Green Bay Packers: Evaluating Matt Miller’s 7-Round Mock
By Dan Dahlke
Round 5 (172nd pick): Josh Carraway, Edge, TCU
Carrraway is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive end who will most likely transition to outside linebacker in the NFL.
He put up respectable numbers in 2016 with 49 tackles, eight sacks, five hurries, and 11 tackles for loss. The undersized defensive lineman is an average athlete who plays with a high motor.
My Take: I like Miller’s thinking here, but he may have waited too long to address this position on the Packers roster.
Carraway is a decent player, but he has limited upside. He doesn’t show top-end explosiveness or speed off the edge. I also tend to be weary of defensive players from the Big 12.
The Packers could lose Nick Perry or Datone Jones after this season. At most, Julius Peppers also has a season or two left in the tank, and Clay Matthews isn’t quite the impact player he once was.
Unless the Packers feel Kyler Fackrell is the future at the position, Green Bay should probably find an impact edge rusher early in the draft.
Round 5 (184th pick): D.J. Jones, DL, Ole Miss
Admittedly, I know very little about Jones as a prospect. He’s a big nose tackle at 321 pounds and a shade over six-feet tall.
He appears to be an early-down run stuffer, which makes sense for the Packers here in the fifth round.
Green Bay could use another big body to take on double teams at the line of scrimmage.
My Take: This pick makes a lot of sense. If the Packers could find a run stopper late in the fifth round then that’s good value. Other options here in a similar role could be Alabama’s Dalvin Tomlinson, Michigan’s Ryan Glasgow, or Colorado’s Josh Tupou.
Tupou, in particular, is an underrated run defender. Measuring in at 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds, the Colorado nose tackle would fit well in a 3-4 front.
With Mike Pennel‘s future uncertain in Green Bay, the Packers could use more depth on the defensive line.