We are finally at the point in the NFL Draft season where everyone and their dog has done a mock draft (mine will come out next week!). And this is all totally fine, however, there are a couple of prospects that I keep seeing in mock drafts that WILL NOT be Green Bay Packers. The Packers have their type. For example click here and here to learn about two prospects who are future Packers.
Green Bay has established guidelines for players that they are looking for in the NFL Draft. They stick to these guidelines and rarely ever deviate from them. These guidelines are what are known as The Packer Way. I mean, Ron Wolf literally wrote a book on it.
Therefore, even though these two players are talented and could very well have successful careers, they will not be on Green Bay’s draft board. So, let’s get started:
NFL Draft: Nate Wiggins
I absolutely think Nate Wiggins will be great! He has great athleticism and has great coverage skills. Wiggins is lengthy and is able to flip his waist quite fast in coverage which allows him to play sticky coverage. And to top it all off, Nate is super fast. He ran a 4.28 forty yard dash.
So, why do I think he won’t be a Green Bay Packer? I mean he has the height, he has the athleticism, and he has the tape. What’s the problem?
At the NFL Combine, he weighed in at 173lbs. This doesn’t make the threshold that the Packers have set for the weight of a Packers corner, that threshold being 185-190lbs.
Here are some example weights for corners drafted by the Packers:
- 2023 – Carrington Valentine – 189lbs
- 2021 – Eric Stokes – 194lbs
- 2021 – Shemar Jean-Charles – 184lbs
- 2019 – Ka’dar Hollman – 196lbs
- 2018 – Jaire Alexander – 196lbs
- 2018 – Josh Jackson – 196lbs
- 2017 – Kevin King – 200lbs
As you can see, the Packers have only drafted two corners since 2017 that were under 190lbs. One was Valentine, who was drafted in the 7th round and is just one pound under 190, and the other was Jean-Charles who was drafted in the 5th round.
Nate Wiggins doesn’t come off as a Packers-y pick. His run defense is suspect and he can be beat by larger receivers at the top of the route if he has to put hands on them.
NFL Draft: Amarius Mims
The offensive tackle is a behemoth of a man. At nearly 6’8″ and 340lbs, this man is a road grader. Where Mims really shines is with his length. He has 7’4″ wingspan and, with his incredible arm length, wins a ton of reps naturally in pass pro. The sky is the ceiling for Mims but that sky is just not gonna be there for the Packers.
Mims will not be a Green Bay Packer.
Amarius Mims may be a large offensive linemen but that isn’t a trait that the Packers look for in offensive line prospects. Nope, they look for agility and with Mims being such a beast, his agility is on the lower side of things.
I mean his RAS is super high. It’s a 9.50. However, he did not perform any of the agility drills. Why didn’t he perform the agility drills? It’s safe to assume that it wouldn’t have benefited him.
There is another reason for why Mims won’t be a Packer. He has only eight games played under his belt. The Packers don’t draft players with so little playing experience.
Could I Be Wrong?
Absolutely, prior to the 2022 NFL Draft, I would have never thought that the Packers would have selected a 24 year-old defensive tackle in the first round. Then they selected Devonte Wyatt with the second 1st round pick in that draft.
So, Gutekunst has shown that he is capable of selecting players outside of the rules that Packers organization has in drafting players. However, I do believe that the Packers view additional first round picks in a year as a bonus and are willing to break their own rules to acquire talent like a Devonte Wyatt.
I actually would love for the Packers to select Nate Wiggins in the first round. This would mean that they Packers believe that they could possibly bulk him up. Wiggins is still young enough, he will have just turned 21 at the start of the NFL regular season, and could add more weight as he develops into a NFL player. Also, according to Clemson, his playing weight was 185lbs. If that is more of the norm, then the Packers could still pick him while only making a little bit of an exception.
I do feel like Amarius Mims would have to fall into later rounds before the Packers would select him.
I mean, all of this is truly just a guessing game. On April 25th, we’ll finally start to get some answers.
Go Pack Go!
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Damon is a diehard, fully-immersed cheesehead who currently lives in southern Missouri. He teaches at a local high school and has a family YouTube channel about all things Packers. You can follow him on twitter at @packersfamily and on YouTube at The Packers Family.
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