’s latest mock draft sent San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson to the Dallas Cowboys at No. 20 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, a projection that landed just as the Green Bay Packers were still waiting to make their first selection.
The Packers no longer own that pick. They sent their first-round choice to Dallas last August in the trade that brought Micah Parsons to Green Bay, leaving them among the six teams without a first-round selection this year and setting up their first pick for Friday. Johnson had been a player Packers fans hoped might fall to them, but that path disappeared long before this week’s draft opened Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Jordan Reid’s explanation for the Cowboys pick was straightforward. He wrote that Johnson is an ascending prospect who has drawn rave reviews from multiple sources in recent weeks, and that he has climbed through the predraft process into position to be the third cornerback selected. Reid also paired the pick with Dallas’ defensive needs, noting that the Cowboys already have a safety projected at No. 12 overall and that there is little reason to stop there for a secondary that gave up a league-high 46 completions of 25 yards or more last season and allowed 35 passing touchdowns, the second most in the NFL.
For Green Bay, the mock only sharpened a familiar draft frustration. Cornerback was viewed as a major need, and Johnson was the kind of name that could have fit neatly into that opening round if the Packers had kept their pick. Instead, the Parsons trade pushed them out of the first round entirely, turning Thursday night into a wait-and-watch exercise while the player many of their fans wanted slides somewhere else.
That is the tension hanging over the Packers now: the club paid for an immediate defensive star in Parsons, but it also surrendered the chance to use No. 20 on a position of need. If Reid is right about Johnson’s rise, the cornerback may not be available by the time Green Bay finally gets on the clock Friday.
