The 2026 draft is officially less than a month away, and that means it’s time to kick the pre-draft process into overdrive. 

It’s this time of the year when we as fans begin the process of developing our draft crushes, only to be inevitably let down when the Packers don’t take that player. It’s a natural part of the draft, and an important part of being a 365 day fan of the NFL. For fans of the Green Bay Packers, however, it goes a little bit further. Not only do you have to know the player, but you’ve got to know their *testing. 

This idea has been written about a thousand times by a thousand authors, so keep in mind that I won’t be expanding on the idea of the Packers’ strict adherence to athletic thresholds. Nor is this article an attack or defense of those ideas. Instead, my job today is to work *within those confines to bring *you, dear reader, the most Packers-y of prospects available in the draft. This also means that we are a bit limited in our actual range of prospects, since this was a pretty disappointing year in terms of players actually doing the drills that they are supposed to do while at the combine in Indy… That’s a topic for another day, however. 

I’ll also be working within the most realistic range of prospects available to the Packers, without a first round pick. Would Sonny Styles and Jeremiah Love be Packers types? Yeah, you bet. Will they actually end up as Green Bay Packers? No. This also means that these players aren’t necessarily my favorite prospect at each spot, just the one that I think the Packers will like the most. 

With that in mind, let’s dive in! 

Quarterback: Taylen Green, Arkansas

Green Bay has tons of options should they choose to find their new backup QB in the draft, rather than relying on a proven veteran option, but Taylen Green gets the nod over other options like Cole Payton and Drew Allar. 

Green has, for one thing, the experience. The Packers like a quarterback who has seen *tons of action at the CFB level. Taylen Green is a four year starter at the college level, originally playing for his hometown Boise State Broncos before transferring to Arkansas in 2024, where he operated an efficient offense for an otherwise floundering Razorback program. I’m also betting that Matt LaFleur loved having a more athletic option for the backup quarterback, as a little something extra that a Love-less offense can throw at an opponent. 

Green also hits the height, weight and handsize benchmarks that the Packers emphasize at the position. 

Running Back: Mike Washington Jr, Arkansas

I’ll admit that Mike Washington was not entirely on my radar before his showing at the NFL combine, but it’s hard to ignore a performance like that…

At 6’1, Washington is certainly taller than recent acquisitions would show that the Packers prefer, but his weight seems right in line with their usual flavor (for reference, Josh Jacobs is 5’10 223 lbs, Marshawn Lloyd is 5’’9 220 lb, and Emmanuel Wilson is 5’10 226lbs). 

Running back is also where we will run into our first “testing” benchmark, as historical trends suggest Green Bay loves prospects that can hit 10’0 in the broad jump drill. Washington was able to do that, one of nine prospects to hit that mark at the combine. Washington stands out for his ability to do so with a bit more mass on his frame, however. 

Wide Receiver: Bryce Lance, North Dakota State

Because the Packers have drafted so many wide receivers in recent years, it’s one of the positions that we have the best grasp on. We have ideas on Green Bay’s preferences at height/weight, and everything from the 40 yard dash to the ideal three cone time, and a broad jump metric. 

Bryce Lance out of North Dakota State hits them all. 

With 25 career touchdowns, 2,155 yards and 127 receptions, he also hits the more vague “highly productive in college” metric that Packers front office members have spoken about on numerous occasions. 

The obvious comp for Lance is our very own Christian Watson, and it isn’t unfounded. Watson was an ultra-athletic, highly productive receiver out of NDSU, who paired elite speed with the size to out muscle competition at the NFL level. Well, what if I told you that Lance tested even better than Watson did? Intrigued? If I was the Packers, I sure would be. 

Tight End: Sam Roush, Stanford

From the position that we possibly know the most about the Packers’ preferences, we now move on the position we know the least about. 

The Packers just haven’t taken many tight ends, especially of late. Yes, they drafted Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave together in 2023. Other than that, they tend to find these guys in free agency. 

We know damn well that they like them athletic though. Probably over 250 lbs too. Tucker Kraft had a 9.52 RAS coming out of college, and Musgrave had an incredible 9.95. Even Josh WHyle had an 8.98 score. 

Enter Sam Roush, out of Stanford. It’s unfortunate that he chose not to compete in athletic drills, or we might have a more complete view of where he stands. Trust me, the lack of agility testing is about to get *a lot more frustrating over these next positions. 

As it stands however, Roush’s 9.99 RAS stands for itself.  Roush wasn’t incredibly productive in college, having only finished his career with four touchdowns and 1,202 yards, but the potential is certainly there. Another player to keep an eye on here is Dallen Bently from Utah, who was awarded a 9.37 RAS. 

Offensive Tackle: Caleb Tiernan, Northwestern

Caleb Tiernan comes to us from Northwestern, not a marquee program by any stretch but that’s why we scout the player, and not the helmet. Tiernan brings a boatload of playing experience with him, having played at least 500 snaps in every year since 2022. He was a LT in college almost exclusively, where he could fill a major hole as Jordan Morgan’s backup. 

