Packers Rookie Minicamp Will Be First Step for Big-Play RB Jaden Nixon

On Saturday, Jaden Nixon’s dream came true. The big-play running back, who is a second cousin with the legendary Adrian Peterson, was signed by the Green Bay Packers.

“It’s unreal,” Nixon told Packers On SI this week. “I still haven’t fully processed it. I’m sitting here thinking I’m going to be out there in a few days with some of the best of the best. I got this opportunity to go out here and do me, play my game and just play football, have fun, you know what I mean?

“That’s all I want to do. I love playing football because it’s fun to me. So, it’s not going to be a job to me. It’s something that I get to wake up and do every day. So, just to have this opportunity with these players and the coaches and the environment, I’m blessed, man.”

The Packers selected six players and added 11 undrafted free agents during last week’s NFL Draft, with those 17 rookies making their debut on Friday at the rookie minicamp. Nixon is the only running back, a position of need, added to the roster this offseason.

Nixon said he was “anxious” through the draft as he waited to find out where he’d be continuing his career.

“It’s crazy, because my agent (Cliff Brady) called me right before everything started and said, ‘I got a call from Green Bay. We’ll see what happens,” Nixon said. “Then I saw they traded those last two picks, and I was like, ‘Ahhh,’ you know what I mean? I was like, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’ll just see.’

“They called my agent right after and told him they wanted me. Other teams were talking about camp, but Green Bay made it clear they really wanted me and believed they could use me in a lot of different ways. I’ve been hearing great things about the program, the coaches and the whole environment there. So, I’m excited to get up there, learn everything, and just be around the program and the team and the people.”

Jaden Nixon Is Explosive Running Back

It’s easy to see why the Packers believed in him.

Nixon spent his first three seasons at Oklahoma State. He wasn’t used often, but he caught three touchdown passes and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Nixon transferred to Western Michigan in 2024 and had a breakout season with 919 rushing yards (6.2 average) and 12 touchdowns.

He finished his college career at Central Florida in 2025. He rushed for 554 yards and averaged a rather ridiculous 7.8 yards per carry. Of his seven rushing touchdowns, four were longer than 50 yards. Against North Carolina A&T, he had rushing touchdowns of 87 and 66 yards and a kickoff-return touchdown of 96 yards.

What allowed him to make so many big plays?

“Speed is one,” he said. “My speed, it’s one thing that’s key to my game. I see a hole and I’m gone. Like, once I hit it, I can get loose quick. And then another thing is my vision. You can’t just hit it. Sometimes, you have to hit and hope for the best, run through the smoke. But sometimes, you got to read it out, and those decisions got to be quick sometimes.

“So, I feel like I’m a good reader and I can read out how plays and everything look, how sometimes things set up, and sometimes I might be able to see it before it happens. So, I feel like between my speed and vision, being able to see it and hit it, shoot, that’s one thing that allows me to get loose.”

Nixon’s speed comes from his parents.

Central Florida Knights running back Jaden Nixon rushes for an 83-yard touchdown in the second half against West Virginia. | Russell Lansford-Imagn Images

His father, Jeroid, played football and ran on the track team at Oklahoma State. He didn’t play in the NFL but he’s in the top 20 in Arena Football League history in tackles and interceptions.

“Make the most of your opportunities,” was his advice, Nixon recalled. “You never know what opportunity you’re going to get. Even if it’s just you’re at the store and some old lady needs help getting her water case put in her cart, you never know who that old lady may be. That’s an opportunity right there.

“Whether it’s going out there, staying late after practice and everything, that’s an opportunity. Asking questions in the meeting room is an opportunity. You just never know when that little moment is going to give you a chance to get on the field or to do something amazing and everything like that. So, just stay patient, stay hungry, and wait for your moment and make the most of every opportunity you get.

His mom, Tina, held the Oklahoma State record in the long jump.

“Just be you. That’s all it is,” was her advice. “She’s like, people love who I am and what I do and the energy I bring and stuff like that. Don’t let situations that don’t go your way take away from who you are. Just be you. Be that energetic, fun, loving person that she knows I am.”

NFL Career Begins Now

UCF Knights running back Jaden Nixon (5) makes a catch against the Cincinnati Bearcats. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

The Packers’ rookie minicamp, which will be held on Friday and Saturday, will be the first step on the path to what Nixon hopes will be an NFL career.

Now that he’s made it to the NFL, why will he stay in the NFL?

“Just the type of player I am,” he said. “I stay late, I work hard. I’m always learning, trying to understand why this play works and why that play might not work, who we’re playing against, what type of defense they like to run, how we can combat that. I just love being around football. I love playing football.

“Like I said, this is fun to me. I wake up energetic and excited to play football, and I bring that energy to the field. I always know what I’m doing. I’m always locked into what I got to do, so I can move to different spots and different positions. So, it’s like not only can I be used in one way; I can be used in multiple ways. So, that’s just some ways I feel like I can be sticking to the team.

“Like you said, I had some big plays. I got big playmaking capability and sometimes that can change a game.”

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