Green Bay Packers legend Mason Crosby weighs in, endorsing Trey Smack as the draft's top kicker who could potentially bolster Green Bay's special teams unit.
Mason Crosby's opinion on the Green Bay Packers carries a ton of weight. His opinion on kickers has to be considered even stronger, though.
Crosby is a Packers legend, through and through. After being selected by the Packers in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft out of Colorado, he went on to have an incredible career. Crosby kicked in Green Bay for 16 seasons and won a Super Bowl with the team.
When it comes to modern-day Packer greats, he's on the Mount Rushmore alongside players like Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and Clay Matthews.
With all that said, if Crosby is okay with Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst trading two 2026 seventh-round picks to move up into the end of the sixth round to select Florida Gators kicker Trey Smack, we should all be okay with it, too.
"He was the No. 1-graded kicker in this draft. He's the best kicker in this draft," Crosby said on the Wisconsin Sports Radio Network. "If you don't think you're going to add value in that seventh round or in that area, why go and just get somebody that you're going to have to maybe release or figure something out with? Get a guy that can and go and compete right now and maybe bolster that position for a long time to come."
It's worth noting that Packers fans have some recent PTSD at kicker. Brandon McManus is the player Smack is going to have to beat out in fall camp, but he missed six kicks last season (not all his fault) and in the playoff loss to the Chicago Bears, he accounted for seven lost points via two missed field goals and an extra point that went off the upright.
Fans may also remember back to Gutekunst selecting Anders Carlson in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Carlson was supposed to be the heir apparent to Crosby but he made just 27-of-33 kicks in his rookie season while also missing five extra points.
The Packers cut Carlson after just one season, but Crosby doesn't think it's fair to make a comparison between him and Smack.
Nov 1, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators kicker Trey Smack (29) kicks the ball in the first quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images."Everyone's going to compare this draft to the Anders Carlson one, but this kid's productivity speaks for itself," Crosby said. "He had a really good career there at Florida. Hits a great ball. When I watch him, he has all the skill set to go and get the job done. Carlson kinda had that weird--he was a little more straight-on vertical, a lot of movement with his ball. