Ideal Green Bay Packers 3 Round Mock Draft

With the 2016 NFL Draft a few days away, NFL experts and insiders have started making mock drafts for every team, trying to predict which players the teams will select in the. As expected, these players will have an impact on the team’s NFL power rankings for next season, which is why teams try to do as much research as possible before selecting their picks.

The Green Bay Packers are one of the most intriguing teams in the draft this year because many believe that they are a few key players away from getting back to the Super Bowl. Since quarterback Aaron Rodgers is in his 30s, the team’s window to win a Super Bowl is slowly closing, so expect them to address their biggest needs in the draft this year, though BPA will always be paramount.

In the most recent mock draft for the Packers, which was done by SB Nation’s Dan Kadar, the Packers will likely use their first pick to address their biggest hole. Kadar has the Packers using the pick on University of Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland.

Kadar believes the Packers will select Ragland because the team has struggled at the linebacker position for the past couple of years. Pro-Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews was moved from outside linebacker to inside linebacker for the past two seasons due to a lack of depth at the position.

While Matthews played well at the position, it isn’t his natural position, and the Packers would love to have him return to the outside linebacker position so he can focus on his specialty, generating a pass rush.

With Ragland on the team, Green Bay would be able to move Matthews back to his preferred outside linebacker position, and Ragland would play the inside linebacker position which his natural position and he has the prototypical body for it as well.

With their second round pick, Kadar predicts that the Packers will pick tight end Hunter Henry if he is still available. Henry was arguably the best tight end in college last season. He was a first team All-American and the winner of the John Mackey Award, which is given to the nation’s best tight end. The Packers lost their best tight end Jermichael Finley to a severe neck injury two seasons ago and have been looking for a replacement ever since. The team used Richard Rodgers last season and signed Jared Cook in the off-season, but it will be hard to pass up on Henry, who is a great pass catching tight end who can also block.

With their third round pick, Kadar believes Green Bay will pick former Notre Dame defensive tackle Sheldon Day. Kadar believes the Packers will select Day to replace B.J. Raji, who is taking a year off. At 6’1″ and 293 lbs, Day is an undersized defensive tackle, which is one of the few things the Packers are worried about, but he will likely be the best available defensive tackle left in the third round which fits Ted Thompson’s philosophy, so the Packers will likely roll the dice with him. Despite his size, Day is a high motor player that seems to always know where the ball is, which is exactly what Green Bay needs if it wants to improve against the run.

If the Packers select these three players, they would have addressed their biggest concerns. The players will also make the team significantly better and one of the teams to watch in 2016.

Go Pack!