The Five Undrafted Rookies With Best Chance of Making Packers’ Roster

The Green Bay Packers have had at least one undrafted free agent make the opening roster for 21 consecutive years. There’s a good chance that streak will hit 22.

Green Bay’s six-man draft class is tied for the smallest in franchise history. The Packers have a strong roster, which is why general manager Brian Gutekunst wasn’t losing any sleep about going from eight picks to six. If there were missed opportunities in the draft, he made up for it in undrafted free agency by signing several players who were worthy of being drafted.

Here’s our ranking of the five players with the best chance of earning a shot on the 53-man roster.

No. 5: RB Jaden Nixon

The one glaring omission from the draft was at running back. After letting Emanuel Wilson sign with Seattle in free agency, the Packers did not draft a running back. As it stands, hard-charging Chris Brooks will be the next man up, unless MarShawn Lloyd can finally stay healthy or former draft picks Pierre Strong (fourth round, Browns, 2022) or Damien Martinez (seventh round, Seahawks, 2025) rise to the occasion.

The uncertainty gives Jaden Nixon a chance. Nixon in three seasons at Oklahoma State, one at Western Michigan and one at Central Florida rushed for 1,973 yards with 6.1-yard average. Last season, he averaged a whopping 7.8 yards per rush. He added kickoff-return touchdowns in 2022 and 2025.

Talk about explosive: While only 5-foot-9 1/4 and 199 pounds with 4.54 speed, he had four touchdown runs of longer than 50 yards last season. Against North Carolina A&T, he had touchdown runs of 87 and 66 yards and a 96-yard kickoff-return touchdown.

“If you cut the film on, you see that I’m explosive,” he said at pro day. “I can run, I can catch … and, throughout my career, kick return, as well. I can hit the hole and I can go. Punt return. So, if you want me coming out the backfield to go catch a ball, if you need somebody to break a long run or something like that, even just to grind and get a few yards, I can do that, as well. So, I'm explosive, talented, can catch. I'm big on returning.”

His second cousin is NFL legend Adrian Peterson. His father played football at Oklahoma State and in the Arena Football League. His mom was Oklahoma State’s record-holder in the long jump.

No. 4: Edge Nyjalik Kelly

The Packers drafted Kingsley Enagbare in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. He measured 6-foot-3 3/4 and 258 pounds with 34 3/4-inch arms and ran his 40 in 4.87. Nyjalik Kelly measured 6-foot-5 3/8 and 256 pounds with 35 1/8-inch arms and 4.88 speed in the 40. So, there’s a similar physical toolbox.

Kelly had 8.5 sacks, 17 tackles for losses and five forced fumbles during his two seasons at Central Florida.

Enagbare signed with the Jets in free agency and Rashan Gary was traded to Dallas, leaving some holes on the depth chart. Fourth-round pick Dani Dennis-Sutton will take one of those roster spots. Kelly will have a shot to take the other.

“When they pull my film out,” he said at pro day, “what's on the film is me showcasing my length, my bend, and my athleticism to be able to cover, rush the passer, and play the run.”

No. 3: TE Eni Falayi

Wake Forest Demon Deacons tight end Eni Falayi (84) catches the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Another omission from the draft was the lack of an old-school tight end with blocking ability. That role was held last season by John FitzPatrick, who suffered a torn Achilles in December.

Falayi has size and athletic upside. At 6-foot-4 7/8 and 249 pounds, his Relative Athletic Score was 8.33. As a senior, he caught 21 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns with only one drop. He was used a lot in pass protection.

“If there was one thing coming out of this draft, it would have been nice to add a Y-tight end kind of body,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said after the draft. “That’ll be something we’ll probably continue to look at.”

That look ended with Falayi, which will give him a shot to earn a roster spot.

“Outstanding young man. Can’t say enough good things about him,” Wake Forest tight ends coach Wesley Beschorner told Packers On SI.

“He played every snap. You just don’t see that very often. Three or four games, he played every offensive snap. He had a high-ankle sprain that he played through, and he only missed one week. The guy is incredibly tough. He played split out, he played attached, he played in the hip. He did everything.”

As a run blocker, Beschorner said he was “really good.”

“And for a lot of reasons,” he continued. “He’s strong, he’s long. That’s something that people aren’t aware of is he’s got such long arms that he can keep people away from the runner, which is ideal. Does it always look dominant? No, but he was just really good.”

No. 2: WR J Michael Sturdivant

Sturdivant looked like the next big thing when he caught 65 passes for 755 yards and seven touchdowns as a redshirt freshman at Cal in 2022. He never got close to hitting those numbers the rest of his career, though, including the 2025 season at Florida, where he caught 27 passes for 406 yards and three touchdowns.

However, big and fast will never go out of style. As the East-West Shrine Bowl’s Eric Galko put it, he’s got “elite height, weight, speed” at almost 6-foot-3 with 4.40 speed in the 40 and a 39-inch vertical jump. He’ll benefit from infinitely better quarterback play in Green Bay than he did with the Gators.

“That profile almost always gets drafted,” Galko said. “The production was low because UCLA’s quarterbacks and Florida’s quarterbacks, let’s just call it, struggled, the last two years,”

There’s a clear path to the roster, with a wide-open battle for the sixth receiver spot behind Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams and Skyy Moore.

No. 1: G Dillon Wade

This offseason, the Packers released Elgton Jenkins and let Rasheed Walker go in free agency. That means they are down two on the offensive line, with only Jager Burton added.

That means there’s a clear runway for Dillon Wade to earn a spot.

During his final four seasons (2022 at Tulane, 2023 through 2025 at Auburn), Wade started all 49 games with 31 at left tackle, 17 at left guard and one at right tackle. After starting at left tackle in 2022 and 2023 and bouncing around in 2024, Wade started all 12 games at left guard in 2025, though he worked on center in his “free time” to help him get ready for the NFL.

The Packers, of course, covet versatility among their blockers.

“He’ll be an interior guy in the NFL,” Galko said, “but the big thing for Dillon Wade is mentally he can play center, he can handle those spots at a really high level. He can tell you what all five spots did on every play.”

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