Packers Draft Pick Not to Sleep On
Which Packers' draft pick might unexpectedly surprise us?
By GregMeinholz
In any given NFL Draft, you would look at a day 1 or day 2 pick as a player expected to contribute in some fashion during their rookie season. When you get into day 3, those players are expected to be more depth additions in their rookie season, and maybe a year or two down the road, you hope for them to be contributors in some fashion. Sometimes, your main hope is that those day 3 guys can at least crack the 53-man roster. When those day 3 guys can make a decent impact in year 1 or 2 and beyond, they're considered sleeper picks. During the first two days of this year's NFL Draft, the Packers were able to grab players who may have a chance to make a first-year impact, but what about day 3? Which of those five picks should Packers fans not sleep on?
Barryn Sorrell - Texas - Edge Rusher - Fourth Round, Pick 124
Why does the first round of the draft attract the highest TV audience and the highest live attendance? Outside of the fact that first-round players are expected to make the most impact on a team, it's the stage walks. Everyone loves to see those draft picks exit the green room, head down the tunnel, and walk the stage to meet the commissioner and hold up that first-round jersey.
Well, fans that attended the fourth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday were treated to an unexpected stage walk for Packers pick Barryn Sorrell, who elected to stay for day 3 of the draft just to have the chance to hear his name called live and walk the stage. If Sorrell's name was called for any of the 31 other NFL teams, he would come out to some cheers from that team's fans in attendance, but mostly just some polite applause from the hometown crowd before he simply walks off stage. But he was picked by the hometown Packers, and the entire draft viewing area erupted as he walked the stage and was ushered to a small stage in the middle of the crowd to enjoy his moment, as well to the delight of Packers fans.
That's a cool story, but a story alone doesn't make you a pick to sleep on. Before we get into Barryn Sorrell's skills on the field, let's just explore what goes into that draft day moment. This is a kid who, while some players may have gone home after day 2 and had their little draft party until they're picked, stuck around because hearing his name and having that draft moment was important to him, no matter when it was. That shows resilience to stick through adversity, which, being a day 3 pick, will be key for him. Now imagine, after sticking through that adversity, being immediately embraced with cheers and open arms by your new fans. Sorrell is more than ready to run through a brick wall for the Green Bay Packers right now.
Now let's get to the football aspect. Sorrell was regarded as a possible late third to early fourth round pick. While he lacks a bit of length and power, he's a consistent pass rusher with a high motor who, if he is blocked, doesn't stay blocked for long. He had a productive 2024 season with six sacks and 44 tackles on the year. He is a disruptive pass rusher who can push through the outside and inside, where the Packers could enjoy using him as a change-of-pace rusher in his rookie season.
The #Packers finally got an edge rusher.
Barryn Sorrell is loving it in Green Bay right now. pic.twitter.com/KEiv5AO5kQ
— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) April 26, 2025
While he won't be a starter in his rookie season, Sorrell is expected to push Lukas Van Ness and the rest of the edge rushing group behind Rashan Gary for reps, and he could be a surprise to have an impact on the Packers' pass rush in year one due to his relentless nature.
What do NFL GMs and coaches look for in a player coming from a mid-late round selection? Untapped potential and the motivation to learn and improve their game at the next level. We've all seen what this opportunity means to Barryn Sorrell. He's ready to get to work and become the best Green Bay Packer he can be.
Many expected the Packers to address the edge rusher position in the first two rounds of the draft this year. That didn't happen. But at pick 124 of the fourth round, they may have gotten their hands on a player that, years from now, when people create 2025 re-drafts for fun, they could be placing Barryn Sorrell in the top two rounds.
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Greg Meinholz is a lifelong devoted Packer fan. A contributor to CheeseheadTV as well as PackersTalk. Follow him on Twitter @gmeinholz and Bluesky @gmeinholz.bsky.social for Packers commentary, random humor, beer endorsements, and occasional Star Wars and Marvel ramblings.
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Comments (18)
NickPerry
April 29, 2025 at 06:35 am
I didn't know a thing about Sorrell before the draft but I have to say, I'm glad he's a Packer. Both Sorrell and Collin Oliver who was picked a round later are those "Smallish" Edge guys who the Packers never seem to draft. By the end of the season I wouldn't be surprised a bit if both Sorrell and Oliver have contributed to not just ST but the defense too... As in sacking the shit out of opposing QBs.
Coldworld
April 29, 2025 at 10:38 am
It seems Hafley and Hendrickson were not as on board with the 3:4 types being a viable answer across the board. A classic 4:3 type OLB and a 4:3 designated rusher/cover backer in the Fackrell mold. Tactical options and variety of threat and look. Right in the Hafley wheelhouse. It’s no accident that, Gary aside, the one effective Edge last year in the passing game was another 4:3 build type in Cox. Even though he’s a power type, he is a little different.
