Packers Pro Day Round Up: Team Visits Top Tackle Prospects in 2024 Draft

If Green Bay’s attendance is any sign, the Packers are looking at the tackle and safety market in the draft.

While everyone is rightfully focused on free agency, there is another process going on in NFL front offices right now: pro days. A team’s attendance at these events can signify interest in a certain player or a position group that they’re in the market for.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at where the Green Bay Packers’ scouting staff has reportedly visited in the first week or so of the pro day process, including information on which top players each of these programs has and why it might be relevant to the Packers moving forward. Players who made the cut on the consensus board’s top 250 will be listed below each team.

Georgia

• #9 TE Brock Bowers
• #21 T Amarius Mims
• #36 WR Ladd McConkey
• #40 CB Kamari Lassiter
• #77 S Javon Bullard
• #78 iOL Sedrick Van Pran
• #149 NCB Tykee Smith
• #163 WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint
• #169 RB Daijun Edwards
• #227 RB Kendall Milton

Let’s talk about tight ends right away, because it’s going to come up a couple of times. It would be pretty surprising if the Packers used a draft pick on the position this season, considering the fact that Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft and Ben Sims are all coming off of their rookie seasons and the team has already re-signed veteran special teams contributor Tyler Davis. Go ahead and rule out Brock Bowers from being in legitimate contention to be added to Green Bay now.

With that being said, there are some interesting prospects at Georgia who the Packers could use. Amarius Mims, who played right tackle for the Bulldogs, is one of the premier offensive line prospects in the class. Elsewhere on the offensive line, Sedrick Van Pran is expected to be able to contribute at either center or guard at the next level. As a reminder, starting center Josh Myers is going into a contract season next year.

Then there are the defensive backs: Kamari Lassiter and Javon Bullard. Bullard, like Xavier McKinney, played in a two-high system that probably translates best to the free safety position under Jeff Hafley. If the defense wants to simply play left and right safety, though, he’s an option as a player who can complement McKinney. Lassiter is a player that draft analyst Tony Pauline claimed the Packers had interest in, along with the Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans.

Clemson

• #20 CB Nate Wiggins
• #62 DL Ruke Orhorhoro
• #74 LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
• #107 RB Will Shipley
• #137 DL Tyler Davis
• #180 EDGE Xavier Thomas
• #219 CB Sheridan Jones

The other major pro day that the Packers visited was to Clemson, where inside linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and running back Will Shipley stand out as potential targets. Cornerback Nate Wiggins is the highest-ranked player among the group, but Green Bay hasn’t been in the market for players as thin (173 pounds) as him since before Ted Thompson’s takeover of the front office.

Trotter is considered one of the top linebacker prospects in the class, but I’m not much of a fan. Still, the Packers now need three starting off-ball linebackers by September, which wasn’t helped by the release of three-year starter De’Vondre Campbell. Currently, the projected starters at the position are Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie and one of special teams contributor Kristian Welch or converted safety Christian Young.

Shipley had a hell of a pro day, reportedly running sub 4.40 in the 40-yard dash and recording a 38.5” vertical. With AJ Dillon only back on a one-year deal, the Packers should still be in the market to add a running back via the draft if they find value at the position.

South Carolina

• #50 WR Xavier Legette
• #91 QB Spencer Rattler
• #183 CB Marcellas Dial
• #250 TE Trey Knox

Like tight end, receiver is another position that I don’t expect the Packers to address in the draft, at least early on. Considering that the team got real snaps out of Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton, Malik Heath and Samori Toure in 2023, all young players who remain under contract for Green Bay for multiple seasons, it’s not likely that they’ll really turn in a pick for Xavier Legett, one of South Carolina’s two major prospects.

The other significant prospect for the Gamecocks this year, though, is quarterback Spencer Rattler, who is physically talented but has been a bit of a gunslinger at the college level. Maybe the Packers want to get into the quarterback development market again, considering their backups behind Jordan Love right now are Sean Clifford and Alex McGough? If Rattler is there in the fourth round, maybe they view him as a player who can back up Love long-term until they can flip him into a higher draft pick.

