NFL mock drafts are naturally very popular at this point in the year, as 30 of the 32 franchises are fully focused on the offseason, with the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots obviously the only two teams left standing to vie for the Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl 60.
The problem with most of these mocks, however, is that most only include the first round. And Day 1 of this year's festivities, of course, doesn't feature the Green Bay Packers, who sent their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to the Dallas Cowboys as part of the deal that brought Micah Parsons to Titletown last August.
Thankfully, the folks over at The Athletic recently dropped a mock that also includes Round 2, where the Packers will make their first selection of the 2026 draft at No. 52 overall. And with that selection, Green Bay is predicted to replace the other asset they lost in the trade with Dallas, Kenny Clark, as The Athletic has them taking Iowa State defensive tackle Domonique Orange.
Domonique Orange would undoubtedly improve the Packers' interior defensive line
With Clark out of the picture, the Packers' top interior defensive lineman heading into the 2025 season was Devonte Wyatt, who got off to a strong start but was heading in the wrong direction before suffering a broken fibula and a torn ligament in his left ankle in Green Bay's Thanksgiving Day victory over the Detroit Lions.
And the team's other two DTs, Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks, didn't have the greatest campaigns, with Wooden's 50.6 overall PFF grade ranking 93rd of 129 qualifying interior defensive linemen and Brooks' 46.3 mark coming in at No. 108.
Wyatt is expected to be back in time for training camp, but the Packers undoubtedly need help in the trenches, and Orange, who was a Third-Team All-Big 12 selection for the Cyclones this past season, can certainly help fill the void that's been lacking since Clark's departure to Dallas. PFF has the 6-foot-4, 325-pounder ranked 61st overall among their list of 315 prospects for the '26 draft and seventh among interior defenders, which pretty much lines up with their assessment of his potential.
"Orange, aka Big Citrus, is a massive defensive line prospect who has a ton of power potential (benches 450 pounds and squats 650 pounds, per The Athletic's Bruce Feldman). He has good first-step explosiveness, especially for his size, which leads to impactful speed-to-power conversion on his bull rushes when in attack mode.
"But although Orange's power profile is impressive, his speed and finesse game is lacking. His hand speed is slow, which shows up in how quickly he can disengage from blockers. He must also improve how much separation he creates when stacking to maximize block-shed potential. All of that is to say that his power profile is NFL-caliber and especially useful and versatile in a 3-4 scheme. He is also a high-effort player."
While the Packers have utilized a 4-3 scheme for the past few years under Jeff Hafley, they're expected to return to a 3-4 with the arrival of new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. So, Orange should fit in nicely if Green Bay does indeed go in this direction.