Vachio
April 29, 2025 at 07:50 am
I'm in the same boat as most and had no idea who he was when he got picked. But watching the videos, I loved seeing the extra attention teams paid to him. Multiple teams having to change their game plan to account for him. Triple teams on occasion. Getting that kind of respect from the opposition makes me smile. I think he's going to make a lot more noise for the Pack than most people think.
DoubleJ
April 29, 2025 at 07:52 am
APC's Justis Mosqueda was talking with Andy Herman on their draft recap and said that he didn't get to Sorrell in his tape watching of the top Edge rushers. Sorrell was like 22 on the list and Justis only got through the top 18-20 and said OK I need to go to a different position. However, after the Packers drafted him he went back and looked at Sorrell's tape and came away quite impressed. He was saying that after watching the tape he thinks that Sorrell should have been an R2 pick and he had him in the Donovan Ezeiruaku tier in this draft with hindsight. Seems like Sorrell is a player that just fell through the cracks because of so many good DTs and DEs in this draft. Here is some info from Justis' look at Sorrell.
"From a height, weight, speed and bend perspective, Sorrell has absolutely no limitations, even on the relative scale of NFL athletes. According to Mockdraftable, whose data goes back to the 1999 draft class, here are all of the edge defenders who have been able to match Sorrell’s height, weight, 40-yard dash (speed) and three-cone (bend):
Travon Walker
Lukas Van Ness
Montez Sweat
Jayson Oweh
Danielle Hunter
Trey Hendrickson
Do what you want with the inclusion of Lukas Van Ness, a former first-round pick of the Packers. I don’t want to debate the merits of whether or not Van Ness has unlocked potential that Jason Rebrovich, the now-fired former defensive line coach of the Packers, wasn’t able to tap into. That’s for another time.
The important thing I want to point out here is that of the six players who were able to match Sorrell in all of these key metrics, four of them were first-rounders. The two who weren’t were arguably the best mid-round picks at the position in recent memory. Remember, pass-rushers are treated like quarterbacks by the league. They usually don’t drop down the draft board if they have a chance to be special. Typically, the top edge rushers in the NFL are first-round picks — at a rate that is not consistent with positions other than quarterback.
Of those six players, all but Van Ness has been a double-digit sack player in the NFL. Sorrell certainly has areas in his game where he can improve, but players of his profile don’t usually make it to the mid-fourth round. That’s a fact."
RCPackerFan
April 29, 2025 at 08:42 am
"Seems like Sorrell is a player that just fell through the cracks because of so many good DTs and DEs in this draft. "
I heard this conversation and this statement I think is absolutely true. In most years he likely goes higher. But he kind of fell through the cracks because he didn't put up big time numbers. But as you noted that he was double teamed a quite a bit.
I think Sorrells best football is ahead of him.
I think they maybe got another find in Oliver as well.. He missed most of last year with a foot injury. But is healed and adds an explosive edge player. With a deep class and the injury he could have slid more as well.
DoubleJ
April 29, 2025 at 08:59 am
Oliver is going to have to be a designated pass rusher, at least early in his career, and special teams played. However, with his speed 4.56/40 at 240lbs he could be used as a gunner on punt coverage. While not a 4.3 guy like Jannis was, his bulk and strength, 24 reps on the bench, would be very hard to deal with for the blockers.
RCPackerFan
April 29, 2025 at 10:26 am
We will have to see what he does in camp and preseason, but I think Oliver could be a 3rd down pass rush specialist. What I like is it would offer something different from what they have now. He is an explosive bend the corner type and we simple don't have that. I am also intrigued to see what Hafley may like to do with him.
I am kind of intrigued with the though of having some pass rush packages where they have both Walker and Cooper blitzing with Oliver coming off the edge. That is a lot of speed.
Coldworld
April 29, 2025 at 10:49 am
Sorell is a technician, but he’s not a stellar athlete in terms of short area quickness. That’s usually a massive metric for rushers. He’s got power and very good hand technique, but he does not win much with burst at all, but by fighting through.
He doesn’t have great bend and he doesn’t win with agility. He has a relentless motor. I think he can be a good player, but he’s not likely to be a great. He can be a good starter eventually and contribute now, especially if he can learn to hold contain in runs. He was probably drafted around the right place. Again, the post draft response is getting overly euphoric in terms of expectations.
splitpea1
April 29, 2025 at 12:28 pm
Yes, there's a little variation in the scouting reports, but they all say he wins with his hands and high energy. Run containment will need to be a skill improved upon, and it was also noted that he'll need to add additional moves to his arsenal.
