Packers Board For The 2022 NFL Draft Defense

Rashan Gary, the top player on defense on the Packers draft board in 2015 — Credit: 247 sports

Following part one on the offense, this will obviously be the Packers draft board for the defense. You can read part one here if you haven’t read it yet. Same as the offense, the Packers have specific thresholds for each position. Again, I did not include players expected to be taken before #22. Similar to the offense though, they do like athletic young guys. Again you can learn more about RAS on Kent’s website. So let’s get to the positions.

Packers 2022 NFL Draft Board: Defense

Defensive line

It has been a few years of sub-par defensive line classes. This year is no exception. It does however look better at the top, with two to three expected to go in the first round. Overall, though, it isn’t great.

With the Packers thresholds, they like them athletic. 6’3+, 290+, with a 40 5.1 or faster, and a 7.6 3-cone or better.

*Thomas Booker – Stanford – 9.88
Devonte Wyatt – Georgia – 9.59 ( age )
Curtis Brooks – Cincinnati – 9.52
Travis Jones – UConn – 9.4
Logan Hall – Houston – 9.4
Ben Stille – Nebraska – 9.34
*Matt Henningsen – Wisconsin – 9.34
Eric Johnson II – Missouri State – 9.16
Jordan Jackson – Air Force – 9.14
Elijah Garcia – Rice – 8.87
Zachary Carter – Florida – 8.1 ( vertical )
*Derrick Tangelo – Penn State – 7.5 ( short shuttle )
DeMarvin Leal – Texas A&M – 7.44 ( vertical )
Matthew Butler – Tennessee – 7.33 ( 3-cone )

Although he doesn’t have an RAS score, I expect Perrion Winfrey to also be on their board.

Edge

Edge defenders this year will be a little bit of a projection, since we do not know what Joe Barry prefers with them. We knew Pettine had a particular type. He wanted big 6’4+ 265 pounds and up, with long arms and a power rusher profile.

Barry did coach with the Rams and they used somewhat smaller guys, so they are being included in the list. However, I did not include guys under 250, because I just don’t see the Packers going that small.

The Packers have always liked highly athletic edge rushers. Generally a 4.75 or faster 40, 35″ vertical, and a 7.25 3 cone or faster.

Boye Mafe – Minnesota – 9.92 ( age )
Jeffrey Gunter – Coastal Carolina – 9.76
Dominique Robinson – Miami (OH) – 9.74
Sam Williams – Ole Miss – 9.72 ( character )
*Josh Paschal – Kentucky – 9.7
*Cullen Wick – Tulsa – 9.5
*David Ojabo – Michigan – 9.4 ( injury )
Jeremiah Moon – Florida – 9.31 ( short shuttle )
*Jermaine Johnson – Florida State – 9.22 ( age )
George Karlaftis – Purdue – 9.21
*Isaiah Thomas – Oklahoma – 9.16 ( vertical ) ( character )
*Scott Patchan – Colorado State – 9.14 ( age, injury )
Kingsley Jonathan – Syracuse – 9.05
Mike Tverdov – Rutgers – 9.02 ( arm )
Arnold Ebiketie – Penn State – 8.91
Luiji Vilain – Wake Forest – 8.83
*Cameron Thomas – San Diego State – 8.68
*Drake Jackson – USC – 8.6
Michael Clemons – Texas A&M – 8.21
Brandon Barlow – Boston College – 8.07
David Anenih – Houston – 7.57

Alex Wright should also still be on the Packers draft board, even though we do not have enough testing for him.

Linebackers

Linebackers are very much like tight ends in Green Bay. They do not have a high threshold for the position. Generally speaking, they like linebackers who are 6’1+ 230+ with a 4.45 short shuttle or better, and a 7.25 3-cone or faster and not much else beyond that. The guys they have drafted have had an average RAS of 6.33. This leaves us with a large group of linebackers who fit.

Troy Anderson – Montana State – 10
Leo Chenal – Wisconsin – 9.99
Brandon Smith – Penn State – 9.97
*Damone Clark – LSU – 9.87 ( injury )
Chad Muma – Wyoming – 9.77
*Elliot Brown – Virginia – 9.74
Chance Campbell – Mississippi – 9.69
Channing Tindall – Georgia – 9.68 ( weight )
Quay Walker – Georgia – 9.63
Darrian Beavers – Cincinnati – 9.6
Devin Harper – Oklahoma State – 9.51
Micah McFadden – Indiana – 9.47
Cameron Goode – Cal – 9.46
Daniel Hardy – Montana State – 9.33
Jack Cochrane – South Dakota – 9.18
Baylon Spector – Clemson – 9.13
Mike Rose – Iowa State – 9.07
Kyron Johnson – Kansas – 8.41
Grant Dixon – Youngstown State – 8.32
Noah Harvey – Michigan State – 8.31
D’Marco Jackson – Appalachian State – 8.26
Tyler Dressler – Richmond – 7.75
*Aaron Hansford – Texas A&M – 7.61
Olakunle Fatukasi – Rutgers – 7.53
Jack Gibbens – Minnesota – 7.42
Ben Davis – Texas – 7.37
Jack Sanborn – Wisconsin – 7.35
Carson Wells – Colorado – 7.28
Forrest Rhyne – Villanova – 7.18
Kenny Herbert – Arizona – 6.54
Nate Landman – Colorado – 6.42

