On Thursday night, 32 NFL teams will look to improve their rosters with the addition of some of the top college players in the country.
The Green Bay Packers have the 25th pick in the first round, with 11 picks total.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst says the early rounds of the draft are important to his team.
“Picks on those first two days are hard to come by. So when you have an opportunity to obtain one i think you have to seriously consider it because certainly the analytics and the history show what kind of player you’re going to get in there,” he says. “I mean, the draft is littered with 6th, 7th un-drafted that go on to become great players and picks way up high that don’t become great players. But it certainly improves your odds.”
The top name floating around the draft for the Packers is cornerback Cooper Dejean. The latest mock draft from the NFL network has the Packers selecting the Iowa Hawkeyes junior with their first pick.
Dejean’s draft stock has been on the rise since the scouting combine. In three years at Iowa, he had a total of 120 total tackles and 7 interceptions. Dejean would add to an already stacked Packers secondary.
This off season, Green Bay also re-signed Keisean Nixon and brought in free agent safety Xavier McKinney.
This year’s draft is being held in Detroit near Campus Martius Park. The Chicago Bears hold the first pick.
The event starts at 7:00 p.m. Rounds 2 and 3 are Friday night.
