GREEN BAY, Wis. -- You can never have enough pass-rushers.
You’ve heard Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers say something to that effect ever since he arrived in 2009.
So he should like what Mel Kiper Jr. has for the Packers in his latest mock draft, version 3.0 released on Tuesday. It’s Boise State’s Kamalei Correa to Green Bay at No. 27.
The 6-foot-2, 243-pound Correa played defensive end in college but at that size would have to play outside linebacker in an NFL 3-4 defense like Capers runs.
Correa was impressive at last month’s NFL scouting combine, where he ran a 4.69 40-yard dash. Although he ran with the defensive linemen, his time would have been ninth-best among all linebackers (inside and outside) who ran at the combine.
Last season as a junior, Correa led Boise State with 7.0 sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
Correa is the fourth outside linebacker to come off the board in Kiper’s latest mock draft. He follows Georgia’s Leonard Floyd (No. 11 to the Bears), Ohio State’s Darron Lee (No. 17 to the Falcons) and Eastern Kentucky’s Noah Spence (No. 24 to the Bengals).
The Packers have made no secret about their desire to move Clay Matthews back to outside linebacker this coming season and they also have Julius Peppers returning. However, both Mike Neal and Nick Perry are headed toward free agency and even if one of them returns, the Packers still could use another pass-rusher.
This is the third different player Kiper has associated with the Packers in as many mock drafts. Last month, he had them taking Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry, who isn’t among his first-round selections in his latest version. His first mock draft had the Packers taking Penn State defensive lineman Austin Johnson, who also is no longer in Kiper’s first round.
