R1 P21 – Akeem Moore, MLB, Utah State - 76 Overall, Hidden Dev
“Well, as you know, we lost Blake Martinez to free agency this year, so MLB was a key vacancy for us on defense. Anytime you’re going to trade up in the first round for a player, it needs to be for someone special. And when we looked at this class as a whole, he was the only player at his position where we felt he really jumped out on tape. You look at his speed, his pursuit, his strength, and it was just a perfect match for us. And the combine just confirmed everything we thought about him, both athletically and in the interview room. He’s going to be a guy coming in, where, you can play all 3 downs with him, he can stay in all the sub packages. We think we’ve really taken this position, with the addition of both Akeem and Cory [Littleton] and taken it from what was maybe an area of concern, to a real strength. When I got to tell Coach Mike [Pettine, Packers Defensive Coordinator] we were moving up to 21 to get him, he went crazy, you should have seen him in the draft room.”
R2 P29 – Franklin Kehoe, RG, Georgia - 69 Overall, Normal Dev
“We thought that the offensive line talent in this class was a real strength, and Franklin was someone we’ve had our eye on for a while. You just love the way he played with his other teammates on that Georgia team during their playoff run, it was almost like he and Ben Waters were reading each other’s minds each play. Additionally, he really impresses with his strength at the point of attack, especially when you consider the caliber of SEC defenders he was asked to block every week. With losing Billy [Turner] last year we expect him to compete with Chris [Allison] and Jonathan [Cooper] for that right guard slot.”
R2 P32 – Dee Ellis, CB, San Diego State - 69 Overall, Normal Dev
“With Dee, we really came away from the tape impressed with his versatility. He’s a guy that’s comfortable equally in man or zone, and that’s important in our scheme. With the off-field concerns, our department really did their homework there, and in the interviews his desire to start fresh and really be part of this locker room came out, so that was something you always love to see.”
R3 P24 – Chris Allison, RT, UCLA - 77 Overall, Hidden Dev
“Our scouts have had an eye on Chris since going back to last season as someone who could really develop into a great player, had a tremendous ceiling. This class had several mid-round offensive linemen we were really excited about. With Bryan [Bulaga] coming back for us, he’s going to have a chance right away to learn both the swing tackle position and potentially start for us at right guard, so we really think he has the strength and the intelligence to do both those things this season.”
R3 P25 – Jahee Chavious, WR, Notre Dame - 68 Overall, Hidden Dev
“As soon you put on any film of Notre Dame’s offense last year, Jahee’s route running immediately pops. He’s probably one of the most polished route technicians I’ve seen at the college level. Some guys, you look at their 40 time, and then you watch them dust a guy on film who’s a full .1 faster in shorts, and knowing how to run routes is the key to that, and that’s exactly what Jahee does. We really felt like the lack of production wasn’t his fault, and he was also a fantastic run blocker. We see him as someone who can immediately produce for us this season with Aaron [Rodgers] getting him the ball, so we’re ready to get him in here and start learning our route tree.”
R3 P32 – Ryan Mimbs, ROLB, Oregon State - 73 Overall, Hidden Dev
“When it comes to pass-rushers, sometimes you have to be able to see a bit more under the surface, because a lot of the great ones get taken early. We knew we were going to need more depth at edge with Kyler [Fackrell] leaving in free agency. Oregon State had him playing him in space in their system, but it seemed like every time they brought him off the edge on a blitz he was a problem. We think that with his crazy athleticism he could be able to do a whole lot more of that as an edge rusher in our defense, as well as being someone we’re not afraid to put on a tight end.”
R4 P10 – Kane Deangelis, WR, Rutgers - 67 Overall, Normal Dev
“Kane is a guy that we think has a ton of natural ability catching the football. The thing to me that stood out was his ability to contest a lot of catches on poor throws, he probably saved about 5 or 6 interceptions from happening to Rutgers last year. Also, we really noticed his first step was always fantastic, which is something we really appreciate in our offense with our slants and quick outs. We’re excited about getting him in the building and to start working on developing his other skills.”
R4 P25 – Kirk Heath, SS, Connecticut - 70 Overall, Normal Dev
“I’ll be honest, we didn’t really know a ton about Kirk until the Senior Bowl. He was one of those guys that kind of creeps up on you. Our scouts were looking at footage of Atreyu Kelly, and he just kept flashing and making big plays left and right. After the senior bowl his stock went way up and people really started noticing, especially in a class that wasn’t supposed to be that great at safety. So, when we started getting into the meat of our draft board I had him on my mind.”
R4 P26 – Darius Gallahan, TE, Houston - 68 Overall, Hidden Dev
“When we saw Darius, what were drawn to was his ability down the field, particularly in the air. He has a really unique height and vertical leap combination, even by tight end standards. The offense he was in at Houston basically treated him as a wide receiver, and his route running and ability to separate were on display frequently there. We’ll need to get him in the weight room and help him with his ability as a blocker, to be sure. But in terms of god given ability, he has everything you want.”
R4 P32 – Ty Eustace, LOLB, Troy - 67 Overall, Normal Dev
“Ty is an example of a player who maybe didn't have the kind of production you'd hope for, but sometimes it's more about pressures than sacks. We really like his strength, his bull rush, and his speed to power leverage is basically everything you’re looking for in an edge prospect. Granted, in our system he’ll need to work on playing in space, since I don’t think he had to do that at all in college.”
R5 P25 – Trevor Nickerson, QB, Maine - 67 Overall, Hidden Dev
“I mean, you all saw the playoffs last year. When Aaron [Rodgers] went down, we had to retool our entire offense and completely change our identity before the bye. I’m determined to prevent that from happening again. We felt like Trevor was going to fall because of his height, and thankfully that’s what happened, because he came out very high in our evaluations of the QBs in this class. When you consider his arm strength, his quick release, his accuracy on the run, everything is there to have a situation where if Aaron has to come out of a game, he can come in and run our entire scheme, scramble drill plays included. We’re very excited to have him in our QB room.”
R5 P32 – Mark Reeder, FB, Georgia - 67 Overall, Normal Dev
“Did you watch the national championship game? It seemed like on all those huge runs that Baker tore off, Mark was up front clearing the way for him. If they would have just kept the ball on the ground more, they probably would have won. Fullbacks seem like they’re not nearly as valued as they used to be, but in Matt [LaFleur]’s system we still want them, especially for our heavier sets. We also think Mark has great potential catching out of the backfield.”