The NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday night in beautiful Green Bay, Wisconsin! The Green Bay Packers currently hold the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the draft. Things couldn’t get more exciting! Amongst that excitement, my friend (a Chiefs fan) and I were able to meet virtually a week before the draft to have our sixth annual dual mock draft.
This year, we had two mock drafts take place in a night. The first one is our more serious, traditional run. In this mock draft, we weren’t allowed to have trades, just a stick-and-pick kind of thing. Considering the Packers held the 23rd overall pick, I picked the odd selections while Luke, the Chiefs fan, selected the evens until pick 31 where he was able to pick for the Chiefs. I then selected for the Eagles at pick 32.
This is how that mock draft went:
Mock Draft: Interesting Nuggets
Just like last year’s dual mock draft, I selected for the odd teams. However, unlike last year, I didn’t get the chance to pick for any of the NFC North teams. Therefore, I wasn’t able to sabotage their picks. Darn it!
I’m joking of course, as I wouldn’t have tanked their picks anyway because we do take the first mock serious.
I will say, this mock draft was a little tougher than last season’s as no one really can seem to agree on what might take place.
Let’s look at some picks in more detail before I share the entire mock draft:
Quarterbacks
Last season’s draft was a good time to need a quarterback at the top of the draft because it was loaded with talent at the position. This season… not so much. Luke and I both agreed that this year’s top quarterback, Cam Ward, would probably have been the sixth quarterback in last year’s draft. Instead, we find him going number one to the Tennessee Titans.
Due to the injury of Derrick Carr, I had the Saints select Shedeur Sanders and since there hasn’t been any news about Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers, I had the Steelers select Jaxson Dart out of Mississippi. Those are the only three quarterbacks selected in this mock draft. We do think it possible that one of the teams selecting at the top of the second round trade back into the first and select Jalen Milroe, who has an extreme upside but a very low floor. I don’t think there is any coincidence that he will be attending the NFL Draft in Green Bay.
Mason Graham
Mason Graham out of Michigan might be a bigger lock at #5 to Jacksonville than Cam Ward is to the Titans at #1. I mean, anything could happen. Unless something crazy happens with Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, Graham is likely to be a Jaguar. Lately I’ve been seeing many mock drafts kind of get away from that to just keep things interesting, but let’s be honest with ourselves.
Matthew Golden
Probably my favorite wide receiver prospect in this draft, Matthew Golden is the choice of the Cowboys in this mock draft. The Cowboys keep being the Cowboys with this pick. Golden reminds me a lot of a slightly speedier Greg Jennings and if he could find a way to be a Green Bay Packer, I would be ecstatic! Of course, he probably won’t make it to the Packers at pick 23.
Mock Draft Oopsies
Somehow, we didn’t get Colston Loveland in the first round, which is malpractice on our part! Like, how did that happen? Luke had to decide on a replacement for Travis Kelce and a good left tackle in Josh Simmons. It was absolutely crazy!
Omarion Hampton didn’t make the first round, either, which I believe could happen. But I also could see him going as high as #10 to the Bears. He honestly could find himself in the first round.
Finally, the last oopsie was by design. Many people have Nick Emmanwori going in the first round, and in some cases over Malaki Starks. We don’t feel the same way about Emmanwori as most. Don’t get me wrong, he has elite athleticism, but it’s hard to select someone at the safety position without a ton of productivity like Malaki Starks has.
Now, without further ado, the annual 2025 Dual Mock Draft:
Mock Draft: The Packers Select…
Jahdae Barron! That’s right! My favorite player in this entire draft somehow fell to the Packers at 23. Will this happen in the real NFL Draft? Probably not. The Packers will more than likely have to move up to select Barron, but man I would be beyond excited if the Packers were able to get him.
Barron is a versatile freak of nature! He would probably be an elite Pro-Bowl caliber slot corner but can also play on the outside! I don’t care what others say, he played well on the outside in college and can in the NFL too. Jeff Hafley values versatility in the secondary. I mean, he ran an inverted Cover 2 several times where the safeties came up and the corners sprinted backward to play the safety position. Gosh, Jahdae is the perfect fit in this secondary. The havoc that could be created…
I had a few other options of Packers types at this pick. We did just miss out on Shemar Stewart, Mykel Williams, Will Johnson, and Derrick Harmon. But the receivers somehow fell in this mock draft. I could have had the Packers select Emeka Egbuka or Tetairoa McMillan. Having Tet fall this far made it difficult to select my favorite prospect in Jahdae Barron.
Could you imagine what would happen to the Packers crowd in Green Bay if they were to select a receiver in the first round? Holy cow that would be insane!
Mock Draft: Extra Draft
We also did an extra draft.
This is a draft that is kind of wacky as we have to spin a wheel that determines what sort of pick the selection has to be. We also swap picks and pick for each other’s team. This means that Luke picked for the odds and the Green Bay Packers while I picked the evens and the Kansas City Chiefs. Here is what the wheel looked like:
Things got pretty crazy to begin with in this one! I mean, Ashton Jeanty wasn’t the first running back chosen in this mock draft. Matter of fact, he wasn’t chosen until pick 25 by the Houston Texans! Like I said, this one got weird. There are some picks that certainly won’t happen, but but there are others that very well could happen.
And to add to some credence to the wheel, over the past few years that we’ve done the wheel, it actually got a few picks correct. And that could very well happen this year. That’s the fun part of the draft, you never know what could happen.
One might as well spin a wheel.
Here is how this mock draft went:
See! I wasn’t kidding- it got crazy!
Go Pack Go and Happy Draft Week!
——————
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.
——————
