Packers.com has consulted more than two dozen mock drafts from reputable national outlets and compiled a list of players most frequently mocked as draft selections in the bottom half of the first round (picks 16-32) who would fit Green Bay's potential roster needs.
Between now and draft day, when the Packers own the No. 22 and 28 overall selections in the first round, those players will be profiled with thumbnail sketches and videos known as "Prospect Primers."
Today's player is …
Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia
Height/Weight: 5-11, 229
Key stats: Led the Bulldogs' vaunted defense with 10½ tackles for loss in 2021, including six sacks, while also intercepting two passes (returning one for TD) and forcing two fumbles.
College honors: Won the Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker (an honor he also received in the high school ranks) and earned first-team All-America recognition from several outlets.
Background/other info: As many as nine starters from Georgia's national championship defense could get drafted, and many analysts believe Dean is the best all-around player of the bunch. He posted more than 70 tackles each of the last two years (25 total starts), despite playing through a shoulder injury late in the 2020 season that was surgically repaired prior to the 2021 campaign. He's one of just three players to win the Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker at both the college and high school levels, joining Manti Te'o and Jaylon Smith. In addition to his All-America and All-Southeastern Conference honors, Dean also was named the SEC defensive player of the year by Pro Football Focus. A native of Horn Lake, Miss., Dean draws a lot of comparisons to Bears LB Roquan Smith, another Butkus Award winner drafted out of Georgia in the first round four years ago. He's considered a three-down defender the moment he enters the NFL. A pectoral injury prevented Dean from working out at the scouting combine and limited him at Georgia's pro day, but he's squarely in the running to be the first off-ball linebacker selected in this draft.
