Packers’ Potential First Pick Will Have NFL Draft Visit

The Green Bay Packers have a big need at defensive tackle. That was true coming into the offseason, and it got even bigger with the trade of Colby Wooden to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for linebacker Zaire Franklin.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

According to NFL insider Aaron Wilson, former Georgia defensive tackle Christen Miller is scheduled to be one of the team’s 30 draft visits.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has a strong history of drafting players who visited before the draft, and he has a long history of drafting players from Georgia. Since 2021, Gutekunst has spent three first-round picks and one second-round pick on players from coach Kirby Smart’s program. That includes using two first round picks in 2022 on linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt.

Miller is one of the top run-stopping defensive tackles in the draft. As a pass rusher, he had zero sacks in 2025 but generated 16 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Of 136 FBS-level defensive tackles in this draft class who had at least 200 pass-rushing opportunities, Miller ranked 15th in pass-rush win rate.

Miller is seen as an ascending player whose power should translate well to the NFL level. Miller measured in at 6-foot-4 and 321 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.

His scouting report from Lance Zierlein of NFL.com sounds like a perfect description for what the Packers need on their defensive line.

“Miller is an even-front nose tackle who can rattle pads and gain early advantages at the point of attack,” Zierlein said as part of a longer scouting report.

“He has good stack-and-shed against single blocks but lacks the prototypical mass of a space-eater. … He’ll continue to bulk up and should become a good starter who is more consistent than dominant along the interior.”

Packers Have Big Need

Green Bay’s defensive line started strong last season but ultimately cratered down the stretch with the loss of Wyatt on Thanksgiving.

By the time the season ended, they were rotating players claimed off the street or opposing practice squads with the likes of Jonathan Ford and Jordon Riley.

If the Packers had to play a game today, their starting nose tackle in the 3-4 front that they plan to transition to under new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon would be Ford or Nazir Stackhouse, an undrafted free agent last year from – you guessed it – Georgia.

Ford had a few nice moments down the stretch last season and Stackhouse bounced in and out of the lineup. Both would have to make significant improvements this offseason to be an impact player on Green Bay’s front.

Miller is someone who could have a path to playing time almost immediately.

Miller’s play on the field does plenty of talking, but so does his mouth. Miller was someone who was described as a player with an infectious personality, similar to that of former teammate Warren Brinson, a sixth-round pick by the Packers last year.

He’s willing to tell jokes and integrated himself well into Georgia’s locker room.

“Kirby [Smart] has said some crazy, out-of-pocket stuff. Coach is crazy,” Miller said via SI.com. “But the funniest thing he ever said to me, we have a lot of encounters. So one day, I was like, ‘Damn, Coach, you're looking small as hell today. He said 'Not if I stand on my wallet.' and I was just like, ‘Damn.’”

The Packers have put a premium on the character of the players they add to the team, which is usually one reason they bring them in on a visit prior to the draft. They want to get to know the person they’re bringing into the locker room. That’s especially true with the ever-changing landscape of college football.

“This is where the scouting process, in my opinion, is so imperative is you’ve got to do a lot of digging to find out how much not only do they love the game but do they need it,” coach Matt LaFleur said after last year’s draft.

“I think guys that are genuinely invested and love it, you’re going to get the most out of them. Our scouts do an unbelievable job of uncovering some of that stuff because, if you ask them all, they’re all going to give you pretty much the same answer.”

Becoming a Pro

Miller had plenty to say at the Scouting Combine, where he said he nearly declared for the draft last year before deciding to stay in Athens for one more year.

Miller said that decision not only helped him, but changed him.

“I knew I wanted to graduate, I knew I wanted to be a leader for the team and be a captain for the team, and I knew I wasn’t ready to be an NFL player yet,” Miller said via Dawg Nation. “Because I wasn’t moving like a pro yet, I wasn’t writing my notes in the meeting room, I wasn’t taking care of pro business. Football stuff, I was doing what I was supposed to do, but I wanted to be a pro.

“When I came out this year, I wanted to be ready mentally, physically and being prepared.”

That change came after what Miller called time where he was living “a little too fast” early in his college career, which included an incident where he was cited for driving 30 miles over the speed limit.

Presumably, that is something the Packers will want to ask him about.

“When mistakes like that happen, it teaches you, you have to grow up fast, and I had to understand that decision I made when I was speeding, it not only affect me, but it affected my teammates and my family,” Miller said.

“So I had to understand that I have to be more intentional when I’m driving. If I’m going 10 (mph) over, I have to see that and be a man. I came as a boy and I left as a man, and I feel like I said earlier, the people around me hold me to a certain standard, I’m a whole different guy now, for sure.”

That “whole different guy” could bring a whole different feel to Green Bay’s defense as it attempts to fill a massive hole right in the middle of its defensive line.

“I watched for the last four years every guy come through here and do their pro day,” Miller said at pro day. “And just now that I’m doing it, it was like I had the best butterflies ever. Just knowing that now I’m in this position because of my hard work, because of my due diligence, because of me staying down and not leaving.”

Packers Predraft Visits

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER