Packers keep cornerback plans under wraps ahead of the draft, and there is a clear reason behind the strategy
The front office has been careful to make sure other teams have no idea what the Packers are actually thinking ahead of an impactful draft next week.
Cornerback is the most evident draft need for the Green Bay Packers in this year’s draft. And looking at their pre-draft tendencies, it’s fair to assume they will want to add at least one — or perhaps more — next week. But without a first-round pick, the Packers have been a little more secretive about their plans.
Top-30 visits
Among the 30 players who visited Green Bay in the pre-draft process, five are cornerbacks. But there aren’t many highly-touted prospects — none of the five are in the top 100 on the consensus big board.
The best prospect on the list is Texas A&M’s Will Lee III, 118th on the board — potentially a third- or fourth-round pick.
“Lee has more volatility on his tape than is ideal, but he is a long, explosive athlete with the coverage instincts to find the football,” Dane Brugler wrote on The Beast. “The uneven nature of his game might make it tough for him to lock down a starting job, but he should get plenty of chances.”
Charles Demmings, from Stephen F. Austin, is the other mid-round prospect who visited Green Bay. A depth piece and special teamer at this point, he’s the 158th player on the consensus board.
The other three are much lower on any type of pre-draft list. Wake Forest’s Karon Prunty is the 494th prospect. Akron’s Malcom DeWalt and Louisiana-Monroe’s D’Arco Perkins-McAllister are not even there — and the consensus board has 728 players. None of these last three are on The Beast draft guide.
That means the Packers are likely doing some homework on potential seventh-rounders at best, essentially recruiting undrafted free agents.
Pre-draft process
The Packers did have contact with higher-graded prospects throughout the process. They talked to Texas’ Malik Muhammad in the Senior Bowl, and with Iowa’s TJ Hall and Cincinnati’s Brandon Cisse at the NFL Scouting Combine.
The big point is that, barring a trade up, the Packers don’t select before the 52nd pick. This year, more than any other in recent memory, the draft board is open. The less the front office shows its cards, the more likely it’ll be that the team gets the players it actually wants.