Cornerbacks –

Now to the cornerbacks. The Green Bay Packers have a type. They look for guys who are 5’10 1/4+ 190 pounds+ with a 4.55 or faster 40 yard dash, and a 7.07 3-cone or faster. Their average RAS score has been a 7.21, but recently Brian Gutekunst he has liked them even more athletic.

Zyon McCollum – Sam Houston State – 10
Tristin McCullon – Sam Houston State – 9.94
Tony Adams – Illinois – 9.75
Tariq Castro-Fields – Penn State – 9.74
*Damari Mathis – Pittsburgh – 9.72
Tariq Woolen – UTSA – 9.7
Kyler Gordon – Washington – 9.69
Akayleb Evans – Missouri – 9.56
Josh Thompson – Texas – 9.55
*Dallis Flowers – Pittsburg State – 9.53 ( short shuttle )
*Trent McDuffie – Washington – 9.49 ( arm )
Joshua Williams – Fayetteville State – 9.44
Joshua Flowers – Winstom-Salem State – 9.37
Same Webb – Missouri Western – 9.3
Jaylen Watson – Washington State – 9.2
Jaylon Jones – Mississippi – 9.18 ( age )
Darrell Baker – Georgia Southern – 9.1
Alontae Taylor – Tennessee – 9.06
Chase Lucas – Arizona State – 8.89 ( weight )
Greg Junior – Ouchita Baptist – 8.85
Allan George – Vanderbuilt – 8.66
Martin Emerson – Mississippi State – 8.48
Cam Taylor-Britt – Nebraska – 8.33
Ja’Sir Taylor – Wake Forest – 8.29
Raleigh Texada – Baylor – 8.23 ( 3 cone)
Christian Benford – Villanova – 8.13 ( 3 cone )
Don Gardner – South Dakota State – 8.1
Faion Hicks – Wisconsin – 7.86 ( height )
Delonte Hood – Peru State – 7.22
DaMarcus Fields – Texas Tech – 6.18

Safety

Safety is somewhat similar to cornerback when it comes to thresholds and the Green Bay Packers. Again, they like young and highly athletic guys. The Packers do like them a little bigger — about 5’11 and 200 pounds — but are more forgiving on the 40 speed with 4.6 being the cut off and a 7.1 3-cone. They have also averaged an RAS score of 7.51.

They do not differentiate much from their safeties as far as what they look for from their free safeties versus strong safeties. That is why I bunched them all together in one group.

*Lewis Cine – Georgia – 9.92
*Marcel Dabo – Germany – 9.91
Nick Cross – Maryland – 9.87
Scott Nelson – Wisconsin – 9.69 ( injury )
Joey Blount – Virginia – 9.62
Isaac Taylor-Stuart – 9.61
Tycen Anderson – Toledo – 9.49
JT Woods – Baylor – 9.43
Dane Belton – Iowa – 9.42
Rodney Thomas II – Yale – 9.25
Jack Korner – Iowa – 9.19
Jaquan Brisker – Penn State – 9.14
Mike Griffin – South Dakota State – 9.12
Nazeeh Johnson – Marshall – 9.08
Daxton Hill – Michigan – 9.06
Marcelino McCray-Ball – Indiana – 9.04
D’Anthony Bell – West Florida – 8.99
*Chris Moore – Georgia State – 8.93
Isaiah Pola-Mao – USC – 8.85
Kolby Harvell-Peel – Oklahoma State – 8.8
Brandon Easterling – Dayton – 8.68 ( arm )
Tyrone Hill Jr – Washington State – 8.64
Jalen Pitre – Baylor – 8.47
Abrae Booker-Currin – Adams State – 8.46
Bubba Bolden – Miami(Fla) – 8.12
LaKendrick Van Zandt – TCU – 8.09
Reed Blankenship – Middle Tennessee State – 8.01
Tre Webb – Montana State – 7.95
Nasir Greer – Wake Forest – 7.88
Brad Hawkins – Michigan – 7.65
Mike Brown – Miami(OH) – 7.57
Delarrin Turner-Yell – Oklahoma – 7.54
Percy Butler – Louisiana – 7.35

One player who didn’t qualify for an RAS score Kirby Joseph, but I would bet he is on their board. That’s it for the defense portion of the Packers draft board. Now, we wait for the real deal on Thursday!