Packers Pick Oklahoma State Playmaker Collin Oliver in Fifth Round of Draft

Collin Oliver had three seasons of outstanding production at Oklahoma State. After missing most of 2024 with a foot injury, he is healthy, athletic and ready to show what he can do.

Oklahoma State Cowboys defensive end Collin Oliver (30) puts pressure on Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers. | Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Collin Oliver, whose dominant start to his career at Oklahoma State led to an incredible comparison by his coach, was the Green Bay Packers’ fifth-round draft pick on Saturday.

Oliver will be new to the team and playing a new role on Green Bay’s defense.

Oliver was second-team all-Big 12, the unanimous Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American in 2021 with a conference-leading 11.5 sacks along with 16 tackles for losses. In 2022, he was second-team all-conference choice with five sacks and eight tackles for losses. In 2023, he was second-team all-conference again. As a team captain, he had six sacks, 16 tackles for losses, a conference-leading four forced fumbles and a career-high 73 tackles.

However, his 2024 season ended after just two games because of a broken foot.

At 240 pounds, is Oliver a linebacker, which his size suggests? An edge, which is what he played most of the time?

Packers director of football operations Milt Hendrickson thought he could ill a “niche” the team hasn’t utilized. 

Designated pass rusher.

“The niche is that he’s a really good football player,” he said. “If you say the old-school DPR situational pass rusher, if you want to put a tag on him right now, I’d say that’s probably if you were to put him in a position that would be it.”

Oliver’s 2023 film was so good that the injury kept him on the team’s radar.

“He’s one of those guys that makes an impact when you watch on tape, and it initially doesn’t always come through on the stat sheet,” Hendrickson said. “Then through the process at the Senior Bowl and then he worked at Indy [at the Scouting Combine], as well, so there’s a comfort level with where he’s at. We talk versatility so much, but I think he’s more than just a versatile player. He’s got a niche that I think is going to allow him to see the field.”

Hendrickson said Oliver will start with the defensive ends and potentially will get an opportunity at linebacker. He does have that background.

In 2022, Oliver mostly played on the edge. In 2023, his playing time was split between edge and off-the-ball linebacker. In 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, 79 of his 80 snaps came on the edge.

It was a huge loss for the Cowboys, with coach Mike Gundy comparing him to Christian McCaffrey.

“Quite a few of the things that we’ve done in the last few years were built around freeing him up,” Gundy said after the injury. “Just like they do in the NFL with great pass rushers. At this level, he’s a great pass rusher, and so that set us back.”

That was Gundy’s way of calling him versatile.

“It was a unique comparison, but Coach Gundy is Coach Gundy,” he said during his introductory Zoom with reporters. “He is unique, and that’s my guy. I love Coach Gundy and that comparison was pretty funny.”

Oliver is healthy now, saying the injury “is of no concern to anybody.” He was picked for the Senior Bowl, where he wanted to prove he was one of the “top edge rushers” in the country.

“That I can do everything a great edge rusher can do at the next level,” he said of his goal at the Senior Bowl. “I’m among the top pass rushers in the 2025 NFL Draft. I believe that. I should be a candidate to be considered among the top prospects in this draft. That’s what I want to prove.”

He also wanted to prove he was healthy.

“It was very important. I needed to show coaches and scouts that I was fully healed,” he said during his Zoom. 

In 43 career games, Oliver finished with 23.5 sacks and 42 tackles for losses.

“It’s always speed with me,” he said of his game.

At the Scouting Combine, he measured 6-foot-1 3/4 and 240 pounds, ran his 40 in 4.58 seconds and assembled a Relative Athletic Score of 9.74.

Florida cornerback Jason Marshall (Dolphins) and SMU edge Elijah Roberts (Buccaneers), who had draft visits with the Packers went in the 10 picks before Green Bay was on the clock.

A drone show over Ray Nitschke Field closes out the second day of the NFL Draft on Friday. | William Glasheen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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