RCPackerFan
April 29, 2025 at 08:15 am
One of the interesting things I heard said about Sorrell was that when every player got asked which player they would want on their team in the NFL, every Texas player responded Sorrell. That means something.
We currently have Gary, Van Ness, Enagbare, Cox, and Mosby from last years roster. This group needed more talent added to the room. They added that with Sorrell and then with Collin Oliver later. I am very intrigued with Oliver. I think he could find a specialized role in the defense as a speed edge Rusher and as possibly and off the ball LB.
I'm sure there are fans out there that think we should have addressed the position before the 4th round. But for those fans remember who became one of our starting Safety's last year. None other then 4th round pick Evan Williams. And lets not forget under Gutey, he has been pretty good with the 4th and 5th round picks. These are some of the 4th and 5th round picks he has chose. Romeo Doubs, Zach Tom, Kingsley Enagbare, TJ Slaton, MVS, Wicks.
Vachio
April 29, 2025 at 09:27 am
The respect he has from his teammates definitely speaks volumes. I think he's potentially the steal of the draft.
BuckyBadger
April 29, 2025 at 09:13 am
Draft always brings optimism and hope. Hopefully he can become a player but I don't see much more than a role player here.
Untylu1968
April 29, 2025 at 10:33 am
The draft also brings out the most pessimistic complainers. Here's to hoping he proves them wrong and shuts them up.
TXCHEESE
April 29, 2025 at 10:06 am
What I like about Sorrell, is he has pretty good bend and gets under and around pretty effectively. Just the kind of rusher to plug in on obvious passing downs. I think with Cox's emergence late last year and Sorrell and Oliver, the pass rush should improve markedly. Having those options opposite of Gary will either give those on the other side the benefit of one on one opportunities, or Gary will have that benefit.
I like LVN and think he plays with really good effort, but his strong suit is power and pursuit. Not sure if he'll ever be one with great bend. Move him inside on passing downs and let him collapse the pocket.
Handsback
April 29, 2025 at 10:19 am
Not a lot of discussion with the Simmons pickup. What does that have to do with the draft?
Glad you asked. Green Bay's D was a top ten defense last year. They have a defensive coach that uses players as chess pieces and before the draft I had a feeling they saw Simmons, if healthy, would apply pressure on passing downs from the outside and maybe even through the middle. This means your safeties and CBs won't have to sacrifice their coverages for pressure. Also may mean they had the opportunity to pick up more offensive help, which was a lot more limited in this year's draft.
Bottom line, grab those WRs and OT first and realize who they have on the D side just needed a few new chess pieces to take this team to the next level.
Just MHO
HarryHodag
April 29, 2025 at 10:43 am
A key point often overlooked is how ready for the NFL are these college players?
There's thousands of college football players but a minority are at schools where the coaching staff gives the players a leg up on a future pro football career. Alabama under former coach Nick Saban, Kirby Smart at Georgia, Penn State under Franklin and Sarkisian at Texas and a few other schools have players who can slide onto an NFL roster and compete soon after signing up.
So I'm hopeful this young man will be ready for the rigors of the NFL and I think he will. The Matthew Golden moment and Sorrell's late walk were highlights of the draft. I don't follow the endless numbers chasing that most of the 'experts' do today. In the end, ability is important, but heart is more important. The Packers need players who will run through a wall to win. Early returns indicate this young man has that attitude.
By the way, a bunch of the 'experts' dissed the Packers draft. No one will know for 1-3 years whether a player will be a success so the haters can....well, you fill in the rest. I thought this draft was good.
dobber
April 29, 2025 at 01:09 pm
There used to be a contingent around here who were all about making early picks only from the top few programs. With the transfer portal mucking things up the way it does, it's going to continue to push the best players into the top 30 or so programs...but it's also going to lead to plenty of 5th year seniors lured out of lesser programs with NIL money who played 3-4 years at Furman and finished at Florida State for a year and looked OK. At least we're getting out of the Covid exemption years and we're not as likely to see 25-year-old college seniors as much.
Leatherhead
April 29, 2025 at 07:08 pm
I hope Sorrell really does well. I think he has some difficult math to overcome.
Even if we dress 9 DL, he looks to me like he's on the bubble
Clark, Gary, Van Ness, Wyatt, Enagbare are mortal locks unless there's a trade.
Brooks and Wooden played well and are cheap. So that's 7 spots at a minimum.
And we've got Cox, Moseby,Sorrell, and all the other new candidates. So, it's kind of a crowded room,IMO. He'll probably get to play a lot on the preseason, so that'll give him an opportunity to show what he's got.