2012 POD Mock Draft: Green Bay Packers Select Stephon Gilmore

With the 28th pick of Pride of Detroit's 2012 NFL mock draft, the Green Bay Packers select South Carolina cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Gyorick is serving as the Packers' general manager, and his reasoning for the pick is below.

As GM of the Green Bay Packers, I have decided to take Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina. The Packers do have other needs to address. They could use a DE or OLB in the 3-4 Scheme. The higher rated guys at these positions had already been scooped up, so the next option is secondary help. Safety and cornerback could use a little help. The Packers are truly in a position to go best player available or just find a team to trade back with.

Nick Collins (safety), I've read, might retire due to a neck injury he sustained. So the Packers could go safety, but with the way the draft fell today, the best safety is off the board. There is no point in reaching, so the Packers will move on to the next position.

Charles Woodson is getting a little older, but he can still play with the best of them. Tramon Williams and Charles Woodson are two of the best cover corners in the game right now, so they don't exactly need Mr. Gilmore but could groom him behind these two and have a nice, prepared player when the time comes, be it injury, Woodson changing positions or retiring. Sam Shields is a serviceable backup but Mr. Jarrett Bush (I think I said this last year as well) is the worst athlete in organized sports. The funniest part of that statement is my buddy is a Packers fan and he cannot stand Jarrett Bush. So making this pick might be a sign of him getting closer to being off the team or at least not seeing as much playing time.

Another interesting development with the Packers is Ted Thompson making a very surprising splash in free agency with the signing of Jeff Saturday. Peter Konz is still on the board, but with Saturday already signing, there is no reason to go after a center this early while there is great talent still available in Stephon Gilmore.

Stephon Gilmore is 6'0", 190 lbs. He ran a 4.44 40-yard dash and has a 31" reach and 36" vertical. Pretty good measurable stats, great size and speed, these are the reasons his stock is skyrocketing. I know a lot of guys on POD respect the word of Mike Mayock, and you could say he is gushing over Stephon Gilmore.

"Trust me, six-foot corners with long arms are rare, especially when they run 4.4 with his movement skills," Mayock said of Gilmore. "I've got him as the No. 2 corner for a reason. I think he's a Top 10 to Top 15 pick. Not a lot of people have him that high, but I saw it again today."

If anyone cares, I would take this player over Janoris Jenkins.

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Check out the 2012 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.

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