Packers trade into third round, select LB Oren Burks in NFL draft
After trading into the third round, the Green Bay Packers selected Vanderbilt linebacker Oren Burks with the 88th overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.
The Packers exchanged a fourth-rounder (No. 101) and fifth-rounder (No. 147) for the Carolina Panthers' slot in the third round.
Burks is listed as an outside linebacker on the NFL's prospect list, though he played inside linebacker as a senior last season with the Commodores. Pro personnel director John Wojciechowski said that Burks will play inside, where he hopes that his ability in pass coverage will help.
A defensive captain, the 6-foot-3 Burks also played a hybrid linebacker-safety position as a junior, and free safety as a sophomore.
"The athleticism, I'll keep going back and that ... and the toughness, the ability to go down" to the line of scrimmage, Wojciechowski said of Burks.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound linebacker recorded a time of 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.