Athletically, the Packers love themselves some big men who can move quickly. Looking back, the shuttle and three cone are big indicators of interest for Green Bay. So, you might be wondering what Tiernan is doing here then, with that big fat 31st percentile score in the shuttle drill. Well, remember how I mentioned the frustrating lack of actual *data this year? Tiernan was one of only *four offensive tackle prospects who ran the shuttle drill this year. The others being Spencer Fano (who will be a top 15 pick), Gennings Dunker (who I think will move inside), and Arkansas’ Fernando Carmona. 

That’s not to say that Tiernan won this prize out of lack of options. I love Tiernan as an NFL prospect, and I think he fits nicely into Green Bay’s recent weight trends. Plus, his explosion and overall RAS are indicative of an extremely high end athlete. I won’t go this far, but I think there could even be a place for congratulating Tiernan for showing the competitive spirit to run the drills in the combine. 

Interior Offensive Line: Brian Parker II, Duke

We’ve got a similar story here with Brian Parker II out of Duke, who will be a convert from tackle to an interior offensive lineman in the NFL. Parker was one of eight iOL to run agility drills in the combine. Parker also has a massive wealth of experience to draw on from his college career as a three year starter. 

Defensive Tackle: Caleb Banks, Florida

Oh boy, am I excited about this one. This is probably my “least likely to actually be there at pick 52” award winner, but Banks is worth every bit of the hype. 

Now that we have hit the defensive side of things, we are going to (mostly) start focusing on the explosion drill side of things. No agility drills? Yeah that’s fine (although I still wish they’d run them anyway). The Packers’ last major DT investment, Devonte Wyatt, didn’t run those drills either. In fact, you might remember that Wyatt’s high end athleticism was a major reason for his selection in the first round that year. He earned it too, with a 9.63 RAS. Banks blows Wyatt out of the water in the vertical/broad jumps, as well as height / weight scores. 

The only reason Banks might be available for the Packers’ second round selection would be his foot injury that cut his 2025 season short. Banks played only three games last season, and was still dealing with it during the testing portion of the pre-draft process. So all that impressive athleticism you see measured up there? He wasn’t even at 100% yet. NFL teams will have to decide at what point Banks will be worth the risk, and for our sake I hope that point comes in the late second round. 

Edge Rusher: Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State

Dani Dennis-Sutton should be a pretty solid option for whatever team ends up drafting him this year. DDS crushes most metrics, but leads a number of *very solid options that the Packers could take this year, including Malachai Lawrence from UCF, and Zion Young from Missouri. 

Dennis-Sutton measures just a smidgen under the 260lb benchmark, but he’ll make up for it with incredible speed and explosion grades from the combine. Despite an underwhelming year for the Penn State program in general, DDS was a solid presence for them along the defensive line. He doesn’t get blown off by blockers in the run game, and finished his entire college career with 25 sacks. 

His breadth of starting experience should be an asset in his pocket, when you consider those first crucial games that Green Bay will be without Micah Parsons. They’ll need the entire pass rush to step up in his absence, and I think DDS has the tools to be some part of that effort right away. Despite all that experience, he’s only 22 years old, leaving him with lots of runway to develop in the NFL long term, which we know the Packers value from the selections of both Lukas Van Ness and Rashan Gary.

Linebacker: Jake Golday, Cincinnati

Jake Golday is such a fun option to consider for the Packers. This actually might have been my hardest decision, as far as deciding who should represent the linebackers in this article. His fellow LBs Anthony Hill Jr and Jacob Rodriguez are extremely solid options that should flourish in the league. 

Out of those three options however, Golday gets the nod. Not only did he have the longest broad jump (the defining athletic trait that Green Bay looks for in its prospects) of the candidates, he did it while being much bigger. Rodriguez is 6’1’ 231, and Hill is 6’2 238. I also love Golday’s feel for coverage, and his (as I’ve been emphasizing all article) wide breadth of starting experience in college football, that means he should be able to contribute in Green Bay right away. 

Defensive Back: Julian Neal, Arkansas

To round it all out, we’ve got another position that we know a lot of what the Packers want. In fact, some of our cornerback knowledge we have directly comes from the mouth of Brian Gutekunst. We know the exact line in height that he looks for: 5’11. We know they want a player over 190 lbs, with a fast 40 (sub 4.6) and a sub 7 second effort in the three cone drill. Well, it’s that last part that will once again do its absolute best to stymie this effort of ours today. 

Out of all the cornerbacks who participated in the forty yard dash in this year’s combine, not a single one failed to pass the Packers 40 yard dash benchmark. Every single one ran a 4.6 or better time! That’s incredible! That should leave the Packers with an embarrassment of options, right? 

Well…

Of that same list of players who ran in the combine, only three participated in the three cone drill. Not a single one managed to pass that threshold. D’Angelo Ponds ran a 7.2, TJ Hall ran a 7.19, and Julian Neal rang in a 7.19. That changed at Neal’s pro day, however, as he managed to improve his time to 6.9 second score that you see above. Neal’s ability to improve that score and competing in order to do so is extremely impressive to me. He’s definitely one to watch, and he becomes our third Arkansas Razorback on this list. 

Conclusion 

There’s no easy answer to the lack of testing data we as fans are forced to wade through this year. It’s worth mentioning that this doesn’t really affect actual NFL teams. If they want that information, they’ll get that information. Be it through private workouts, GPS data, ect. But for us fans, sorting through what little data we have is a labor of love.