Packers add first-round wide receiver in 2021 mock draft

A 2021 mock draft has the Packers finally getting a wide receiver.

The Green Bay Packers didn’t draft a wide receiver in 2020. I have to keep rewriting that sentence because it’s still quite hard to believe.

But it’s fine. General manager Brian Gutekunst can make up for that mistake. It just might take a year.

Unless the development of the young receivers pays off this year or the Packers suddenly trade for Odell Beckham, wide receiver will likely be near the top of the list of needs again in 2021.

NFL Mocks has Packers landing receiver in first round

Kyle Edmond of NFL Mocks has put together a 2021 mock draft following the release of the NFL schedule. And at long last, Green Bay uses a Day 1 pick on a wide receiver. Edmond has the Packers selecting Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle.

Edmond predicted each game on the 2020 NFL schedule to determine the draft order, with Green Bay picking 19th overall. Under the new format with seven teams making the playoffs from each conference, this means the Packers would earn a wild-card berth but exit in the first round, likely meaning they would be the NFC’s seventh seed.

For a team in win-now mode a year after reaching the NFC Championship Game, that would be a waste. And perhaps a sign that avoiding the receiver position for much of this offseason, or not doing enough to fix the run defense, hasn’t paid off.

The 2020 wide receiver class was historically talented, but next year’s also looks set to be a deep class. That’s one positive. If the Packers are still in need of wide receiver help next offseason, there will be a lot of talent available in the draft. Although we were saying that in the months leading up to this year’s draft.

But we can hope. Maybe just maybe, in 2021, Aaron Rodgers will finally get a first-round receiver to throw to.