People are submitting their final mock drafts, and for NFL.com’s Chad Reuter, that means a full seven-round mock draft. In an unprecedented move for the Green Bay Packers, Reuter has them trading up in the first round for a wide receiver.
Tetairoa McMillan has drawn the attention of many Packers fans after Green Bay used a top-30 visit on him and general manager Brian Gutekunst attended his private workout.
In Reuter’s mock, McMillan is already off the board at No. 18 to the Seattle Seahawks, and the Dallas Cowboys took Texas’ Matthew Golden. Reuter sees the Packers trading up to No. 19 to draft Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, perhaps the next best wide receiver.
Reuter’s logic is that the top two wideouts, along with the top cornerbacks, are gone.
We haven’t seen the Packers draft a receiver in Round 1 since 2002 — but we did see them move up in Round 2 for Christian Watson three years ago. With the top cornerbacks no longer available in this mock, Green Bay swaps a third-round pick for a fifth-rounder to nab Egbuka.
It’s a two-for-two trade, so Green Bay wouldn’t lose a pick. Instead, the Packers would move up four slots in Round 1 and swap out a third-round pick for a fifth-round selection.
Egbuka is one of the most polished receivers in this draft class. Green Bay leans towards wideouts who are versatile and show a willingness to block in the ground game. Egbuka checks all those boxes. He may never be a no-doubt No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL, but he has an immensely high floor and is one of those prospects that it’s hard to see not succeeding at the next level.
Green Bay fans would rejoice if the team took a wide receiver in Round 1. Trading up to do so might be a little surprising, but the Packers tend to be unpredictable early on in the draft.
Egbuka would be a plug-and-play option for Matt LaFleur’s offense.
