Packers Host Power Pass Rusher on NFL Draft Visit

Potential Packers draft pick Elijah Roberts had 17.5 sacks during his two seasons at SMU. His pass-rush win rate – and who he ranked with – was outstanding.

Southern Methodist Mustangs defensive end Elijah Roberts | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers need to upgrade their pass rush. SMU’s Elijah Roberts knows how to rush the passer.

Roberts, who had 17.5 sacks during his two seasons at the school, had a predraft visit with the Packers on Monday, according to PackersNews.com’s Tom Silverstein.

Roberts fits what the Packers typically like on the edge. That’s big and powerful rather than small and quick. He measured 6-foot-3 5/8 and 285 pounds with 33 5/8-inch arms. With 4.78 speed in the 40, his Relative Athletic Score was 6.84.

Roberts was selected for the East-West Shrine Game after being second-team all-conference in 2023, when he had 10 sacks and 12.5 tackles for losses, and an honorable mention in 2024, when he had 7.5 sacks and 11 TFLs.

“It just feels good to be recognized, but you've just got to know that there's always more," Roberts said after the game. “I feel like I've always been able to do what I've done this week, but now it's just for people to see now. It's for the world to kind of, 'OK, who's that?' But you've got to keep going.”

He had a sack in the game to cap a successful week.

“I wasn't really trying to prove anything specific,” he told The Draft Network’s Justin Melo. “I just wanted to show that I'm a quality football player. I know people have that tweener tag on me. Talking inside-outside flexibility, I'm just a football player at the end of the day.

“You can line me up anywhere. I just play ball with terrific instincts and physicality. I have a lot of passion for the game. We weren't at the East-West Shrine for very long, but I think I highlighted my love for the game.”

Roberts had just one-half sack in three seasons at Miami. He transferred in the quest for playing time.

“Whether that was in this conference or that conference. I would have even gone down to DII if no DI team wanted me,” he said on The First Team Podcast. “I just wanted to play and I felt like if I could play meaningful snaps and be a guy who was counted on, I felt like I could produce.”

He certainly produced at SMU, though the sack numbers don’t do his production justice.

There were 141 draft-eligible edge defenders who played at least 200 pass-rushing snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. Roberts ranked fifth in pass-rush win rate – he was behind Michigan’s Josaiah Stewart, Tennessee’s James Pearce, Mississippi’s Princely Umanmielen and Penn State’s Abdul Carter and ahead of LSU’s Bradyn Swinson, Louisville’s Ashton Gillotte and Marshall’s Mike Green.

“I would describe myself as an effective pass rusher,” he told Melo. “When it comes to defeating blocks, it's tough to beat me one-on-one. You can't beat me in protection with one blocker. I'm very physical. I'm also twitchy. …

“I switch up my arsenal as needed. I'm definitely a power rusher, though. I feel like you have to start every game with power, just to let them know what kind of game it's going to be against me.”

In a deep edge-rushing class, Roberts shouldn’t last too long into Day 3.

“Ever since I started playing ball, it has been a dream,” Roberts said on the podcast of playing in the NFL. “I just want to make sure that I leave nothing to chance this year. I just want to put myself in the best position to get drafted, wherever that is. I just don’t want to have any regrets.”