GREEN BAY, Wis. – Joe Burrow’s got Ja’Marr Chase. Jalen Hurts has A.J. Brown. Jared Goff has Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has … well, he doesn’t have a No. 1 receiver.
Maybe he would if the Packers drafted Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, who was the first-round pick in Rob Rang’s new two-round mock draft at Fox Sports.
“Jordan Love’s emergence as one of the NFL’s better young gunslingers is all the more impressive given that the Packers lack a true No. 1 receiver,” Rang explained. “Two of his favorite targets – Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson – each enter the final year of their respective rookie deals. Egbuka isn’t as big or fast as some of the other wideouts of this class, but he’s widely regarded as the most polished.”
At 6-foot 7/8, he’s not as tall as Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan, who at 6-foot-4 1/8 could be the first receiver off the board. With 4.48 speed in the 40, he’s not as fast Texas’ Matthew Golden, who with 4.29 speed also could be the first receiver off the board.
However, no receiver in the draft is more ready to roll than Egbuka, who put up three seasons of excellent production at Ohio State. Egbuka had to earn his opportunities in the Buckeyes’ strong receiver corps. He’s well-schooled after four seasons with the school’s highly regarded receivers coach, Brian Hartline.
“Overall, Egbuka is a very quarterback-friendly target – not because he is bigger, stronger or faster than defenders, but because he understands detailed subtleties to uncover and command the catch point,” wrote The Athletic’s Dane Brugler in his massive draft preview.
Egbuka caught 205 passes for 2,868 yards and 24 touchdowns at OSU, with most of that production coming in his final three seasons. He finished first in school history in receptions and second in yards. He dropped five passes with 81 receptions in 2024.
Egbuka was the second receiver off the board in this mock; McMillan fell all the way to No. 29. Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons, Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams and Texas A&M edge Shemar Stewart, all of whom had draft visits with the Packers, went at the end of the first round.
Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison, one of the top playmaking cornerbacks in the draft, was the choice in the second round.
Cornerback, in Rang’s view, must be addressed given the uncertainty over Jaire Alexander’s future with the team.
“Nabbing a falling star like Morrison could have the Packers’ faithful attending the draft feeling much better about their secondary,” Rang wrote.
Morrison intercepted six passes as a freshman in 2022 and three passes in 2023. He didn’t intercept any passes in six games in 2024, a season shortened due a hip injury that required season-ending surgery. He didn’t test at the Scouting Combine or pro day but will go through a workout in front of scouts on the Monday before the draft.
“I dreamed of coming to the Combine, and I’m here, but this is hard,” Morrison said. “Twenty years old, man, everything I want is in front of me. I just feel like every single time it’s there I have some type of setback, but I know each setback is going to pull me back farther and farther to just catapult me forward. I know that something great is on the horizon.”
According to Sports Info Solutions, Morrison – whose father, Darryl, played for the Washington Redskins in the 1990s – allowed a 39 percent catch rate in 2024 and 34 percent for his career.
“My tape doesn’t lie,” Morrison said. “You have to look at what I’ve done, all my productivity. The things I accomplished in 2 1/2 years can take guys four or five years. I don’t feel as if I have to sell myself. My main priority right now is to get fully healthy and then show the scouts what they want to see.”
Ole Miss cornerback Trey Amos, who has “first-round tools,” went to the Chargers with the next pick.
Sports Illustrated: All Trades
SI.com’s Matt Verderame traded every pick in his new mock. In this simulation, Green Bay shot up from No. 23 to No. 14 in a swap with the Colts to get Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron.
It was “significant trade-up,” Verderame noted, with Green Bay giving up its second-round pick (but getting a fourth-rounder in return).
Yahoo: Big Defensive Tackle
In their eighth mock for Yahoo, Charles McDonald and Nate Tice picked Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, who has the size to replace TJ Slaton and the potential to be much better.
“Grant would immediately fill a role as a run stuffer with the upside to maybe be a pass rush threat from nose tackle,” McDonald wrote.
CBS: Playmaking Defensive Tackle
The Packers could go get a big space-eating defensive tackle like Michigan’s Grant. Or, they could take a step toward eventually replacing Kenny Clark by selecting Oregon’s Derrick Harmon. He was the pick in the latest by CBS’s Josh Edwards.
Harmon was the pick over Grant
“Green Bay continues its trend of using first-round picks on the defensive side of the ball. Derrick Harmon allows the Packers to maintain depth along the defensive line following T.J. Slaton’s departure.”
Cornerbacks Trey Amos and Shavon Revel helped complete the first round.
Pro Football Network: 2 Rounds
In his latest for PFN, Brentley Weissman took Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron in the first round and Ohio State edge JT Tuimoloau in the second round.
“Barron is a versatile cover guy who can play inside or out. He’s long, athletic, and plays with the kind of physicality you want in a top-tier corner,” Weissman wrote.
