Packers Draft Picks: Green Bay selects safety Josh Jones with 61st pick

Most of the conventional wisdom among draft analysts this year said that the Green Bay Packers don’t really need a safety very highly this year.

Ted Thompson takes a baseball bat to your conventional wisdom, however.

With the 61st pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers selected safety Josh Jones from North Carolina State.

Jones is an impressive safety with good size, speed, and explosiveness, and he has solid ball skills as well. Measuring in at 6’ 1-3/8” and 220 pounds, he ran a 4.41-second 40-yard dash at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine, and added a 37.5” vertical and 11-foot broad jump. Where he struggled was in his agility drills, which he did not run at the Combine but did at his Pro Day. He had a 3-cone time of 7.43 seconds and a short shuttle of 4.32, both less-than-average numbers.

However, Jones is a productive tackler and a solid ball hawk in one. He recorded eight interceptions in his three years with the Wolfpack and racked up more than 100 total tackles in 2016.

The Packers are scheduled to be on the clock again with the 93rd pick towards the end of round 3.