GREEN BAY, Wis. -- If ever there's a draft when the Green Bay Packers might take a running back in the first round, this could be it.

ESPN NFL draft analyst Todd McShay thinks it could happen.

With three running backs in his first-round mock draft released on Wednesday, McShay has one of them going to the Packers at No. 29: Tennessee's Alvin Kamara.

There hasn't been a draft with three first-round running backs since 2012, and the Packers haven't drafted a running back higher than the second round since Ted Thompson took over as general manager in 2005.

The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Kamara, who began his college career at Alabama, is both a rushing and receiving threat out of the backfield and could be used much in the same way the Packers played Ty Montgomery this past season. Montgomery, the converted receiver, is currently the only running back under contract with the Packers for this season.

Kamara was the third of three running backs in McShay's first round. The others were LSU's Leonard Fournette (No. 8 to Carolina) and Florida State's Dalvin Cook (No. 15 to Indianapolis).

Fellow ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. also had the Packers taking a running back in his most recent mock draft but it was Stanford's Christian McCaffrey, who was not listed in McShay's first round. Kiper also had Fournette and Cook going into the top half of the first round.