GREEN BAY, Wis. – Pro Football Network and College Football Network, which fall under the same umbrella, produced seven-round NFL mock drafts over the weekend. In both, the Green Bay Packers landed SEC pass rushers in the first round.
At Pro Football Network, Jacob Infante doubled up on edge defenders with Tennessee’s James Pearce in the first round and South Carolina’s Kyle Kennard in the third round.
Pierce led the SEC with 10 sacks and added 15 tackles for losses in 2023. In 2024, he tallied 7.5 sacks and 13 TFLs. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked third in FBS in pass-rush win rate and was tied for 12th in pressures in 2024.
“James Pearce, he’s going to be an interesting one,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said in a pre-Scouting Combine conference call. “He could go in the top 15. He could go bottom of 1. He could go top of 2. There’s a wide range on him. He’s a lean, skinny rusher, but he has a ton of juice and explosiveness. He really knows how to rush. His first three steps are pretty dynamic.”
He is skinny – too skinny, perhaps, for the Packers. At 6-foot-5 1/4, he weighed 245 pounds. With an eye-opening 4.47 in the 40, his Relative Athletic Score was 9.38.
It was back to the edge in the third round with South Carolina’s Kyle Kennard.
“Kyle Kennard is a lengthy, quick edge rusher with refined hand usage and impressive collegiate production,” Infante wrote, “and his physical tools would make him a valuable addition to the Packers’ edge-rusher rotation, even after taking Pearce in Round 1.”
After recording 12.5 sacks in four seasons at Georgia Tech, Kennard led the SEC with 11.5 sacks in 2024. At PFF, he tied for 47th in pressures (tied with Shemar Stewart, among others) and was 81st in pass-rush win rate.
At the Combine, he measured 6-foot-4 and 254 pounds and ran his 40 in 4.73 seconds. His RAS was 8.28.
At College Sports Network, Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton was the first-round pick by Cam Mellor.
Mellor called Scourton “a young, advanced edge rusher with an NFL-ready frame and elite hand technique. Though adding extra weight in 2024 may have hurt his stock, a leaner 265-pound build could restore his explosiveness and unlock his full potential.”
At Purdue in 2023, he led the Big Ten with 10 sacks and contributed 15 tackles for losses. In 2024, he had five sacks and 14 tackles for losses. He was an excellent 28th in pass-rush win rate.
Scourton was 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds at A&M. He didn’t test at the Combine but did slim down to 257 to help him be more explosive in position drills.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein compared him to Trey Hendrickson.
“Scourton’s size, demeanor and rush talent give him a chance to become a productive three-down starter off the edge,” he wrote as part of a much more extensive scouting report.
What about receiver?
At Pro Football Network, Mississippi’s Tre Harris was the pick in the second round. He could be the “alpha target” that Jordan Love needs, Infante said. Limited to just eight games in 2024, he caught 60 passes for 1,030 yards (17.2 average) and seven touchdowns. At 6-foot-2 3/8 and 205 pounds, he ran his 40 in 4.54.
“The FBS leader in receiving yards per game this season, Tre Harris brings an intriguing combination of size, speed, and agility that could make him a dangerous threat at all levels of the field in the pros,” Infante wrote.
At College Football Network, LSU’s Kyren Lacy was the pick in the third round. As a fifth-year senior, he caught 58 passes for 866 yards (14.9 average) and SEC-leading nine touchdowns.
In January, he was involved in a car accident that led to a 78-year-old man’s death. Lacy’s attorney said his client is not responsible. Because of the incident, he was not invited to the Scouting Combine.
In the PFN mock, Day 3 included two Ohio State defenders, including slot/safety Jordan Hancock in the fifth round. He had three interceptions and 15 passes defensed the last two seasons.
In the CFN mock, Day 3 included a pair of cornerbacks, with Iowa’s Jermari Harris in the sixth round. Harris had four interceptions in 2021 and three in 2024 but missed the 2022 season. He allowed a 43.2 percent catch rate in 2024, according to PFF, but his health will be a question mark.