Consensus All-American Pass Rusher Will Have Predraft Visit With Packers

Kaleb Proctor is a small-school prospect but a big-time pass rusher.

Proctor, who is scheduled to have a predraft with the Green Bay Packers, had nine sacks and 13 tackles for losses during his senior season at Southeastern Louisiana. The statistical dominance came at the FCS level, but he’s got the athletic juice to back it up.

At 6-foot-1 7/8, he ran his 40 in 4.79 seconds and had explosive jumps for a Relative Athletic Score of 9.14.

The 40-yard time definitely opened eyes.

“Before the (Scouting) Combine, my name was out there sometimes and was lingering around the lead, but after the number I put up, it was tagging,” he said at pro day. “I had guys hit me up and the 30 visits were picked up from the things I showed during the combine. It wasn’t a surprise for me, but it definitely put some people on notice.”

The consensus All-American and Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year ended up at Southeastern Louisiana as a walk-on after being an all-state linebacker at Oak Grove (La.) High School.

“It’s a surreal moment to be here,” he said. “I had a chance to leave my junior year through and had all the NIL money thrown at me, but the guys that I came in with are the real reason I stayed. They’ll be at my wedding someday, and I wanted to be beside them through my last year and my journey to get here.”

As you might surmise from his elite athleticism but below-average weight, Proctor wins with quickness.

“As an interior defender, Proctor is an elite athlete with rare playmaking range,” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote as part of a longer scouting report. “He’s an elusive rusher with an explosive first step and the ability to unlock openings with varied approaches and angles. He’s also very undersized with limited recourse once linemen have him squared up and put hands on him.”

Pro Football Focus lists him as the No. 111 overall prospect, which could put him in play for Green Bay with its fourth-round pick. His pass-rush win rate was an elite 13.7 percent

Lest you think Proctor only dominated against lesser competition, he had two sacks and three tackles for losses against LSU.

“I feel like I can compete, and I feel like I proved that at the Senior Bowl,” he said at the Scouting Combine. “I feel like I belonged right with those guys. It’s proving it to myself that I belong here, not to anybody else. I got here for a reason and I'm just sticking with that for sure.”

Proctor finished second in school history with his nine sacks last season.

“They tell me I’m a great player,” Proctor said at pro day, “letting me know they think highly of me and giving great encouragement, letting me know how I attacked this process well, checking on how I’ve been doing, motivating me to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”

He was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the top defensive player in FCS.

“As good as he is as a player, he’s a much better man and teammate,” Southeastern coach Frank Scelfo said. “His impact on our organization and Hammond will be remembered for years to come due to his dedication and contributions to the program, university and community.”

Since the Southeastern program returned in 2003, he was the fifth player from the program to be invited to the Scouting Combine.

Proctor was blown away by the Combine experience.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” he said. “It’s … something that I don't see every day on an FCS level. Like cameras, all the equipment that they have for you – just even having a fridge filled with any type of Gatorade or drink that you can think of. Just things like that is definitely awesome to see. But I’m here to compete and show what I'm able to do.”

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