Trevor Sikkema z Professional focus on football set up its full-decade mock draft, selecting the top picks in every first-round draft since 2015, and three current members of the Green Bay Packers were selected.
The top pick, ranking 18th since 2015, was Jaire Alexander. Jordan Love went with pick 26, followed by Kenny Clark with pick 27. Also considered but not selected was Rashan Gary, 12th overall, but Sikkema selected Micah Parsons instead.
Alexander was a two-time second-team All-Pro selection and will look to return to that level this season after suffering an injury in 2023. Despite a hard season, Alexander finished robust last year, holding opponents to 6.8 yards per catch after interception and separation during the Packers’ final three games. Alexander has now carried that momentum into the offseason.
“I Was Outstanding” – said Matt LaFleur. “Again, he’s been here every day, he shows up, he’s got a great attitude, he’s eager to learn, he’s competitive with the guys, he talks trash, which I love because I love just raising the level of competition in a fun way. It is never degrading. I think he was a great teammate and a great leader for us.”
Helping Alexander return to All-Pro form will be Jeff Hafley’s vision-based defense, which should play to Alexander’s strengths while giving him and his teammates more rotation opportunities.
After Love’s early struggles and the youthful Packers’ offense last season, he continued to play like one of the better quarterbacks in the game.
From Week 15 through the playoffs, Love’s 71.7% completion rate was second-best in football. He also finished third in yards and first in touchdowns and had just two interceptions in six games, all while being the fastest quarterback in football.
The next step for Love in his development will be to maintain his high level of play throughout the season, as well as counter-attack defensive tackles and do it relatively quickly. Opponents now have had the entire offseason to watch film and see what Love and Offense does well and where they struggle.
The defensive game plans for 2023 will focus on eliminating the former and emphasizing the latter, and Love will have to adapt and adapt on the fly.
Finally, Kenny Clark is having one of his most productive seasons as a pass rusher, posting a career-high 7.5 sacks and his 66 pressures rank sixth among his position group.
However, in Hafley’s single-gap defense, there is the potential for a more disruptive version of Clark to be unlocked, with the defensive front as a whole being much more proactive in this defense rather than reactive.
“I think this plan… will be good for us initially,” Clark said via Packers.com. “It will make us much more destructive.”
