Green Bay Packers History Guides Look at 2021 NFL Draft Linebackers

Here’s a look at the Green Bay Packers’ linebacker situation ahead of the NFL Draft, including pertinent history that suggests which draft-worthy prospects might not be a target.

State of the Packers

This is one of the more interesting position groups on the team. From one perspective, the Packers should be looking. What, after all, did last year’s rookie duo of Krys Barnes (undrafted) and Kamal Martin (fifth round) do to cement their status as 2021 starters? From another perspective, general manager Brian Gutekunst seemed to like that pair’s potential. Unless an elite prospect falls, maybe he’s inclined to see what they can do in Year 2.

“I think we have to have more productive play out of there,” Gutekunst said after the season. “We have some young players in there that will grow and get better, and I think we’ll see that moving forward.”

Finally, new defensive coordinator Joe Barry is a linebackers coach by trade. Does the new defensive boss deserve a big-time talent to add to a position group that consists of Barnes, Martin, disappointing former third-round pick Oren Burks, former seventh-round pick Ty Summers, practice-squad holdover De’Jon Harris and safety convert Ray Wilborn?

Draft Position Ranking

3rd out of 11. “Best I’ve ever seen” said a scout who’s been in the business for almost two decades. The NFL has evolved rapidly into a spread-the-field game based overwhelmingly on speed, athleticism and getting playmakers the ball in one-on-one situations. The linebacker class simply hasn’t kept up. The top of this class is different, though, which is why it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Penn State’s Micah Parsons, Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Tulsa’s Zaven Collins and Kentucky’s Jamin Davis go in the first round.

History Says You Can (Maybe) Forget These Guys

Since the move to the 3-4 scheme in 2009, Green Bay has drafted eight off-the-ball linebackers.

While it might not seem like it, the Packers value athleticism at this spot. The historic Scouting Combine averages are 4.72 in the 40, 4.30 in the 20-yard shuttle and 7.13 in the three-cone drill.

Excluding last year’s fifth-round pick, Kamal Martin, who didn’t go through pre-draft testing following knee surgery, Green Bay’s last five linebacker picks – Sam Barrington, Jake Ryan, Blake Martinez, Oren Burks and Ty Summers – beat the average shuttle time. The last four linebacker picks – Ryan, Martinez, Burks and Summers – beat the Combine average in all three categories. It would be all five if you go with Barrington’s pro-day 40 (4.69) instead of his Combine 40 (4.91).

The 20-yard shuttle is a key measurement for every drill, history suggests. In chronological order: Barrington, 4.25; Ryan, 4.20; Martinez, 4.20; Burks, 4.15; Summers, 4.26. Martinez, if you were wondering, ran his 40 in 4.71 and his three-cone in 6.98.

Prior to those six linebackers, Green Bay used a fifth-round pick on North Carolina State’s rangy Terrell Manning in 2012. He ran his 40 in 4.79, his shuttle in 4.43 and his three-cone in 7.18. A year earlier, Green Bay used a sixth-round pick on Appalachian State’s D.J. Smith in 2011. Talk about a rule-breaker. The Packers don’t draft short players at any position. Well, Smith was 5-foot-10 5/8. He ran his 40 in 4.88, his shuttle in 4.45 and his three-cone in 7.35. In this case, Green Bay went with film over measureables. Smith started three games as a rookie and all six games in 2012 before a season-ending knee injury. He never played another game with Green Bay and only two more games overall.

Based on the long-term draft history, just about everybody in the draft class is in play. Limiting it to the recent picks, let’s go with the Combine averages of 4.72, 4.30 and 7.13 as a potential guide.

40: Auburn’s K.J. Britt (4.76), Ohio State’s Justin Hilliard (4.81 and medical history), Northwestern’s Paddy Fisher (4.88) and Ohio State’s Tuf Borland (5.00).

Shuttle: Texas A&M’s Anthony Hines (4.33 and mediocre other numbers), South Carolina’s Ernest Jones (4.38), Ohio State’s Pete Werner (4.38), Boston College’s Isaiah McDuffie (4.39), Hilliard (4.39), Penn State’s Micah Parsons (4.40 but a 4.36 in the 40), Britt (4.40), Fisher (4.47), West Virginia’s Tony Fields (4.48), Missouri’s Nick Bolton (4.50 shuttle), Tulsa’s Zaven Collins (4.65 but a bigger-than-average prospect, too),

Three-cone: Fields (7.15), Hilliard (7.21), McDuffie (7.26), Oklahoma State’s Amen Ogbongbemiga (7.31), Georgia’s Monty Rice (7.34), Britt (7.38), Bolton (7.40), South Alabama’s Riley Cole (7.46 and medicals), South Carolina’s Jones (7.49).

Three names that really stand out are on everyone’s lists of the top players of the position with Parsons, Collins and Bolton. Parsons is considered the best prospect in the class. At 246 pounds, he ran his 40 in an incredible 4.36. It’s hard to imagine the Packers would erase him from their board. Collins is so enormous at 6-foot-5 and 259 pounds that he doesn’t really fit with traditional testing. Bolton is short (5-foot-11) and not athletic but was an elite player in the best conference in football. It’d be fascinating from this analytical perspective to see if the Packers would pick him at the end of the second round.