New Packers WR Isaiah Neyor Had Motivation; Now, He Has Opportunity

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Isaiah Neyor is a big man with a big opportunity.

With injuries ransacking the Green Bay Packers’ receiver room, Neyor, whose three-college odyssey led to him signing with the team as an undrafted rookie last week, will get a lot of chances over the next week to show he belongs.

“Hopefully, those guys are healing,” he said after an impressive day at Packers training camp on Tuesday. “Hopefully, it’s nothing too major with them, but I’m going to do whatever it takes. Whatever’s asked of me, I’m going to go out there and do whatever the team needs me to do, so I’m going to do my part, and I hope those guys are healing and are doing better.”

Neyor is a fascinating, high-upside prospect who has the ability to do whatever is asked. After catching eight passes during his first two seasons at Wyoming, he caught 44 passes for 878 yards in 2021. He led the Mountain West with 12 touchdown receptions and 20.0 yards per catch. During the final six games, he had more than 70 yards in five and scored at least one touchdown in all six.

From there, the native of Fort Worth, Texas, went back home to the University of Texas to continue a path that seemed destined to reach the NFL. However, he sustained a torn ACL and missed the entire 2022 season. Due to “things outside my control,” he played in only one game in 2023.

“It was pretty tough, going those two years without playing,” Neyor said. “You kind of lose your competitive spirit a little bit. I’ve never went that long without competing, so that offseason when I left Texas, I just did my best to remind myself who I was and just to go out there and do the things that I know I’m capable of doing.”

Neyor transferred to Nebraska for 2024 and got himself back on the radar with 34 receptions for 455 yards and five touchdowns.

Despite elite physical tools – he’s 6-foot-4 1/4 and 218 pounds with 4.40 speed in the 40, and his Relative Athletic Score of 9.90 was the fourth-highest among this year’s receivers – he went undrafted. The 49ers signed him immediately after the draft by guaranteeing $259,000. The 49ers, however, released him on Aug. 4 and the Packers signed him on Aug. 6.

Injuries have opened the door. Dontayvion Wicks has been out for almost two weeks with a calf injury. Jayden Reed has missed a week with a foot injury. Romeo Doubs appeared to injure his back during a collision with Evan Williams on Tuesday. Third-round pick Savion Willliams has been unable to stay on the field.

Along with Christian Watson’s recovery from a torn ACL, that’s five of Green Bay’s top six receivers who were out of action by the end of Tuesday. That could continue with Thursday’s joint practice against the Colts and Saturday’s preseason game in Indianapolis.

Neyor, who wasn’t with the team for installs so is learning the playbook on the fly, is among the young receivers hoping to take advantage.

“I just want to show them that I can make plays,” he said. “Anything that the team needs me to do – whether it’s blocking, whether it’s going on special teams, whether it’s making big catches – whatever it is, I want to be able to provide that for the team.”

He made one of those big catches on Tuesday when he made a head-first, diving grab for a touchdown on a deep pass from Taylor Elgersma. It was perhaps the highlight-reel catch of training camp.

“I just view it as it’s a big play,” he said. “I don’t ever want to get too high. I just always want to stay level-headed. It’s a big play, but I want to remember to continue being consistent. Don’t just make a play and then think that you get to get complacent. No, I want to continue doing that moving forward.”

While not quite to the extent of Watson, Neyor’s size and speed make him an elite prospect. Still, despite some moments of high-level production, Neyor wasn’t drafted.

That added additional fuel to the fire that he hopes he can turn into an extended stay in Green Bay after the Aug. 26 roster cuts.

“Oh, I think about it every single day,” he said. “I think about it every single day. I remember on draft day, I was watching on Day 3, just looking round after round, hoping that somebody would give me a call and I never got that call. It was pretty heartbreaking that day, so I just use it as motivation just to prove people wrong.”

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