Cheese Curds, 4/1: Cooper DeJean & Graham Barton emerge as Packers’ top draft options

We have finally reached April, which means that we are in the same month as the 2024 NFL Draft. With just three weeks and change to go until the draft arrives, mock drafts will be flying around nearly nonstop as the league’s biggest offseason event is now firmly on the horizon.

For the Green Bay Packers, two players are continuing to emerge as the top options with their first-round pick: Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean and Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton. The two players would obviously fill very different needs on the team, but both have that Packers feel.

DeJean’s fit with the Packers, at least personally, is an obvious one. Green Bay seems to love Iowa players — Brian Gutekunst has chosen two in the top two rounds of the draft since he took over (Lukas Van Ness and Josh Jackson) while the team has drafted three other Hawkeyes since 2010, all of whom became starters. DeJean also has the versatility to play nearly anywhere in the secondary, and he is expected to test tremendously well in his personal Pro Day, coming up soon.

Then there’s Barton, who is perhaps the platonic ideal of a Packers offensive lineman. He’s a three-year starter at left tackle but has position versatility as well, having started at center in the past. He also put up a phenomenal Pro Day workout last week, blowing away any potential cutoffs in agility and explosiveness drills.

It’s no surprise, given their traits, that these two players are mentioned in connection with the Packers in plenty of mock drafts. While the team may still have a more pressing need at linebacker than any other position, either of these players could well step in as a day-one starter at a critical spot and would feel like a phenomenal selection with the 25th pick.

Additions still needed but Packers seem comfortable with LB position | Packers Wire
Read Brian Gutekunst's comments for yourself, but I read it as the team being more settled with their depth but still looking to add, particularly in the draft.

Packers seven-round mock draft 2.0: First-round trade highlights Green Bay’s haul - The Athletic ($)
This mock finds the Packers trading picks 25 and 91 to take DeJean at #19 overall, while they wait to find a linebacker until getting Ohio State's Tommy Eichenberg in the fourth. This mock also sends one of the Combine's best interviews, Penn State OL Hunter Nourzad, to Green Bay in the 5th — Nourzad, an engineering major, told APC that his only non-football hobby is building giant Lego sets.

Market-Implied 2024 NFL Mock Draft: Commanders settle on Jayden Daniels, six cornerbacks go in Round 1 | PFF
Using lines from various sports betting sites, this mock is an interesting exercise. It finds the Packers going with Barton one pick ahead of DeJean in a showdown between two of the most commonly-mocked Packers picks.

Seven-Round Packers Mock Draft 6.1: An Egg-cellent Mock | SI.com
This mock goes off the beaten path, however, grabbing the top linebacker in the class in Edgerrin Cooper at 25.

Free-agent CB Patrick Peterson has 'a lot left in the tank,' would want warning if team sees him as safety | NFL.com
Gutekunst has talked about pairing Xavier McKinney with a young safety, so signing Peterson to play on the back end would probably be a last resort if the Packers can't find someone early in the draft. Peterson is open to a full-time position switch, but he said he'll want to find a Hall of Famer to train with over the summer to get used to it.

Cowboys wrangle escaped cows on the loose for 2 years | WVLT
Apparently Mike McCarthy has been putting his players through some unusual drills this offseason.