NFL Draft 2026: Tiering the best available players for the Packers at #52

We’re Going Streaking

• Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State (#29)
• T.J. Parker, EDGE, Clemson (#33)
• Colton Hood, CB, Tennessee (consensus rank: #30)

This category of players are ones who we believe to be first-round talents at positions of need. They are so unlikely to fall to the Packers that if they do get one of them, we’re going to lose our minds. In fact, if they continue to fall into the 40s, they’re the players whom we could see (and accept) the Packers trying to trade up for.

Excited

• Christen Miller, DT, Georgia (#47)
• Domonique Orange, DT, Iowa State (#70)
• Dani Dennis-Sutton, EDGE, Penn State (#73)
• Brandon Cisse, CB, South Carolina (#45)
• Denzel Boston, WR, Washington (#25)

Most of these players are our favorite targets who still seem like they could realistically be available at 52. If you are new here, well, suffice it to say that we think that Orange and DDS are significantly underrated. Any of these players would make us extremely happy. Boston is an odd one here though in that he should be one of the first players off the board on Friday; he’d be in the above tier if he was at a bit more of a critical position.

Whelmed

• Chase Bisontis, IOL, Texas A&M (#40)
• Emmanuel Pregnon, IOL, Oregon (#43)
• Gennings Dunker, OL, Iowa (#62)
• Chris Bell, WR, Louisville (#53)
• Germie Bernard, WR, Alabama (#56)
• Ted Hurst, WR, Georgia State (#72)
• Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana (#74)
• Zion Young, EDGE, Missouri (#39)
• Gaba Jacas, EDGE, Illinois (#54)

These are simply good prospects — they’re either really good players at positions of lesser need or those who we think should turn out to be good pros but don’t have the ceiling of the names in the tiers above.

Time to Start Praying

• Jermod McCoy, CB, Tennessee (#19)

This is a one-man category and it’s all about health. This was Will Johnson last year, the Michigan cornerback who fell from being a likely top-10 pick into the second round due to health concerns. The phrase “bone plugs” associated with McCoy’s injury just sounds awful.

Confused/Surprised

• Mike Washington, Jr., RB, Arkansas (#64)
• Zachariah Branch, WR, Georgia (#65)
• Caleb Tiernan, OT, Northwestern (#68)
• Connor Lew, IOL, Auburn (#75)
• Derrick Moore, EDGE, Michigan (#59)
• C.J. Allen, LB, Georgia (#38)
• Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech (#41)
• Josiah Trotter, LB, Missouri (#61)
• Avieon Terrell, CB, Clemson (#37)
• Treydan Stukes, CB, Arizona (#48)
• D’Angelo Ponds, CB, Indiana (#52)
• Keionte Scott, CB, Miami (#63)
• Keith Abney, CB, Arizona State (#66)
• Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, S, Toledo (#26)
• A.J. Haulcy, S, LSU (#58)

Here we have players who would leave us puzzled for one reason or another. Drafting these players at 52 would be either a weird use of resources from a positional standpoint, players who don’t fit the Packers’ typical approach or testing thresholds, or some combination thereof. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we think the player will not be a good pro, but it’s more a question about their fit or the use of resources.

Note that a couple of the cornerbacks who show up on this tier are here because they are likely to be slot-only options.

Underwhelmed

• Chris Brazzell, WR, Tennessee (#57)
• R Mason Thomas, EDGE, Oklahoma (#46)
• Anthony Hill, Jr., LB, Texas (#51)

These players are ones who we don’t see as complete players (Thomas, Hill) or who we feel are overvalued by the consensus board (Brazzell).

Crying Ourselves to Sleep

• Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt (#50)
• Max Klare, TE, Ohio State (#67)
• Lee Hunter, DT, Texas Tech (#55)
• Jake Golday, LB, Cincinnati (#60)
• Kyle Louis, LB, Pittsburgh (#69)

These are our biggest bust fears or players who we think simply are a poor fit and/or a poor use of resources for the Packers. There are those who like Hunter for the Packers, but his testing numbers were extremely underwhelming and we have concerns about his ability to actually hold up on the nose.