GREEN BAY, Wis. – Davante Adams? Signed with the Rams. DK Metcalf? Traded to the Steelers. Cooper Kupp? Maybe the Seahawks or Cowboys.
A bad group of receivers in free agency hasn’t gotten any stronger over the last couple days. Unless general manager Brian Gutekunst decides to take a swing on one of the 30-somethings, the only way to improve the receiver corps might be through the draft.
In a three-round mock draft at Pro Football Network, the Packers used their second- and third-round picks on receivers.
First, the first-round pick was spent on Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. After three seasons at Michigan State, Harmon at Oregon in 2024 had five sacks and 11 tackles for losses. By a large margin, he led all interior defensive linemen in pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
“He checks all the boxes you want in a defensive lineman,” PFN’s Marco Enriquez explained.
Indeed he does. Harmon boasts measurables the Packers would love: 6-foot-4 1/2 and 313 pounds, 34 3/4-inch arms and 4.87 speed in the 40.
“With two young quarterbacks in their division and the Detroit Lions’ elite offensive line, the Green Bay Packers need to bolster their defensive front – making Harmon a perfect fit,” Enriquez concluded.
With the Day 2 selections, the Packers picked two receivers, which would be helpful in lifting a receiver group that didn’t add a veteran difference-maker but would turn a blind eye toward some of the team’s other shortcomings.
In the second round, the pick was Miami’s Xavier Restrepo. At 5-foot-9 7/8, he’d typically be too short for the Packers. However, at 209 pounds, he’s short but not small. That was the reasoning for why the Packers selected Amari Rodgers with a third-round pick in 2021. Rodgers was 5-foot-9 1/2 and 212 pounds.
Restrepo caught 85 passes for 1,092 yards and six touchdowns in 2023 and 69 passes for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2024, the yards and touchdowns leading the ACC.
With Jayden Reed, the Packers already have an excellent slot receiver, though. Iowa State receiver Jayden Higgins, who might have been a better fit for what Green Bay needs because of his combination of size and speed, was taken at No. 59.
The third-round pick was Colorado State’s Tory Horton, and he does fit what the Packers need.
Horton caught 71 passes for 1,131 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022 (led the Mountain West in yards) and 96 passes for 1,136 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023 (led the Mountain West in catches). He missed most of the 2024 season, though, with a knee injury.
At 6-foot-2 1/2 and 196 pounds, he ran his 40 in 4.41 seconds – an impressive performance just five months after knee surgery. He’d provide the field-stretching threat the Packers won’t have to start the season as Christian Watson recovers from a torn ACL.
At the Combine, he described himself as a “6-3 guy, I played a lot of slot and outside, move around, vertical threat, so I feel like I got a lot of versatility in my game of moving around and working deep and even under routes a lot.”
Part of that versatility is special teams. He returned a punt for a touchdown during each of his final three seasons.
Horton could have entered the draft after back-to-back big seasons, but scouts told him it was in his best interests to return for 2024.
“I feel like they hit everything. They see that the speed is there and the ball-tracking skills,” Horton said via CSURams.com. “They said I could improve on my routes a little bit, but that’s something I’ve been working on.
“The one thing I did take was I could show them more strength on the field. They said my blocking was good, but you can always improve in anything. My main goal is to show the strength I have and go out and make more contested catches, getting dirty in the middle. I want to do those things to show I’m durable and I’m able to go out and take those big hits and play with strength.”
The Packers in free agency have signed guard Aaron Banks and cornerback Nate Hobbs. By doubling up on receiver, they would have missed out on the defensive line.
Ohio State edge J.T. Tuimoloau, who led the Big Ten in sacks, went to the Lions at No. 60 of the second round. LSU edge Bradyn Swinson went at No. 64 of the second round to the Eagles.
Texas A&M’s Shemar Turner, Indiana’s C.J. West and Tennessee’s Omarr Norman-Lott were defensive tackles who went after Green Bay’s spot in the third. So did Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer.
Here’s the full mock.
Let @JacobWestendorf ruin your Friday morning (and maybe your whole weekend!) with this look back at the 2021 draft, the stars that got away with the Day 2 picks and how those mistakes continue to haunt the #Packers. ⬇️https://t.co/jBmYoNjv8o
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) March 14, 2025