2026 NFL Draft Discussion

[JosephC]

4 hours ago, OldHeidelberg said:

I didn't watch last night for an obvious reason but reading this morning the Vikings pick was a real head scratcher. #39 on JosephC's list above and broke his foot in offseason.

Looking forward to tonight, sort of expect the Packers to move up and snag a player they like higher in 2nd round since they lacked first rounder.  

 

I wouldn't have touched Banks where the Vikings took him.  IMO, if health was not a concern, that is about where his max grade should be.  I think he's had 2 different foot surgeries in the last 8 months.  Big guys with foot problems scare me.  Obviously their doctor's feel OK about him, but no way I take this risk that high.

I also thought the Lions pick was interesting.  Obviously they needed a left tackle.  I thought trading up for Freeling or Proctor was a very real possibility, and if not, they could just take Lomu which may be a tad bit high but not unreasonable.  Instead they take Blake Miller, and that is with Freeling still on the board.  Miller is a right tackle.  Sounds like Sewell is moving to left tackle.  Seems a bit questionable to me.  I think the Lions tried that before and Sewell ended up at right tackle because he is much better there.

The Bears good fortune continues with Thieneman dropping to their spot.  They may have needed DL more, but S was a pretty significant need area for them as well, and Thieneman looked better than any of the remaining EDGE/DL available.  He'll probably end up being a real good player for them.

 

[CheezWizHed]

18 minutes ago, JosephC said:

I still think Lee Hunter might be the best guy the Packers could take, maybe it could happen if Gannon loves him and is in Gutekunst's ear.  But I think Gutekunst would shy away from taking a player that might only be on the field for 30-35% of the defensive snaps.

Hunter's college production and pre-draft testing (RAS) don't line up... I'd guess that his visit was to vet out the discrepancy (Not sure if they can test on a visit or not?).  

Whatever the result of that visit is probably what will determine if the Packers go after Hunter or not. 

[CheezWizHed]

I wonder if Aaron Rodgers reached out to Matthew Stafford today since both got Favred!

But ironically, Bart Starr was the last QB who won the MVP and have his team pick a QB in round 1 of the next year's draft... 

[nate82]

5 hours ago, JosephC said:

NFL.com screwed up.  Titans get #31, #69 and #165.  Bills get #35, #66 and #101.  #66 and #101 were Titans draft picks near the top of rounds three and four, those picks are going to the Bills. 

Thanks that makes more sense.  

[LouisEly]

I wonder if the run on DTs last year is affecting the demand this year.  

I ran 12-15 mocks this week using the NFL Mock Draft Database Simulator, which runs off of the Consensus Big Board, which is what the writers at ACME Packing Company use.

FWIW, Christen Miller was almost always available at #52.  I think once he wasn't.  Dani Dennis-Sutton was rarely available at #52; he frequently was picked by the Lions at #50.  And that makes a lot of sense - I know they really want to have at least somewhat of a threat opposite Hutchinson, so I would not be surprised if the Lions go Edge at #50.  Orange was always available at #52; they have him at #70 overall.

Right now all four of McDonald, Miller, Hunter, and Orange are still available.  

[JosephC]

I'll go with this for my prediction.  Crazy to think that Wicks was dealt, obviously opening up a spot to draft a WR...I think Chris Brazzell is a definite possibility at #52...and yet I don't have the Packers taking a WR at all due to the way the board fell.  I certainly think someone like Jeff Caldwell or J Michael Sturdivant is possible with later picks, but just felt there would be other players Gutekunst would like more when the selection was due.  So no WR is screw up #1 in the prediction.  But oh well, when you start projecting trades you know it's going to be all messed up from the get go.

TRADE - Packers get 2nd (#42), Saints get 2nd (#52), 4th (#120) and 2027 5th round pick

2-42 - Gabe Jacus/EDGE/Illinois

TRADE - Browns get 3rd (#84), Packers get 4th (#107), 5th (#148) and 7th (#206)

4-107 - Will Lee III/CB/Texas A&M

5-148 - Drew Shelton/LT/Penn State

5-153 - Charles Demmings/CB/Stephen F Austin

5-160 - Jordan van den Berg/DL/Georgia Tech

6-201 - Jager Burton/IOL/Kentucky

6-206 - Dallen Bentley/TE/Utah

7-236 - Kaelon Black/RB/Indiana

7-255 - Jacob Thomas/S/James Madison 

[JosephC]

Good move by Gutekunst not trading up.  It looks like both Jacus and Cisse makes it to #52.  I'd take Cisse over Jacus.  With all Gutekunst's talk about adding numbers to CB, Cisse seems like he would be a good candidate.

