2016 NFL Draft: Five burning questions for the Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers: Will it be offense or defense in the first round?

I would say that more than 90 percent of the mock drafts floating about the Interweb have the Green Bay Packers going defense in the first round … either a defensive lineman or a linebacker being most prominently accepted as the positions of choice.

Just after the end of the 2015 regular season, most suggested that the Packers would look to an inside linebacker as a possibility of that position being targeted with the team’s first round pick.

However, as it became evident over the weeks following the end of the season that defensive line was going to be a position of strength in this draft, it became the popular notion that Green Bay would go D-line.

Then when Mike Pennel was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season and B.J. Raji announced he would be taking a one-year hiatus from football, the Packers defensive line began to look precariously thin.

Bringing that position back to prominence became the rallying cry among mocksters around the world.

Yes, there are a ton of really good defensive linemen in this draft and Thompson would find it hard to swing and miss on that pick, but the general manager may go linebacker if a guy like Alabama’s Reggie Ragland is still on the board. After all, Thompson could pick up a defensive lineman in the second or even the third round and still get a quality guy.

So, most likely the first round will feature a defensive player’s name … whether it’s a lineman  or linebacker doesn’t really matter. Either way, the Packers will be a better team after Thompson’s first round pick.

Next: Is there a tight end in the Packers' future?