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Green Bay fans went with a defensive tackle over Georgia’s Amarius Mims and Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry.
In another somewhat surprising result, Green Bay Packers fans voted that the team would be more likely to take Illinois defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton — who is considered the second-best player at the position behind Texas’ Byron Murphy — over Georgia right tackle Amarius Mims and Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry.
Packers fans don’t seem against taking an offensive lineman or a cornerback, as Cooper DeJean and three offensive linemen were the first four players that “won” our initial rounds of polling. Instead, it appears that the injury history of Mims (high ankle sprain and hamstring issues) and McKinstry (Jones fracture in his foot) are leaving fans weary about those prospects, despite the team bringing in both prospects for pre-draft visits.
The only major question I have about the Newton selection is what the long-term starting lineup looks like on the defensive line. With the team only set to start two interior defensive linemen in base looks, is Newton, Devonte Wyatt or Kenny Clark the odd man out? Clark is in a contract year, meaning that an extension or trade probably needs to occur this year. Wyatt also developed into a pretty good pass-rusher last year. So who would be left out? I’m not certain.
Another interesting thing to note here is that the winner of each of our five polls has slowly received a smaller percentage of the vote each round.
So will it finally be one of Mims or McKinstry, or will fans go in a different direction with the sixth spot on our “realistic” Packers big board, which only includes players who have at least a 10 percent chance of being available with the 25th overall pick per ESPN’s draft day predictor.
Previously, the top vote-getters who weren’t Mims or McKinstry were Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson (10 percent last round), UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu (8 percent) and Texas A&M linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (6 percent). Latu and Cooper have their own injury questions, too, as Latu once had to medically retire from the sport due to a neck issue and Cooper missed the all-star game circuit due to an undisclosed injury.
Let us know who you voted for and why in the comment section below. We’d love to hear from you.
