Packers trade into third round, select LB Oren Burks in NFL draft

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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.