighted over @ThePackersWire for Packers fans to watch.https://t.co/gdBsG0tt0P pic.twitter.com/ivWKt9t6O6
— Brennen Rupp (@Brennen_Rupp) September 3, 2023
From Brugler:
Hicks (6-2, 215) is an intimidating presence with the way he fills or tunes up receivers crossing the middle. But his athletic profile is also a strong selling point and helps his versatility to play nickel, box or deep.
58th overall: Kalen King, CB, Penn State
Kalen King at 58th overall and it’s Green Bay’s pick? Nobody would have bought that sentence back in September. At the beginning of the season, King was viewed as a Top 25 pick. The Penn State cornerback has had an up and down season, highlighted by his performance against Marvin Harrison Jr and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Newsflash, Harrison Jr made a lot of cornerbacks look silly and he’ll continue to do so on Sundays. Despite the up and down season, King has all the tools to develop into a lockdown cornerback.
From Brugler:
The Packers’ secondary has been an adventure this season. It ranked bottom five in several coverage metrics, including opponents’ first downs-per-attempt rate (36.1) and touchdown passes allowed-to-interceptions ratio (3.0). Adding more cornerback help makes sense, especially if a promising (albeit inconsistent) prospect like King is available.
Final thoughts
If this were the way the first two rounds played out for the Packers, it would be a great start for Brian Gutekunst.
The top of this offensive tackle class is viewed as special and it would be wise of Gutekunst to get in on the action. With the emergence of Walker and Zach Tom, the position is no longer viewed as a pressing need, but the fact remains you can never have enough quality offensive lineman.
Addressing the secondary early is a must, as Green Bay has arguably one of the worst safety depth charts in football. Hicks would bring much-needed physicality and playmaking ability to the defense.
Adding King would mean that the Penn State product would battle it out with Eric Stokes and Carrington Valentine for the right to start across from Jaire Alexander.
