The NFL Combine is nearing its end with three of the four days now in the books. Saturday saw the quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers test for their future job opportunities. This includes the opportunity to play for the Green Bay Packers.
The past couple of weeks, we have examined some recent mock drafts. And we will continue with this in the future but with the NFL Combine going on, I would be doing a disservice not to talk about some of the performances of potential future Packers.
We will only keep this to a few position groups that fit the needs of the Packers. This review will not include any offensive line, as they will test later today. Also, we will only mention players that will be a true possibility at pick twenty-three.
Let’s get started.
NFL Combine – Defensive Line
Green Bay could use help up and down the defensive line, so we are going to break this down between edge players and interior defensive linemen.
Edge
Let’s start with the super fast James Pearce Jr. Pearce is a defensive end/edge defender out of Tennessee. He ran a super fast 40-yard dash time of 4.47 seconds. He also had a good broad jump that continued to show his explosiveness. According to Kent Lee Platte’s Relative Athletic Score, he scored 9.35. He is underweight for what the Packers are looking for but they may not want to miss out on this athlete. Pearce is around an early 2nd, late first round pick.
The other guy that I want to point out is Landon Jackson from Arkansas. He did very well for himself at the NFL Combine. His RAS is 9.88. Jackson ran a 4.68 forty while also jumping 10′ 9″ at the broad jump and a 41″ vertical. Jackson is an athletic freak and his tape shows that. He has a high motor and just doesn’t stop. His Combine performance backed up what we see in the tape. PFF has him ranked number 41 on their big board.
Interior Defensive Line
Darius Alexander is a crazy good athlete at a 305 pounds. He plays on the inside and can create pressure in the middle of the offensive line. He isn’t just good at creating pressure against the quarterback, but is also great at helping defend the run. This guy screams Green Bay Packers player.
Oh, and his performance at the NFL Combine verified his freaky athleticism. At 305 pounds, he ran a sub-five second forty-yard time. And that wasn’t the only crazy test. Here is RAS:
The only problem I have with Alexander is that he is a little older, but that shouldn’t be a problem as he will probably be available in the second round.
NFL Combine – Corner Back
Please Gutey, please find a way to get Jahdae Barron. Barron did not do the agility test but his speed was on full display with a super fast 4.39 forty time. Jahdae has an incomplete RAS but with what we know, he has a 8.99. He meets the thresholds the Packers seem to have for the cornerback position. He definitely seems to fit the mold well.
Barron could be gone come pick 23 but he could just as equally be available there too. If you haven’t watched his interview at the combine, then you should definitely do that.
Daniel Jeremiah compares him to Brian Branch at the slot position but with that forty time, he could very easily learn to play on the outside.
NFL Combine – Wide Receiver
Green Bay stills has a need at wide receiver that needs to be filled. And we now know that they won’t be with Deebo Samuels as he was traded to the Washington Commanders. Unless the Packers get DK Metcalf, I would expect a top-100 pick at the receiver position. Could that be a Matthew Golden at 23? He definitely is going to be in the first round now that he ran a 4.29 forty. But that was the only athletic testing that he did. So, I want to talk about another guy who had an amazing day and will be flying up draft boards now. That guy is Isaac TeSlaa from Arkansas.
TeSlaa continued to show that he can be something great at the NFL level by following up a fantastic Senior Bowl appearance by dominating at the NFL Combine. We can now confirm that he nearly has a perfect RAS score of 9.96. Oh, and he is 6′ 2″, 212 pounds.
But he didn’t just dominate the athletic testing. His routes and his catching ability looked crisp. He also showed the ability to adjust to the throw on a ridiculous catch on the deep ball drills. PFF has Isaac TeSlaa at 255 but that won’t be the case anymore. I would expect him to go in the mid rounds now. He very well could find himself as a Green Bay Packer in late April.
Now that the NFL Combine is over, it’s time to really expect draft season to continue to pick up. The NFL never stops. Next week is the beginning of the free agency. Rumor has it that Gutekunst is going to be involved in every conversation.
As always,
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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