Packer Central

Packers Make Big Move – Literally – on Defensive Line

The Green Bay Packers were a man down at defensive tackle after losing Devonte Wyatt to a season-ending ankle injury against the Lions.
Bill Huber|
New Packers defensive tackle Jordon Riley is shown during Giants training camp.
New Packers defensive tackle Jordon Riley is shown during Giants training camp. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers filled a void on their defensive line by signing defensive tackle Jordon Riley to the 53-man off the New York Giants’ practice squad.

Wearing No. 97, he was in uniform at practice on Wednesday, including working with Nazir Stackhouse.

The Packers had an open roster spot after releasing receiver Will Sheppard and will have another when they place defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt on injured reserve due to last week’s ankle injury. It’s a big move – literally. Before being drafted by the Giants in the seventh round of the 2023 draft, he measured 6-foot-5 3/8 and 338 pounds.

Riley played in eight games as a rookie and 13 games last year, when he started five games and contributed 12 tackles, including three tackles for losses. He has four TFLs and zero sacks in 21 games.

This year, he was released at the end of training camp and signed to their practice squad.

Wyatt’s season-ending injury left a void on the defensive line, leaving the Packers with third-year pros Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks and rookies Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse.

Brooks, who missed most of the last three games due to injury, was back at practice on Wednesday.

Riley had quite the nomadic college career. He spent the 2017 and 2018 season at North Carolina before transferring to Garden City Community College in 2019. He then moved on to Nebraska, where he played six games in 2020 and 10 games in 2021, when he was academic all-Big Ten.

He wrapped up his college career at Oregon, where he started all 13 games in 2023 and had 21 tackles, a half-sack and one tackle for loss.

“Words can’t describe it. I came a long way,” Riley said after being drafted. “This was just a blessing to be in this building. I come from a small town in Durham, N.C. Opportunities like this are slim. I really think it’s a blessing, and I’m just glad to be here. With all the stops, I just think I fell in the right place here in New York. I’m just blessed to be able to be in this great tradition, great building.”

He said he was speechless when he was drafted, though he never lost faith that it would happen, even after going the junior-college route.

"It was definitely a humbling experience, just coming from DI and just being out there, not having all the resources, not having all the help that you usually get at D-I," he said. "It really taught me a lot. It helped me be the man I am today, and I just appreciate being out there."

As you might imagine with his size, he was drafted to stop the run.

"A lot of them watched my film and they liked what I bring to the run game and stuff like that. But other than that, no, I didn't really hear that," he said.

He was drafted to a well-stocked Giants defensive line that included Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams and A’Shawn Robinson.

"He's really just improved day-by-day," then-Giants coach Brian Daboll said during Riley’s rookie training camp. "Come into this league, it's all new and then you are inside, he's big, he's long, he can bend. He's learning stuff every day from Dre and Cox but then I'd say those four veterans they are really good teammates and they take those guys underneath their wings and talk to them a lot and he's done a good job of listening and just trying to get better each day."

Having played at four colleges, he’s moved around a lot, which might help him as he has a fresh start to his NFL career with the Packers.

"It's kind of like my journey," he said after being drafted. "I've been different places. I've been to different colleges, and I had to meet new people, new facilities and new coaches. It's all a part of my journey. ...

"Each part was a part of my journey. I just feel like I just learned to just never stop, never get too down on myself, just keep going, keep pursuing. Even all the adversity I went through, I think just stay humble and just keep going."

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.