The 2024 NFL season has come to an end and now it's time for the Green Bay Packers to look ahead at the offseason and the 2025 NFL Draft. The Packers have plenty of holes that need to be filled in the draft including at pass rusher, cornerback, and adding depth to the offensive line.
It wasn't surprising to see that the three mock drafts used for this article all had the Packers going in a different direction when it came to what they were going to do with the 23rd overall pick in April's draft. Will they go with a defensive player or will Brian Gutekunst help out Jordan Love and the offense?
Packers' first-round pick is totally up in the air in NFL mock draft roundup
NFL.com: Josh Simmons, OT (Ohio State)
Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com is the only one here to link the Packers to an offensive player with the 23rd pick and has Green Bay nabbing Ohio State's Josh Simmons. While the Packers aren't slated to lose either of their starting tackles this offseason, it's always good to have depth on the o-line. Both Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom has one more year left on their contracts too, so identifying potential future starting tackles now makes perfect sense.
"Simmons is coming off a knee injury, but he’s as gifted as any offensive lineman in the class. He also has the tools to play multiple spots on the O-line, something Green Bay has always valued," Jeremiah wrote.
Fans might be a bit annoyed if this were the pick since there might be other more pressing needs and Simmons suffered a season-ending knee injury in October but it's never a bad thing to add talent to the o-line.
Grade: A-
Sports Illustrated: Shavon Revel Jr., CB (East Carolina)
Daniel Flick of Sports Illustrated went a different route in his mock draft, having the Packers take a defensive player. Shavon Revel Jr. was Flick's pick for the Packers at pick 23 and addressing the cornerback position makes sense considering that Jaire Alexander's future in Green Bay is up in the air, to say the least. Eric Stokes will also be a free agent in March.
"Much of Revel’s stock depends on his medicals from the NFL combine, as he missed all but three games this past season due to a torn ACL sustained in practice. When healthy, the 6' 3", 193-pounder has the athleticism and ball skills—two interceptions in limited action this season—to be a quality starting corner," Flick wrote.
Perhaps it's a theme in these mock drafts but Revel is another player who dealt with injuries in 2024. The East Carolina cornerback suffered a torn ACL in practice after just three games, making this quite the risky pick. Sometimes these kinds of picks pay off but other times, they blow up right in the team's face. It'd be a big risk, that's for sure but cornerback is definitely a position of need.
Grade: B
The Athletic: Shemar Stewart, EDGE (Texas A&M)
Matt Schneidman of The Athletic is also sticking with a defensive player for the Packers at 23, connecting Green Bay to Shemar Stewart of Texas A&M. Scheidman points out how Gutekunst said the Packers' pass-rush was "inconsistent" as to why this pick makes sense for the team.
While the other two mock drafts had the Packers drafting players who suffered injuries in 2024, Stewart was healthy during his final year with the Aggies. Something that sticks out here, however, is that Stewart's stats leave a lot to be desired (no more than 1.5 sacks in a single season in any of his three years at Texas A&M). Stats don't tell the whole story, of course, but the Packers need production from whoever they get in this spot. Can Stewart be that guy?
Grade: B+