NFL Mock Draft 2017: Edge rusher, CB, and RB the top picks for Packers

The Green Bay Packers have a handful of significant needs for this offseason. To be sure, the cornerback and edge rusher positions are critical, with both of Mike McCarthy’s “premier” defensive positions facing question marks in some significant manner.

At corner, the Packers just cut Sam Shields and have Micah Hyde set to hit free agency. Among their top four pass-rushers, only Clay Matthews is under contract for 2017.

And that’s not even looking at the offense, where there are questions at running back and tight end, plus right guard.

We at APC are working on compiling an up-to-date list of all of the mock drafts this spring, and we will check in around big events and significant updates to see if trends are changing. Today, February 9th, is about three weeks before the NFL Scouting Combine begins and is exactly one month before the start of free agency. Therefore, it seems appropriate to take our first look at the draftniks across the internet to see what they’re projecting for the Packers.

The results are not terrible surprising, at least for the most part. Based on the players’ positions, there are three clear favorites, with two in particular sticking out more than others. Here is the positional breakdown, with 31 mocks in so far:

Edge rusher: 11 (35.5%)
Cornerback: 11 (35.5%)
Running back: 7 (22.6%)
Wide receiver: 1 (3.2%)
Tight end: 1 (3.2%)

As far as the top individual pick, UCLA pass-rusher Takkarist McKinley is earning the most votes with eight, including two straight picks from SB Nation’s Dan Kadar and Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke. The Pac-12 connection - and particularly the UCLA pipeline - to Green Bay seems too good to ignore for many of the analysts, who see the Packers taking their third straight defensive player from that conference in round one and their fifth in six years.

Another popular pick is again a Pac-12 defender, but at the cornerback position: Washington Huskies corner Sidney Jones, who was the choice in four cases. Outside of McKinley and Jones, the only other player to be picked more than twice was a running back - Christian McCaffrey, who naturally played for another Pac-12 school (Stanford).

The only wide receiver pick was Clemson’s Mike Williams, while the one tight end projection was Alabama’s O.J. Howard falling to the Packers’ pick at 29.

Here’s a full breakdown of our database as of February 9th. Stay tuned over the next few weeks, as we will update it regularly throughout the lead-up to April 27th.

(Note: a big thanks to APC’s Jon Meerdink, who is doing much of the heavy lifting in maintaining this database!)