Arizona

• #37 T Jordan Morgan
• #136 WR Jacob Cowing
• #213 TE Tanner McLachlan
• #236 RB Michael Wiley

I don’t want to sound like a broken record here, but I’m gonna go ahead and rule out the receiver and tight end here. Michael Wiley is ranked as a borderline draftable running back, which is interesting to highlight moving forward, but the main prospect you should be paying attention to here is tackle Jordan Morgan — who could have declared in last year’s draft.

Based on how the Packers’ needs stack up compared to the depth of this class, do not be surprised if Morgan ends up being the pick at #25. If a tackle run leads to the likes of Taliese Fuaga (Oregon State), J.C. Latham (Alabama) and Amarius Mims (Georgia) being selected before Green Bay is on the clock, the odds of Morgan being general manager Brian Gutekunst’s choice only increase.

Minnesota

• #44 S Tyler Nubin
• #186 TE Brevyn Spann-Ford

Like the Arizona pro day, I think we should be focusing on one name here for Minnesota’s pro day: safety Tyler Nubin. Yes, the Packers just signed Xavier McKinney to a deal that will pay him like a top-three safety in the league, but the team still needs to play two full-time starters at the position. At the moment, the player who would start next to McKinney would likely be second-year, seventh-round pick Anthony Johnson Jr.

Meanwhile, Nubin complements McKinney well, as he probably fits best at the next level as a strong safety. It’s worth noting here that Nubin is the top-ranked safety on the consensus draft board and that Georgia’s Javon Bullard, who the Packers also saw at his pro day, is ranked third in the class.

Illinois

• #25 DL Jer’Zhan Newton
• #169 iOL Isaiah Adams
• #181 TE Tip Reiman
• #183 DL Keith Randolph Jr.
• #199 T Julian Pearl

Illinois has a few linemen of note in this draft class, but none are better than defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton. At the moment, the only defensive lineman ranked ahead of Newton on the consensus draft board is Texas’ Byron Murphy. They are the only two players at the position who are ranked inside of the top 45.

Would the Packers really pull the trigger on another defensive tackle, though? Kenny Clark’s contract is coming up after this season, but the team already seems to have plenty of mouths to feed with Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks and T.J. Slaton under contract for 2024.

Arkansas

• #131 iOL Beaux Limmer
• #189 CB Dwight McGlothern

Southeast Missouri State

• #165 WR Ryan Flournoy

Purdue

• #212 RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.

Northern Illinois

• None

Villanova

• None

I don’t know much about the prospects at these five pro days, as only one player was ranked inside the consensus draft board’s top 150 prospects. It does strike me as odd, though, that the Packers attended Northern Illinois’ pro day, as they would be able to bring in any of the Huskies’ players to a Green Bay-hosted “local pro day” later on in the process.

Uncertain of attendance

• Indiana
• Monmouth (NJ)
• Oregon State
• Western Michigan
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Arizona State
• Michigan State
• Colorado

The two pro days that stand out as pro days that the Packers were not confirmed to have attended are Oregon State and Oregon, which were held on back-to-back days just an hour’s drive apart. Because of that distance and timing, many teams were in attendance, though, we don’t have explicit confirmation that Green Bay was at either event. Top prospects in those pro days include tackle Taliese Fuaga (Oregon State), center Jackson Powers-Johnson (Oregon), quarterback Bo Nix (Oregon), receiver Tony Franklin (Oregon), defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus (Oregon), cornerback Khyree Jackson (Oregon) and running back Bucky Irving (Oregon). The Packers did recently hire Anthony Perkins, formerly the Beavers’ cornerbacks coach and interim defensive coordinator, to a quality control position, so maybe they felt they got good intel on Oregon State’s players from that internal voice.

Upcoming Pro Days

• 3/15: Penn State, UCLA and Wisconsin
• 3/16-3/17: None
• 3/18: Colorado State, Fresno State, Georgia State, Iowa, Miami (FL), Syracuse, Texas A&M and Troy
• 3/19: Toledo and Wyoming
• 3/20: Alabama, UConn, Liberty, Ohio State, Texas and USC
• 3/21: Cal, Eastern Kentucky, Florida, Holy Cross, Houston Christian, New Hampshire, Notre Dame, Rice, Stanford, Utah and Virginia State