We’re kicking off our mock drafts this year with some two-round reviews, slowly growing into full 7-round mocks.
As always, we’re not trying to predict who the Packers will take (which is a hopeless task), rather we’re using this as an opportunity to explore which prospects may be available, learn a little more about them, and see how some of these draft classes could fit together.
In this mock, defensive backs fell to the Packers, which would not be a bad thing at all. Here are the results:
.
Round 1 Christian Gonzales – Cornerback
Profile: An athletic lockdown corner with great feet, Gonzales is a long hip-pocket corner that sticks with receivers through their route breaks. After starting his college career with 0 interceptions in his first two seasons, he broke out with 4 last year. Two came in man coverage where he made quick reactions and 2 came in zone coverage where he made great reads and broke on the ball with good speed. He’s a prototype for long, athletic, versatile cornerbacks.
Analysis: It’s a passing league, which means defenses need to stop the pass. Last year, Eric Stokes was having a sophomore slump before getting hurt and going on IR. Rasul Douglas signed a nice extension with the team after his breakout half-season, but looked like he regressed heavily last year. Gonzales gives the unit another premium talent with lots of flexibility regardless of what defensive scheme gets implemented by the Packers this year.
.
Round 2 Jordan Battle – Safety
Profile: A 6’1 205 safety, Battle can play free safety, strong safety, in the slot, and pretty much anywhere. Physical and aggressive, he comes up fast to make plays in the screen game and shows good range on the back end. He can play anywhere on the back end and flies to play in any situation.
Analysis: The Packers may move on from Adrian Amos this offseason. Even if they don’t, Amos showed a big dropoff in play last year and turns 30 right after the draft. Darnell Savage was benched for the middle of the year, so the safety group as a whole could really use some reinforcements.
.
Analysis
The Packers defensive backfield was a mess last year, with everyone not names Jaire underperforming. Without a lot of hope for improvement from within, getting a premium corner and safety combo in the first two rounds is a great way for the Packers to start off their draft.
.
Of Note
Will Anderson fell all the way to 12, which I don’t see happening
The first wide receiver selected was Quentin Johnson, who went to New England at 14, one pick before the Packers For this mock, I drafted against the board from Drafttek
.
Want to learn more!? 
Don’t just watch the draft – understand it and learn why GMs make the moves they do. Get more insight into how winning teams build through the draft (and how losing teams fail)!
Start with a introduction to how the draft works then get deep into understanding draft strategy with our draft book (rated a #1 New Release): A Fan’s Guide To Understanding The NFL Draft: Strategies, Tactics, And Case Studies For Building A Professional Football Team
Then jump into free agency with another #1 New Release: A Fan’s Guide To NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses to better understand this critical part of the NFL offseason and see where teams have found (or missed) success in this critical component of team-building.
Finally, get to the game behind the game with our latest must-have book: A Fan’s Guide To Understanding The NFL Salary Cap – which lays out detailed, easy-to-follow scenarios to explain exactly how contract structures and salary cap rules impact teams. This book explains why teams do what they do in the offseason!
All these great books are available in ebook and paperback – and free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers! If you don’t have Kindle Unlimited, you can get a free trial of Kindle Unlimited here!
.
Check out our PFTW 2023 Mock Draft Archive to see how other scenarios played out!
Check out Packers Draft Central for all our latest NFL Draft coverage!
.