Packers finally pick first-round wide receiver in 2022 mock draft

After avoiding the position on the opening two days of the draft for half a decade, the Green Bay Packers finally selected a wide receiver early, picking Amari Rodgers in the third round this April.

But the Packers may need to draft another receiver early next year.

Receivers Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Devin Funchess are all unrestricted free agents next offseason. Allen Lazard is a restricted free agent.

It would be easier to list the Packers currently on the roster who aren’t free agents in 2022: Amari Rodgers, Chris Blair, and Bailey Gaither. None of them have played a single snap for the Packers.

The Packers will bring some of their free-agent wide receivers back, but it’s unlikely they will be able to afford to re-sign many given their current cap situation.

Enter the 2022 draft.

Packers draft receiver in NFL Mocks 2022 mock draft

In an early 2022 mock draft, Sayre Bedinger of NFL Mocks has the Packers addressing this problem by selecting Treylon Burks out of Arkansas with the 26th overall pick.

I’m not liking the fact that Green Bay picks 26th, so let’s just assume the team originally owned the 32nd pick but traded up.

We might not know who will be the starting quarterback in 2022 (or 2021, for that matter), but Burks could help Matt LaFleur’s offense regardless. Bedinger writes that he is “a big YAC player NFL teams are eager to duplicate for their offenses”.

Sounds like a perfect fit for LaFleur’s system.

With Burks and Amari Rodgers, the Packers would have two wide receivers who are effective after the catch. And if we assume they re-sign Davante Adams and one or two of their other free-agent receivers, it would be bad news for opposing defenses.

With so many receivers set to hit free agency next offseason, should Green Bay consider drafting a wide receiver in the first round?