2017 NFL mock draft: It’s T.J. Watt for the Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are coming off as drastic of an up-and-down season possible. After starting 4-6, they charged back to finish the season 10-6. Then they went all the way to the NFC title game and got blown out by the Atlanta Falcons.

Undoubtedly they’ll bounce back up but will need to hit on a few picks in the 2017 NFL draft to do so. In the SB Nation NFL writers’ mock draft — where each of our team sites makes the pick for its team — Evan “Tex” Western of Acme Packing Company is looking to hit in the first round.

Western: Let’s get this out of the way immediately — Ted Thompson has drafted a grand total of one Wisconsin Badger in his 12 drafts as Packers GM. So this pick is not entered with the expectation that he values Watt just because he’s a local guy.

Rather, Watt followed up a strong junior season with an extremely impressive showing at the combine (even better than Clay Matthews’ numbers). The former Badgers pass rusher has a tremendous ceiling, and that’s exactly what the Packers value in their outside linebackers.

Remember that he has only played defense for two seasons after moving from tight end, so he still has plenty of built-in development. To make things even better, he played standing up in the Badgers’ 3-4, so he can avoid the tougher transition of moving from 4-3 defensive end that so many players go through.

Sure, the Packers have questions at running back and right guard, but those aren’t “premier” positions in the eyes of Thompson. The other option here was cornerback, given the Packers’ mighty struggles at that position in 2016, and we thought strongly about Ohio State’s Gareon Conley.

However, the Packers are planning to use Matthews as an inside/outside “rover” linebacker this season, and behind Nick Perry is a bunch of unproven players, making the edge a priority as well. Watt would immediately earn playing time as a pass rusher in a rotation but would be given time to develop his run support and coverage skills.

(And I even made it through that whole thing without mentioning his big brother once!)

Analysis: Tex gets a bonus point for not mentioning J.J. Watt, but that bonus point was taken away for being an unabashed Wisconsin homer.

Anyway, the choice of a pass rusher is mostly a smart move. My choice would have been one of the three cornerbacks below because the secondary has been a mess. For me, bringing back Perry also lessens the pass rusher need somewhat. I also prefer players like Tim Williams of Alabama and Charles Harris of Missouri to Watt. That’s not to say Watt would be a bad player, but he’s just not my first preference.

The final pick of the day is coming up at 3 p.m. ET with Behind the Steel Curtain making pick No. 30 for the Pittsburgh Steelers.