Packers Draft Review: Favorite Pick, Biggest Question Mark, Undrafted Gem

The Green Bay Packers over the weekend added 17 players in their quest to build a Super Bowl-quality roster.

Between the six draft picks and the 11 undrafted free agents, here are some of the noteworthy additions.

Favorite Pick: CB Brandon Cisse

The Packers need a stopper in the secondary and used their first pick on cornerback Brandon Cisse. At 5-foot-11 3/4 with 4.41 speed and explosiveness throughout his game, he’s got a terrific skill-set. In his one season at South Carolina, Sports Info Solutions charged him with a 41 percent completion rate. Added together, he’s got a chance to be the type of player every great defense needs.

More than that, it’s his studious approach that will endear himself to the coaches.

“I live 35 minutes from the University of South Carolina, so I spent a lot of time with him,” Packers national scout Mike Owen said. “When you go there, they spoke highly of him in the weight room, at practice. Smart kid, always watching a ton of football. Every time I went there, he was in the recruiting office watching the NFL, college or high school. That’s what I love about the kid. He really loves football at the end of the day.”

Unprompted during an interview on Monday morning, South Carolina co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray said he’d frequently get texts from Cisse late at night asking about plays, players or techniques.

“They drafted a guy who, if he told me what his hobby was, as far as I know, it seems like it would be football,” Gray said.

Least Favorite Pick: CB Domani Jackson

Let’s be clear: I don’t hate the pick of Domani Jackson. In the sixth round, there’s nothing at all wrong with taking a swing on a former high school phenom with an excellent combination of size, speed and experience.

However, it is worth noting that Jackson was taken out of the starting lineup for five games during his senior season at Alabama. Maybe Green Bay’s coaches can bring the best out of him. Or, they could have gone with Toledo’s Andre Fuller, who went in the seventh round to Seattle. Jackson broke up one pass in 2025. Fuller broke up 12.

In a draft with only six picks, with one used on a kicker, can the Packers afford to be on the wrong side of the risk-reward equation?

Biggest Surprise: Edge Dani Dennis-Sutton

Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) prepares to strip-sack Indiana quarterback Brendan Sorsby in 2023. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dani Dennis-Sutton was the No. 73 player on the Consensus Big Board at Mock Draft Database. Obviously, the “consensus” board has nothing to do with NFL draft boards, but Dennis-Sutton seemed like an incredible steal in the fourth round.

He sacked quarterbacks, tackled running backs, forced fumbles and blocked punts at a higher level than just about any prospect in the draft. And it all comes in an elite size-athleticism package.

“Players like that seem to just have a knack,” Packers director of personnel John Wojciechowski said. “I think for him, he’s able to defeat blocks. It’s uncanny how some of those guys just know where the ball is and they attack it, whether it be with their fists or the helmet.”

Toward the end of the third round on Friday night, Gutekunst tried to trade back into the third round. Dennis-Sutton was the target. To be able to stay put and get him at No. 120 of the fourth makes this a potential steal.

Moreover, edge defender was a major position of need. There’s no guarantee that Barryn Sorrell, Collin Oliver and Brenton Cox will provide quality depth. Dennis-Sutton should help alleviate that concern.

Wait And See: G/C Jager Burton

At Kentucky, Jager Burton 23 games at left guard, 15 games at center – including all 12 as a fifth-year senior – and nine at right guard.

“Certainly, he fits that mold,” Gutekunst said.

You know who else fit that versatile mold? Duke’s Brian Parker.

We hit on this in our grade of Burton, a fifth-round pick and No. 153 overall selection. Instead of one of the most versatile interior blockers, they could have taken another mold-fitter in Parker, who was an All-American right tackle as a senior before getting ready for life at center. He was taken in the sixth round at No. 189 overall by the Bengals.

Parker has the potential to be a Packers-style multitasker and eventual starter.

“My versatility to play all five (positions) will help strengthen that unit and keep Joe Burrow safe,” Parker said during his call with Bengals reporters.

Burton, at least on the collegiate level, has shown he can be a three-position player. We’ll see which versatile player provides the most impact.

Biggest Question Mark: K Trey Smack

Florida Gators kicker Trey Smack (29) kicks the point after against the Long Island Sharks. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Over the last decade of drafts, from 2016 through 2025, 20 kickers were drafted. Their success rates ranged from 90.5 percent for Cam Little (sixth round, Jaguars, 2024) to 71.0 percent for Roberto Aguayo (second round, Buccaneers, 2016). The median success rate is 83.7 percent.

It stands to reason that a drafted kicker will be a better prospect than an undrafted kicker. However, over that same span, there were 57 undrafted kickers who played in at least five games. So, that includes the kickers who were good enough to make it but not necessarily good enough to stick. Their median success rate was 83.9.

In other words, statistically speaking, there is no difference between a drafted kicker and an undrafted kicker who is good enough to at least make it to the show for a handful of games.

Favorite Undrafted: QB Kyron Drones

After two seasons of excellence by Malik Willis, the Packers appear to be enamored by a quarterback with a dual-threat skill-set.

That’s Kyron Drones, who has a big arm and excellent athleticism. With sacks taken out of the equation, he rushed for 816 yards in 2025 and 987 yards in 2023. On the other hand, he was too inaccurate as a passer and fumbled 22 times on runs the past three seasons.

He’s an intriguing player, though, as a developmental option on the practice squad.

Undrafted Gem: OL Dillon Wade

Going back to Jager Burton fitting the Green Bay “mold” as a versatile blocker, that’s Auburn’s Dillon Wade.

Dillon started at left tackle at Tulsa in 2022 and Auburn in 2023. In 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, he played 379 snaps at left guard, 254 at left guard and 116 at right tackle. In 2025, he settled in and played 743 snaps at left guard.

“I’m a very durable player, first and foremost,” he told NFL Draft On SI’s Justin Melo. “I played every snap for four consecutive seasons. I’m just extremely dependable and trustworthy. You can put me on the field knowing I’m going to get the job done.”

At 6-foot-3 3/8 with 31 7/8-inch arms, he doesn’t have the goods to hold up at tackle. But that tackle experience and athleticism should give him a chance to compete at guard.

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