Wednesday of Draft week is here, which means it’s time for football analysts to submit their final mocks for the 2026 NFL Draft. This writer is back in the fray once again, as I have made my one and only formal mock for this season.

I performed this exercise in both 2023 and 2025, and I’m reasonably pleased at my process looking back at them. I hit on the Lukas Van Ness pick in 2023 and landed safety Anthony Johnson late; I also drafted a pair of hyper-athletic tight ends in the top 120, which the Packers did, even though I got the players wrong. Last year, I again predicted an early double-dip, this time at wide receiver, though again going after different players than the Packers would actually select, but I did find a player in the late rounds that the Packers would eventually acquire (Nazir Stackhouse, though I had him as a 7th-rounder instead of a UDFA).

This year, with only three picks in the top 120 and none on day one, I’m not expecting an early double-up at a single position, though I did end up with a pair of cornerbacks before the end of the fifth round and eventually got a pair of interior defensive lineman before the end of the exercise. With those positions appearing to be clear focus areas for the front office based on the Top-30 visits, it should come as no surprise if the team ends up adding multiple players at either or both of those groups.

For my one and only mock draft this year, I used the NFL Mock Draft Database simulator. This is the website that maintains the consensus draft board that we at APC reference so frequently, which is the best approach (in my mind) to build a mock from. I deliberately chose not to move up or down much from Green Bay’s selections heading into draft weekend, though I did make two small trades back in round five (from 153 to 155, then back one more spot to 156), adding a pair of 7th-round picks in the process.

You can see the entire mock draft here, but let’s get into the picks for the Packers one-by-one below.

Two of my very favorite prospects in the Packers’ range at 52 went off the board just before those picks, and both to NFC North rivals. Domonique Orange went 49th to Minnesota and Dani Dennis-Sutton came off at 50 to Detroit, which would be an absolute nightmare scenario given how much I like both prospects.

But after that, I at least felt fortunate that Miller was still available. He did not perform athletic testing at the Combine or his Pro Day, but the Packers brought him in for a formal visit so they surely have a good idea where he’s at in terms of his athleticism. He looks like a very good athlete on tape, however, and he’s versatile, able to play any position across the interior of the defensive line — including, importantly, nose tackle on base downs. Plus he’s a Georgia guy, so the Packers’ pipeline of Bulldogs continues. If both he and Orange were on the board, I would have had a tough call on my hands, but the board made this an easy pick for me.

In round three, I went to the cornerback position for Igbinosun, who is probably one of the most frequently projected Packers picks this year. He has the size (6-2, 190) and athletic ability that the Packers like — he missed their ideal 3-cone time by a hair, but at least he ran it at some point — and he’s a sticky coverage player who looks like a good fit in any system. As long as he can keep his hands under control and avoid penalties, he should be able to immediately compete for a starting job.

Round four brings me one of my favorite fits for the Packers in this entire draft, and I’m glad I got him because I think he was the last player available out of a tier of borderline top-100 receivers who fit in Green Bay. I firmly believe that Matt LaFleur and his coaching staff will be really high on Stribling; he’s one of the better big-bodied receivers in the class at 6-2, 207, he ran a 4.36 40 to show off his deep speed, and he’s also a very willing and physical blocker in the run game. As a bonus, he has experience with a lot of motion and backfield work as well, which would serve him well in the Green Bay offense.

Let’s go back to the cornerback well in round five. I traded back twice from 153, moving back three spots and adding two more late 7th-round picks to the haul, which I’ll get to in a bit. But Lee, like Miller ahead of him, was a Packers visitor. With Brian Gutekunst acknowledging that the team needs to add bodies to the cornerback room, I fully expect the team to draft at least two players at the position. Lee is a little bit similar to Igbinosun in that they’re both fairly tall and lean, while also being a little handsy. He should immediately be able to play special teams while competing for a depth snaps as a rookie and hopefully a bigger role in years two or three.

I’m taking a Wisconsin native here as the first offensive lineman in this class. Schrauth is from the Fond du Lac area and is a true guard, playing both guard positions during his time in South Bend. Injuries hit him over the course of his career, but if he had been healthy for his whole tenure (and in the pre-draft process) I bet he would have ended up as a top-100 pick.

Another Packers mock draft favorite and pre-draft visitor, I find a new RB2 candidate for Green Bay in round six. Black is a fairly dense player at 5-9 and 211 pounds, and he’s got an aggressive, hard-pounding running style. He has enough speed (4.45 40) to do some damage in the open field, but his explosiveness and power is above average for a player of his stature. He also has experience as a receiver out of the backfield from his time at James Madison, though he did little of that at Indiana, but with Chris Brooks around the Packers can take a chance on a player who still needs work on third down responsibilities early on.

Let’s get another interior defensive linemen with the first additional 7th-rounder I added via trade earlier. And why not grab another Top-30 visitor to Green Bay in Van den Berg, a South African native Packers fan since childhood. Van den Berg ran an insane 4.19-second shuttle at 6-3, 310 and by all accounts, he has a nonstop motor and is a great locker room presence.

Despite missing out on Dani Dennis-Sutton earlier, I wasn’t willing to reach for an edge at earlier picks. But here, we find a player in Gumbs who has untapped potential as a pass-rusher. A former walk-on wide receiver at Northern Illinois, Gumbs moved to tight end and then edge before transferring to Florida for 2024. He totaled 11 sacks in three years at the position, but he had an excellent Combine workout (4.66 40, 41-inch vert, 7.00 3-cone). Get him in an NFL edge room with a quality coach and mentor and there could be something there.

Need a backup quarterback to run a lot of the goofy run game concepts that Matt LaFleur loves? King might be a good fit. He ran the ball at least 120 times and had double-digit rushing touchdowns in each of his three years as a starter for the Yellow Jackets, and he ran a 4.46 40 and 6.89-second 3-cone at the Combine. King still threw for over 2,000 yards each season as well while putting up completion rates of 69% or more the last two years. A developmental passer with immediate athletic ability making him a dual threat? LaFleur would probably love that.

My last pick goes back to the offensive line, where I was simply trying to find a player whose agility testing works for the Packers’ preferences. Enter Carmona, who posted very good shuttle and 3-cone times at both the Combine and his Pro Day. He is a Senior Bowl participant and he was a left tackle before sliding in to left guard for his final season, showing some versatility that the Packers value.