If there is one thing we know about the Packers NFL draft approach, it’s that they’re not going to pick a wide receiver in the first round. Heck, they’re not going to take an offensive player at all, which has been the case in the first round for 12 of the past 13 years. So, there won’t be a wide receiver going to Green Bay in April as a first-rounder. We know it. You know. ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller knows it.
Yet, Miller says, if there is the opportunity to pick one receiver in particular, the Packers absolutely should take it. That receiver: Malik Nabers out of LSU.
“If I’m in the room when the Packers come on the clock, and LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers is on the board, he’s my pick,” Miller wrote in an NFL draft round table. “But this is Green Bay, and GM Brian Gutekunst would never take a receiver in Round 1. That’s too bad because when Love looks good — and there are flashes, for sure — it’s clear that the Packers lack a true WR1 who forces the hand of a defense. Christian Watson has talent but hasn’t been a go-to target for Love. Nabers, with his awesome after-the-catch ability, is an ideal fit for that offense.”
Malik Nabers = Successful Packers NFL Draft
It would be difficult to argue against a Packers NFL draft that starts with Nabers at the top. Nabers topped 1,000 yards receiving in his sophomore year, but has gone from good to great as a junior, with 1,546 yards (most in all of college football) this season, and 14 touchdowns. He rolled up 171 yards on 10 catches in a loss to Alabama, and closed the year on a stretch of five straight games with 120-plus yards receiving.
Nabers also broke the LSU record for career receptions, which now stands at 186.
But it is fair to question whether Miller’s point on Christian Watson is valid. It has not been a great year for Watson, and injury concerns that have dogged him throughout his career remain, but there is still a chance he can click with Love.
It happened in Week 12 against the Lions, finally, when Watson went for five catches and 94 yards plus a touchdown. He’s only 24, so there is hope. And as long as there is hope that Watson can be the top receiver, the chances of Malik Nabers leading the Packers NFL draft haul goes from slim to none.
Skill Positions Will Be Strong
That is not to say that the Packers’ NFL draft will be receiver-free. Green Bay will have a pair of second-rounders, including an increasingly good one from the Jets, that could be used to address the wideout spot. There will be plenty of value at the WR spot.
All around the NFL mock draft circuit, there is no question that the skill positions reign. It is the quarterbacks that are getting the most attention here, five months ahead of the actual draft itself, led by the combo of North Carolina’s Drake Maye and USC’s Caleb Williams, who could fight to be the No.1 overall pick.
But wide receivers could dominate the first day of the NFL draft. On SI’s mock draft, there are four quarterbacks going in the first round and eight receivers as well. At Pro Football Focus, it is five quarterbacks and seven receivers. USA Today foresees six receivers taken in the first round.
By the time the draft comes around, expect those numbers to thin out, and expect some of those would-be first rounders to be available in the second round. Now, that is where you could expect a Packers receiver pick next year.
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Packers Implored to Add Record-Breaking No. 1 WR: ‘Ideal Fit’