The Green Bay Packers started the season with Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes playing almost every snap at cornerback in the Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
There’s a good chance neither player will return in 2025, with the Packers and Alexander seeming overdue for a split and Stokes headed to free agency. That makes cornerback a huge need, one addressed in a new seven-round NFL mock draft.
At Pro Football Network, the Packers selected Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison with the 23rd overall pick.
“Morrison is a polished cornerback with fluid movement, physicality, and sharp instincts,” Ben Rolfe wrote. “He missed the majority of the 2024 season, so his medicals will be a concern, but the upside in his profile was a potential top-10 pick. He comes with less risk than (East Carolina’s Shavon) Revel in terms of his medicals, but that could be a stumbling block to him being a first-round pick.”
Morrison seemed destined for the first round when he intercepted six passes as a freshman in 2022. He added three more in 2023. However, a hip injury that required surgery limited him to six games in 2024. While he delivered strong coverage, he did not intercept any passes.
Morrison has the NFL in his DNA. His father, Darryl, was a fifth-round draft pick by Washington in 1993 and started 28 games at safety in four NFL seasons. An uncle, former NFL star Gill Byrd, played safety in the NFL for a decade.
It was Byrd who made a big impact as Morrison came back from offseason shoulder surgery.
“I’ve got to credit my uncle, Gill Byrd, who played in the NFL for many years, Chargers Hall of Fame,” Morrison said via Rivals. “He really just transformed my mind a little bit, being able to grow as a DB, because I really thought this would be a setback for myself. But it wasn’t. I think this propelled me. I know more now. I understand more.”
In the second round, Rolfe selected a receiver – a tried-and-true way of doing business under general managers Ted Thompson and Brian Gutekunst – with Ole Miss’ Tre Harris.
“Harris has an ideal frame, precise route running and strong body control, which makes him a promising possession receiver for the professional level,” Rolfe explained. “The Packers have a lot of speed and game-breaking ability, but some of their receivers lack consistency. Harris could be that chain-mover who they can rely on all over the field and in the end zone.”
After three seasons at Louisiana Tech, Harris closed his career with two years at Mississippi. He just missed 1,000 yards in 2023 and just hit 1,000 yards in 2024, giving him a two-year total of 114 receptions for 2,015 yards (17.7 average) and 15 touchdowns.
The Rebels listed him at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. He used that size to average 7.7 yards after the catch, according to PFF.
Harris played quarterback in high school. His star receiver? Malik Nabers. It was Nabers who had to convince Harris to not give up football so he could focus on basketball.
“I was like, ‘Bro, I need a quarterback, I’m going to be a really good receiver. We should have a really good football team.’ He was like, ‘Bro, I’m going to think about it.’ This went on every day, I was like ‘bro please come on and play football,’” Nabers told WCBI-TV.
Now, Harris is set to join Nabers as an NFL receiver.
“I don’t want to get emotional. I’m so proud of what he’s become,” Nabers said. “I always wanted to see him succeed more than I did myself. Seeing him be that player that I know he’s capable of means the world to me.”
In the third round, Green Bay upgraded the defensive line with Louisville’s Ashton Gillotte. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds, he had 25.5 sacks in four seasons, with 11 sacks and 14.5 tackles for losses in 2023 and 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for losses in 2024.
He was a finalist for the William Campbell Trophy – aka the Academic Heisman – in 2024.
In Day 3, the picks were used on a linebacker, defensive tackle, center, another cornerback and a running back.
Double-dipping at cornerback makes sense with Corey Ballentine and Robert Rochell set to join Stokes in free agency. The choice was Florida’s Jason Marshall, who had one interception in 2021 and another in 2022 and 10 passes defensed in 2023.
Marshall arrived at Florida as the No. 2 cornerback prospect in the country, according to 247Sports.
During his final season for the Gators, he had zero interceptions and four passes defensed in seven games before a season-ending torn labrum. PFF charged him with an excellent 52.6 percent catch rate in 2024 and an even better 47.6 percent for his career.
Marshall measured 6-foot 1/8 at the East-West Shrine Bowl but he did not participate due to the injury.