[JosephC]

Cisse it is.  That was kind of a no-brainer IMO.  Surprised he made it to #52.  As a Packer fan, hard to have any problems with this pick.

[HarryDoyle]

Well that certainly addresses a need.

[LouisEly]

Can't argue with that.  Good value there.

[JosephC]

For those Packer/Badger fans that always with the Packers would take more Badgers....  If the Packers do not land Romello Height or Dani Dennis-Sutton in round three (I'm assuming both of those guys go somewhere before pick #101), I think Mason Reiger becomes a very strong possibility on day three.

[patrickgpe]

Cisse wasn't on my radar, but he should have been. Seems like a prototypical Packers CB. good size and athleticism. A little raw which made him available at 52. If they would have moved up even a little bit to get him, I wouldn't have complained. Nice Job Gutey!

[BrewerFan]

3 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

Cisse wasn't on my radar, but he should have been. Seems like a prototypical Packers CB. good size and athleticism. A little raw which made him available at 52. If they would have moved up even a little bit to get him, I wouldn't have complained. Nice Job Gutey!

I was kinda hoping they'd go with Pregnon, but... hard to complain. 

Still lots of picks. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Cisse isn't even 21 years old for another 3 months. 

[CheezWizHed]

Excellent.  Cisse was on my short list of "if these aren't there, trade down".  I didn't see any mocks or sims where he lasted that far.  

[patrickgpe]

6 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

I was kinda hoping they'd go with Pregnon, but... hard to complain. 

Still lots of picks. 

like i posted earlier, as I get older and watch more of these, I am more concerned about position rather than the actual player. Every draft pick is a crap shoot anyway. From what I read just now, he could have been a first round pick, so Gutey got good value. If they would have went offensive line, like Pregnon, I wouldn't have been mad. 

[LouisEly]

Bears drafting Logan Jones.  Now the Packers need to go up and get Orange because he destroyed Iowa's interior OL.  Orange's 34" arms vs Jones' 30" arms... LOL.

[patrickgpe]

9 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Bears drafting Logan Jones.  Now the Packers need to go up and get Orange because he destroyed Iowa's interior OL.  Orange's 34" arms vs Jones' 30" arms... LOL.

I Think its very possible Orange could be around in the 3rd round. It would be an excellent pick. 

[LouisEly]

Big run on TEs here.  Surprised that so many have been picked but Roush isn't one of them... yet.

[LouisEly]

Viqueens trading Greenard to the Eagles.  Looks like they aren't viewing 2026 as a competitive year.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I don't follow college or the draft but you have to love a guy named Big Citrus. 

[BrewerFan]

4 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

like i posted earlier, as I get older and watch more of these, I am more concerned about position rather than the actual player. Every draft pick is a crap shoot anyway. From what I read just now, he could have been a first round pick, so Gutey got good value. If they would have went offensive line, like Pregnon, I wouldn't have been mad. 

  I wonder if we'd go McCoy in the 3rd rd if he's available? I want to hit the OL/DL, but... McCoy may be worth the risk(I know you just said you care more about the position than player, but... still). 

[CheezWizHed]

16 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Viqueens trading Greenard to the Eagles.  Looks like they aren't viewing 2026 as a competitive year.

You have Murray and McCarthy at QB... people in MN are still talking about how to find a QB. 

[BrewerFan]

18 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Viqueens trading Greenard to the Eagles.  Looks like they aren't viewing 2026 as a competitive year.

I hate the Vikings. Just giving the Eagles a guy who, with Carter and Davis, should get 12+ sacks. Brilliant. 

[CheezWizHed]

1 minute ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I don't follow college or the draft but you have to love a guy named Big Citrus. 

Hopefully the juice is worth the squeeze... Orange you glad for all the puns that we can make here?