Packers Show Interest in Receiver Whose Father Was NFL Punter

The statistics don’t jump off the page from seven years at two colleges, but the athletic testing numbers were sensational for a late-round or undrafted prospect.

Clemson defensive back Andrew Booth, Jr.(23) tackles Wofford receiver Landon Parker in 2019. | Ken Ruinard / staff, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers like versatile players. And they like Troy receiver Landon Parker.

According to NFL insider Aaron Wilson, the Packers had a private meeting with Parker at Troy’s pro day last week.

Parker is the son of Daren Parker, who punted for the Denver Broncos in 1992.

Landon Parker had a huge day at pro day, where he measured 6-foot-2 and 214 pounds and produced a 4.41 in the 40, 38.5-inch vertical and a 6.64 in the three-cone drill. That later performance would have ranked No. 1 among all players at the Scouting Combine; Oregon receiver Tez Johnson was No. 1 in 6.65 seconds – a tenth of a second faster than any other receiver – followed by Iowa State cornerback Darien Porter in 6.71.

His 19 reps on the bench press would have ranked second among receivers at the Combine.

With nothing but elite numbers, his Relative Athletic Score was an elite 9.97 out of 10.

Parker spent his first five collegiate seasons at Wofford. He caught 60 passes during his career, highlighted by 40 receptions for 803 yards (20.1 average) and three touchdowns during his final season in 2022.

Parker started his career at receiver, moved to tight end and then went back to receiver. He also followed in his father’s footsteps by punting, where he had a 43.5-yard career average.

From there, it was off to Troy. He caught eight passes in 2023 and 27 passes for 350 yards (13.0 average) and zero touchdowns with two drops in 2024, his numbers hurt because the team’s starting quarterback missed most of the season. He did not punt.

“I’m determined,” he told NFL Draft Diamonds. “I put in extra work to continually work on skills to get better each and every day. I never give up and understand the NFL is made up of elite athletes. I believe I am one of them given the opportunity. Not only can I make athletic catches and blocks as a receiver, but I bring versatility as I can also punt the ball.”

Parker switched to No. 1 for his final season to honor his father, who wore No. 1 while at South Carolina. His mom played volleyball at South Carolina – she was the school’s all-time leader in blocks – and an older brother, Austin, punted at Duke, so sports are in his DNA.

At Mt. Pleasant (N.C.) High School, he was a state champion in the high jump. He had just started the event a few weeks earlier.

“At the end of practice one day, he was just messing around and wanted to give it a try,” Austin, who was the school’s jumps coach, said at the time.

“He went up and actually jumped really high, with some pretty decent form for having never done it before,” Austin continued. “I was like, ‘Man, if you kind of worked at this, at the end of season you could probably qualify for regionals and maybe even make states.’”

The Packers have 10 receivers under contract, including injured Christian Watson. Cornelius Johnson and Julian Hicks were on the practice squad last season and returned on futures contracts and Tulu Griffin was signed to a futures contract.