ESPN Nation beat writers drop 1st-round mock draft

Defensive ends Mykel Williams and Shemar Stewart are reportedly high on the Green Bay Packers’ draft board

Every year, ESPN’s beat writers take turns making selections for the teams they cover for ESPN’s NFL Nation mock draft. This year, Green Bay Packers beat reporter Rob Demovsky made a pick that would be a polarizing selection at 23th overall: Texas A&M edge defender Shemar Stewart.

While Stewart has incredible athleticism and has improved every season that he played at the college level (read our full scouting report here), he doesn’t possess the pass-rushing production that most fans will want out of a first-round pick — with just 4.5 college sacks to his name. Following two years of failed development out of Lukas Van Ness, who was another high upside project defensive end, Packers fans may not want to hear that they’re going to the same well again.

According to Demovsky, though, Green Bay’s preferred candidate for the selection is Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams, who comes from a similar background. Playing the 4i defensive tackle technique for most of his college career — the same role that former first overall pick Travon Walker played for the Bulldogs — Williams never recorded more than five sacks in a single season at Georgia.

With Williams gone a dozen picks ahead of the Packers in this mock, Demovsky settled for Stewart, who he claims is the team’s next “preferred” pass rusher is Stewart. That would mean that he would rank ahead of Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku, who was coached by Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley in college, and James Pearce Jr., who made the trip to 1265 Lombardi Avenue on a pre-draft visit.

For what it’s worth, both Williams and Stewart also took visits with the Packers this offseason. Stewart was also coached by defensive quality control coach Wendel Davis at the Senior Bowl, where he served as Stewart’s linebackers/EDGE coach for the American team.

Two decades of passing on a receiver in the first round makes it hard to predict the Packers would finally end that streak even though Emeka Egbuka and Matthew Golden were both available. Their preferred pass rusher would’ve been Mykell Williams, but Stewart is likely next on their board.

Full ESPN Nation Mock Draft

1. Tennessee Titans: Cam Ward, QB, Miami
2. Cleveland Browns: Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
3. New York Giants: Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
4. New England Patriots: Will Campbell, OL, LSU
5. Jacksonville Jaguars: Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
6. Las Vegas Raiders: Armand Membou, OL, Missouri
7. New York Jets: Kelvin Banks Jr., OL, Texas
8. Carolina Panthers: Jalon Walker, EDGE, Georgia
9. New Orleans Saints: Mason Graham, DL, Michigan
10. Chicago Bears: Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
11. San Francisco 49ers: Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia
12. Dallas Cowboys: Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
13. Miami Dolphins: Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas
14. Indianapolis Colts: Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
15. Atlanta Falcons: Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall
16. Arizona Cardinals: Tyler Booker, OL, Alabama
17. Cincinnati Bengals: Donovan Ezeiruaku, EDGE, Boston College
18. Seattle Seahawks: Grey Zabel, OL, North Dakota State
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
20. Denver Broncos: Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri
21. Pittsburgh Steelers: Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
22. Los Angeles Chargers: Derrick Harmon, DL, Oregon
23. Green Bay Packers: Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Texas A&M
24. Minnesota Vikings: Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina
25. Houston Texans: Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
26. Los Angeles Rams: Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
27. Baltimore Ravens: Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
28. Detroit Lions: James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee
29. Washington Commanders: Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky
30. Buffalo Bills: Kenneth Grant, DL, Michigan
31. Kansas City Chiefs: Josh Simmons, OL, Ohio State
32. Philadelphia Eagles: Walter Nolen, DL, Ole Miss

For what it’s worth, these beat writers aren’t buying into Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan slipping, as he was snatched up by the Dallas Cowboys — a popular place for both McMillan and Texas receiver Matthew Golden to be picked. Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, one of the more popular mock draft selections for the Packers, was picked up one selection before Demovsky was on the clock.