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NFL Mock Draft 2014: Green Bay Packers Select Calvin Pryor

With the twenty-first overall pick in the 2014 Canal Street Chronicles community mock draft, the Green Bay Packers (represented by BlackandGold4ever) select...

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville

There is no question that the Green Bay Packers desperately need a safety.  For the first time since the 1950's, their safeties didn't record a single interception.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that is before a vast majority of those reading this were even born.  Heck, they even lost one of their starters from last season (M.D. Jennings) and are left with two safeties who have combined for 36 tackles over their brief careers to play opposite of Morgan Burnett.  And Burnett had a down year himself, with 96 tackles (down from 123 in 2012), 6 passes defensed, 0 INTs, and 0 forced fumbles (2 in each of the previous 2 seasons)...on the positive side he did recover 3 fumbles.  He also gave up a 4th quarter TD to the 49ers in their playoff loss last season.  Mike McCarthy said of that play, "I mean, playmaking, you go get the football."

There are some that think Green Bay could convert 2nd year CB Micah Hyde into a safety, but I think they'd be wise to learn from our experience with our own CB turned safety drafted out of the Big 10.  That's just me, though.

With Clinton-Dix off the boards, Pryor is the highest rated safety left on the board and it wouldn't be considered a reach for him to be picked here.  He is confident enough to take on anybody and strong enough to make people want to avoid him in the middle of the field. He has great range, good instincts, and is very aggressive. Pryor is not only the hardest hitting safety in this draft, but he has the speed to play center field, making him a double-threat. He won't be able to cover slot receivers, but he can help over the top or come up to support against the run.

Where Pryor may have some problems is with his aggressiveness and the big hits he dishes out.  While he does not go head-hunting, some of his hits where he drops his shoulder into receivers could draw some flags from officials these days.  I'm not greatly concerned myself, but it is something that people will look at.  And while he has good speed (4.58 40), he can be stiff and get beaten on double moves.

His production speaks for itself.  In 2013, he had 75 tackles, 3 INTs, 4 passes defensed, and 2 FFs.  In his sophomore campaign, he put up 100 tackles and 5 FFs.  And as a freshman, he had 43 tackles, 2 FFs, and 2 INTs.  Here is a highlight video for those interested (check out the INT at the 0:35 mark!):

One thing that stands out to me is that not only is he a hard hitter, but he doesn't miss many tackles.  And that would be welcome in Green Bay, as Burnett managed to miss 17 tackles himself.  I can say that this is one of the things that made me happy that the Saints drafted Kenny Vaccaro...we have had so many problems with tackling and he was a vast improvement on our back end.  I think Pryor could have a similar impact for the Packers.  And that would be a great value for the 21st pick in the draft.  What do you say?

***

Thanks to all the CSC members who participated in this year's community mock draft. Without your help, none of this would be possible.

Below are the complete results from our community mock draft.

Catch up with all of the mock draft selections in our 2014 CSC Community Mock Draft Hub.

Pick Team Selection Team Representative Approval Rating
1 Houston Texans QB Teddy Bridgewater - Louisville
Tee Word 30%
2 St. Louis Rams DE Jadeveon Clowney - South Carolina Kevin Sean Held 57%
3 Jacksonville Jaguars QB Johnny Manziel - Texas A&M Alex Swift 59%
4 Cleveland Browns WR Sammy Watkins - Clemson Shadow Flash 80%
5 Oakland Raiders LB Khalil Mack - Buffalo Khannar 71%
6 Atlanta Falcons OT Greg Robinson - Auburn Dave Choate 80%
7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Blake Bortles - UCF russty 31%
8 Minnesota Vikings CB Justin Gilbert - Oklahoma St. JackMarzullo 50%
9 Buffalo Bills OT Jake Matthews - Texas A&M Letloosethedogsofwar 88%
10 Detroit Lions WR Mike Evans - Texas A&M Monkey Poop Battle 49%
11 Tennessee Titans LB Anthony Barr - UCLA Lostastic 60%
12 NY Giants TE Eric Ebron - UNC Khannar 78%
13 St. Louis Rams S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix - Alabama hooahsaint2.0 74%
14 Chicago Bears NT Aaron Donald - Pittsburgh BlackandGold4ever 82%
15 Pittsburgh Steelers NT Louis Nix III - Notre Dame saintmanumit 36%
16 Dallas Cowboys DE Kony Ealy - Missouri Ryan Edwards 63%
17 Baltimore Ravens OT Taylor Lewan - Michigan Tee Word 66%
18 NY Jets CB Darqueze Dennard - Michigan State Monkey Poop Battle
19 Miami Dolphins OL Zack Martin - Notre Dame Letloosethedogsofwar
20 Arizona Cardinals QB Derek Carr - Fresno State Alex Swift
21 Green Bay Packers S Calvin Pryor - Louisville BlackandGold4ever
22 Philadelphia Eagles
organictallman
23 Kansas City Chiefs
coldpizza
24 Cincinnati Bengals
coldpizza
25 San Diego Chargers
Lostastic
26 Cleveland Browns
Shadow Flash
27 New Orleans Saints
Dave Cariello
28 Carolina Panthers
Ryan Edwards
29 New England Patriots
Shadow Flash
30 San Francisco 49ers
saintmanumit
31 Denver Broncos
Alex Swift
32 Seattle Seahawks
saintmanumit