2024 NFL Mock Draft: Mel Kiper makes surprising pick for the Packers

A few years ago, UCLA’s Laiatu Latu was medically retired. Now, he’s in the running to be picked in the first-round by Green Bay.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper, the most famous draftnik of them all, just released his third mock draft of the 2024 cycle. In it, he made an interesting selection for the Green Bay Packers: UCLA pass-rusher Laiatu Latu.

The 2023 All-American, who also earned the Ted Hendricks Award and Lombardi Award last season, originally began his career with the Washington Huskies, where he medically retired after just two seasons with the program. Ultimately, Latu had a neck fusion after injuring his neck during preseason workouts in the 2020 season. As of the combine, he has stated that “no teams have talked about any kind of concern” with his injury.

After his stint at Washington, he was cleared by UCLA’s doctors, leading to him enrolling at the Pac-12 rival. Over the last two seasons, he recorded 24 sacks and 35.5 tackles for loss with the Bruins while splitting time with two other 2024 draft prospects at the pass-rushing linebacker position: Gabriel Murphy and Grayson Murphy, a pair of twins.

Along with the likes of Alabama’s Dallas Turner and Florida State’s Jared Verse, Latu is considered one of the better pass-rushing prospects in the upcoming draft class. Here’s what Kiper had to say about his selection:

Green Bay is another team that might seek one of these offensive tackles — David Bakhtiari was released last week — but I wonder if this is a landing spot for the best pure edge rusher in this class. Sure, it drafted Lukas Van Ness a year ago in Round 1, but he’s more of a power rusher and run-stopper than a true double-digit sack machine.

Latu put up 111 quarterback pressures over the past two seasons, racking up 23.5 sacks. He has elite pass-rushing skills and is already advanced in his technique. The reason he’s not a surefire top-15 pick is because he has some medical questions; he medically retired from football due to a neck injury when he was at Washington in 2021. I love his fit with the Packers, though.

What Kiper mentioned about the offensive line market is important, as that’s the position that the Packers are now mocked the most since the team has re-signed three of their own players at cornerback in free agency. In Kiper’s mock, the following offensive linemen were off the board by Green Bay’s selection at 25th overall: Joe Alt (Notre Dame), JC Latham (Alabama), Olu Fashanu (Penn State), Troy Fautanu (Washington), Taliese Fuaga (Oregon State), Graham Barton (Duke) and Tyler Guyton (Oklahoma). Out of the available offensive linemen, Georgia’s Amarius Mims was the highest-ranked remaining blocker, coming in at 21st overall on the consensus draft board.

If you want another interesting selection, Kiper also mocked Washington’s Roger Rosengarten in the first round. The tackle is currently ranked 116th on the consensus draft board, a possible hint that he’s been a riser for teams during the pre-draft process. Defensive back Cooper DeJean of Iowa, who is a popular pick to the Packers due to his versatility as cornerback, slotback and safety, was selected by Kiper just two picks ahead of Green Bay by the Minnesota Vikings, who only recently packaged some picks to acquire their second first-round pick of the 2024 draft. How annoying.