The NFL draft is in the books, and the Green Bay Packers will now set their sights to getting their rookies acclimated while trying to get healthy for a chance to chase their 14th world championship.
Their draft class this year was different than any in the recent past, because they did not have a first-round pick — thanks to the trade for defensive end Micah Parsons.
Brian Gutekunst expressed no regret over the trade for Parsons but knew that his work was going to be cut out for him with only eight picks coming into the draft. He also had big needs at defensive tackle and cornerback. With limited capital, there were no surprises for Gutekunst with his two highest picks. He started his draft with a cornerback and finished Day 2 by trading up for a defensive tackle.
His first pick came from South Carolina in the form of 20-year-old Brandon Cisse.
Cisse should join the Packers as competition for a starting position with the trio of Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Benjamin St. Juste in front of him. He may not be a Day 1 starter like some are hoping for, but there is enough competition in that room to the point that Cisse’s explosiveness and ability to affect the ball in the air could find its way onto the field.
After looking in the secondary, Gutekunst looked to the front of the defense when he traded up seven spots to select Missouri’s Chris McClellan.
McClellan was available in addition to players like Florida State’s Darrell Jackson Jr. or Iowa State’s Dominique Orange.
Gutekunst took McClellan, who he believes could be someone that plays nose tackle but also has the versatility to move up and down the defensive line in the mold of Javon Hargrave and Devonte Wyatt.
Gutekunst talked about McClellan’s ability to affect the game as a pass rusher, which gave him the nod over other defensive linemen in this class.
“Obviously he played in the SEC. He’s a huge man. He has excellent length, and I think for me, the combination of being able to play the nose, the 3 and actually rush the passer,” Gutekunst said. “There’s a lot of these guys that don’t do that. He can. That was I think what set him apart a little bit for us.”
Speaking of pass rushers, Gutekunst grabbed one with his first pick on Day 3, and it may have been the steal of the draft. Penn State’s Dani Dennis-Sutton was someone who was expected to be off the board by the end of round three at the latest.
Instead, Gutekunst was able to grab him in the fourth round to give the Packers’ pass rush a boost on the edge while Parsons continues to rehab his knee injury.
One other interesting tidbit about Dennis-Sutton is his ability to affect the game on special teams, as he had three blocked punts for the Nittany Lions in 2025.
After focusing exclusively on defense for the first three picks of his draft class, Gutekunst moved to the other side of the ball with his fifth-round pick.
Jager Burton started 47 consecutive games in college, moving between center and both guard spots. Burton could compete on the interior of Green Bay’s offensive line, which has uncertain futures with Aaron Banks, Sean Rhyan and Anthony Belton all having various questions surrounding them.
In the sixth round, they grabbed another cornerback to add competition to the weakest position on the roster with Domani Jackson, a former high-level sprinter in track and field.
Jackson’s speed is an intriguing trait for the Packers to have bet on, and he could contribute on special teams where he played 160 snaps across four seasons. An interesting note on Jackson is that he was mentored by former Packers’ safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
The final pick of the draft came via trade as Gutekunst moved back into the sixth round, trading away both of his seventh-round picks to select Florida kicker Trey Smack.
Smack has a big leg as one of three kickers to make five or more field goals of more than 50 yards a season ago. He’ll at minimum provide some competition for Brandon McManus, who struggled mightily in his first full season in Green Bay. The more likely scenario, however, is that Smack is the team’s kicker when the Packers break camp.
The draft class, which started as a possibility of eight players, was whittled down to six by the time Gutekunst finished trading up for McClellan and Smack. It’s the smallest class they’ve had since 2004 when they again only drafted six players.
Chris McClellan
Dani Dennis-Sutton
