Who Should the Green Bay Packers Draft in the First Round?

Well, the 2015 NFL Draft is almost here.  On April 30th in Chicago, IL, futures will be decided for many players and teams.

Of course, all the talk regarding the draft surrounds what will happen with Marcus Mariota, whether Amari Cooper or Kevin White will be the first wide receiver off the board, and whether Jameis Winston actually stole crab legs or not.  But the Green Bay Packers could care less about any of that.  Why?  Because the Packers have to wait until the 30th pick before they decide who they’ll go with.

Which makes it relatively difficult to plan ahead. The Packers have done everything necessary to preserve the offense, including finding a way to re-sign Randall Cobb.  With a healthy Aaron Rodgers, there shouldn’t be any concern regarding Green Bay’s ability to score.  And maybe they’ll get a little extra juice with Brett Favre’s return to Lambeau (FOR retirement, not FROM retirement…I know some of you were thinking it):

Report: Packers will retire Brett Favre's number on Thanksgiving night – http://t.co/zfDt2R2ei5 pic.twitter.com/hjSb7biVQO

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) April 21, 2015

On the defensive side, however, there’s been plenty of change, including Pro Bowl Cornerback Tramon Williams leaving for the Browns (who is clearly an optimist as he believes he’s on a playoff caliber team), linebacker A.J. Hawk moving on to the Bengals and cornerback Davon House signing with the Jaguars.

This leaves the Packers with needs all along the defense, but specifically at cornerback and inside linebacker. Without any elite inside linebackers graded for the first round, and in fact with plenty of high upside inside linebackers available in the second and third rounds, like Eric Kendricks from UCLA, Benardrick McKinney from Mississippi State and Denzel Perryman from Miami, the Packers are probably best off targeting a cornerback.

Luckily for the Packers, this year’s draft is deep with elite potential cornerbacks.  There are 3 cornerbacks in Scout Inc.’s Top 32, and as many as 5 have been identified by NFL pundits as first round worthy.  Although the consensus top cornerback in the draft Trae Waynes may slide a little, as many NFL analysts believe he’s overrated, he’s unlikely to fall to Pick 30.

So let’s take a look at who I think the Packers should target, in ranked order, with the 30th Pick:

1) Marcus Peters – CB

At 6 feet and 197 pounds, Peters is the perfect sized cornerback. At the Combine, he had a decent 40-yard dash of 4.53 seconds and 20-yard shuttle of 4.08 seconds, but really impressed with 11.26 seconds on the 60-yard shuttle, good for 5th among all cornerbacks.  Having fast shuttle times demonstrates Peters ability to change direction and quickly accelerate, something that is vital for good pass coverage.

In college, Peters was real terror for opposing receivers. He was incredibly disruptive, tracked balls in the air accurately and often won contested catches. In 35 games played during his three year career, he totaled 129 tackles, 11 interceptions and a forced fumble (which he proceeded to return for a touchdown). He is clearly a strong competitor and certainly doesn’t lack in confidence.

The problem is that he had some difficulty getting along with his college coaches at Washington (throwing a fit on the sidelines in one instance and getting into repeated arguments in practice) and ended up dismissed from team last November.  He was welcomed back for a Pro Day at Washington, so apparently, there aren’t any hard feelings, but this is certainly a red flag.  In some ways, this is worse than simple disciplinary immaturity off the field, as having conflict with a coaching staff directly impacts the team and the game.

Interestingly, although Peters visited 17 teams, he didn’t visit or workout with the Packers:

CB Marcus Peters took 17 pre-draft visits, had individual workouts w/ #Falcons, #Panthers, #Buccaneers, #Dolphins. Met w/ #49ers last week.

— Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) April 23, 2015

Honestly, I think that’s more to do with the fact that he’s hoping to get drafted earlier than Pick 30 than any indication regarding whether he wants to be in Green Bay.

Regardless, Peters has the skills to be among the best cornerbacks in the NFL and has potential to be an immediate contributor. He’s worth the risk at Pick 30.

2) Jalen Collins – CB

At 6 foot 1 inch and 203 pounds, Collins is also a good sized cornerback.  And his lengthy arms (32 1/8 inches) allows him to be effective even when trailing in coverage.  At the Combine, he also had an acceptable 40-yard dash of 4.48 seconds and 20-yard shuttle of 4.27 seconds, and was only slightly behind Peters in the 60-yard shuttle with 11.32 seconds.  The area where Collins impressed most was with a 6.77 second 3-cone drill, good for second best among cornerbacks at the Combine.

Collins was known for being incredibly talented in one-on-one coverage, while also being able to quickly redirect to provide support in the secondary or to help tackle a running back in the second level. However, LSU tended to rotate cornerbacks, so Collins has significantly less experience than Peters. Collins completed his last season at LSU with 38 tackles, 28 solo tackles (3 for a loss), 9 pass break ups, and one interception in just 7 starts (although he played in 11 games). Because of his limited playing time, he’s not nearly as polished as Peters, but all the physical skills are there, and coaching can get him prepared to contribute perhaps by mid-season 2015.

3) Malcom Brown – DL

Everything I said about why the Cleveland Browns should consider taking Brown at Pick 19 applies equally here for the Packers at Pick 30.  If the Packers can’t get an elite cornerback, then this run stopper can really shore up a defense in need of some new talent.  It’s well worth taking Brown here instead of reaching for the next batch of cornerbacks, who can be had in the second or third round, like Eric Rowe from Utah and D’Joun Smith from Florida Atlantic.

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So there you go, Packers fans.  That’s who I would pick at 30 if it were up to me.

Of course, you all know that would never happen, seeing as how I’m a Bears fan.  And we all know how Packers fans feel about Bears fans.

By Ha Kung Wong

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime