Packers — 2026 Draft Recap

Welcome back to Muffed, draft-class edition — Green Bay Packers. Six picks, no first-rounder, and Brian Gutekunst was upfront: smaller haul than his usual ten-pick average across his first eight drafts, and the board didn't give him reasons to trade back. The theme is unmistakable: defense-first reset. Four of six picks reinforce the front and back end, one interior offensive lineman, and a kicker they traded up for. The headliner is the corner at 52, Brandon Cisse, and the whole class skews toward size, length, and elite testing.

Green Bay's 2025 pass defense bled plus 44 expected points added on the season — a leaky number — and the answer was to flood the room with length and speed. Cisse at pick 52 carries a Relative Athletic Score of 9.25 — that's the 0-to-10 grade comparing combine and pro-day testing to every player at his position since 1987, so top-decile athlete at corner. His South Carolina line — 27 tackles, a sack and a half worth of tackles for loss, 5 pass breakups — won't wow you, but Gutekunst wanted size, length, and speed in that room, and Cisse checks every box. Then at pick 120, Penn State edge Dani Dennis-Sutton — and this is where the testing card pops. A Relative Athletic Score of 9.96, top 1 percent of every defensive end measured in four decades. Stack that on 12 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks — 7th in the Big Ten, 34th nationally — and Gutekunst was effusive: elite athlete at almost 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, can bull rush, win with speed, set edges. The Packers tried to trade up into the third for him and landed him 25 picks later anyway. Round 6, pick 201: Alabama corner Domani Jackson, Relative Athletic Score of 9.04 — another smashed testing day. Gutekunst admitted the college production didn't match the recruiting hype — 38 tackles, one pass breakup — but called him a rare athlete with the size profile they want outside. Three pass-defense picks. All 9.0-plus athletes.

The run defense was already solid — minus 9 rushing expected points added on the year, meaning offenses lost expected points trying to run on Green Bay — so the third-round swing on Missouri defensive tackle Chris McClellan at pick 77 is about sustaining it and adding interior rush. He's the athletic outlier of this class: Relative Athletic Score of 6.00, median for defensive tackles since 1987. This pick is production and size, not testing. The tape backs it: 48 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 6 sacks from the interior — real pass-rush juice from a 300-pound body. Gutekunst was direct about the philosophy: swap Kenny Clark money for Javon Hargrave, get bigger up front, and stack another 300-pound interior body who can affect the passer.

One offensive line pick, and the athletic profile is the headline. Round 5, pick 153: Kentucky center Jager Burton, who tested at a 9.89 Relative Athletic Score for centers — top 1 percent of every center ever measured. Gutekunst loves the versatility — center and both guard spots — and pointed to Green Bay's track record of developing Day 3 offensive linemen as the reason this room can absorb a project with this testing pedigree. One pick, but a real one.

Special teams got the loudest move of the weekend. Green Bay traded up in the sixth to pick 216 for Florida kicker Trey Smack, and Gutekunst was candid: the 2025 season ended on a four-point playoff loss with seven points left on the board at the kicker spot. He called Smack the best kicker in this draft in his and special teams coordinator Cam's evaluation, and said he didn't feel good about who'd be left in round 7.

Pick of the draft. You can argue Dennis-Sutton — the testing is historically rare and the Big Ten production is there. You can argue McClellan — interior pass rush at 300 pounds in round 3 is premium value. But the pick is Cisse at 52. Gutekunst flat-out said corner was the room he wanted to add to, and he spent his highest pick doing it. Outside corner is the position where length and recovery speed matter most, and Cisse's testing says he has both. With only six picks, the highest-leverage selection is the one that fills the most explicit stated need with a top-decile athlete at a premium position. That's Cisse.

The 2026 story to watch: whether this front seven — Dennis-Sutton bending the edge, McClellan plugging the interior next to Hargrave — takes the pass defense from leaky to elite. Green Bay spent one pick on offense and is betting the personnel they have is good enough. Gutekunst said it himself: he feels good about that side of the ball, and the biggest swing of the weekend was reshaping the front.