The Green Bay Packers addressed the offensive line with their 1st round pick for the second straight season. They picked Derek Sherrod out of Mississippi State with the 32nd overall pick.
The Packers now have a pair of tackles that should anchor the offensive line for years to come. They made Iowa’s Bryan Bulaga the top pick last season.
Sherrod was named to seven different All-American teams as a senior and is regarded as the best draft prospect at his position by the NFL Draft Report. Ever since moving into the starting lineup as a freshman, he has received winning grades for blocking consistency in every contest.
Sherrod started 36 of 47 games at left offensive tackle for Mississippi State, becoming the 11th offensive lineman in school history to earn all-American honors and just the fifth down lineman to garner first-team recognition.
In the last three seasons, Mississippi State scored 62 times on the ground, with Sherrod recording 44 of those touchdown-resulting blocks. In his 36 starting assignments, Sherrod collected 319 knockdown blocks, an average of 8.86 per game, the highest average for any 2011 NFL Draft eligible linemen.