In 2010, the Green Bay Packers took right tackle Bryan Bulaga with the 23rd pick. This year, they have the 23rd pick again with links to these prospects in various mock drafts.
WR Matthew Golden | Texas
Wide receiver Christian Watson suffered a torn ACL in the team’s regular season finale against the Bears last year and is likely to miss the entire 2025 season. So it’s no surprise to see NFL.com’s Chad Reuter give Green Bay a pass-catcher in his latest mock draft.
At 5-foot-11 and 191 pounds, Golden may be smaller than other receivers in the draft like Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan (6-foot-5, 212 pounds) and Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) but his 4.29-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine was the second-best time of any prospect and fastest among wide receivers.
Golden had 76 catches for 988 yards and 14 touchdowns for Houston from 2022-2023 and 58 catches for a team-high 987 yards and nine scores with Texas last season, while Green Bay’s Jayden Reed led the Packers with 55 catches for 857 yards, ranking him 36th among NFL receivers.
WR Luther Burden III| Missouri
With 601 yards and four touchdowns, Romeo Doubs finished last season as Green Bay’s fourth-leading receiver but as Fox Sports’ Rob Rang points out in his mock draft, he and Watson will both be free agents at the end of the 2025 season.
Rank thinks Burden would fit right in with Green Bay. Operating mainly from the slot, the 5-foot-11-208-pound receiver had 61 catches for 676 yards and six touchdowns last season and led the team with 86 catches for 1,212 yards and nine scores in 2023.
Pro Football Focus ranks Burden as the second-best receiver in this year’s draft behind McMillan and the14th-best prospect overall. It also credits him for forcing 30 missed tackles, more than any FBS receiver in 2024.
CB Maxwell Hairston | Kentucky
Hairston beat Golden by .01 seconds to record the fastest time among prospects (4.28) at the scouting combine and given the amount of trade talk surrounding CB Jaire Alexander, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah sees Hairston as a logical choice for the Packers.
Hairston spent three years at Kentucky, but his best season came in 2023 when the 5-foot-11, 183 pound cornerback had 68 tackles, five interceptions and two touchdowns. A shoulder injury limited him to seven games in 2024 but he still managed to tie a school record with a third pick-six against Ohio before getting injured.Â
Of course, Green Bay already has an All-pro cornerback in Xavier McKinney. Pairing him with a player with Hairston’s speed could be just what the team needs to keep up with NFC North receivers like Detroit’s Amon Ra St.-Brown and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson.
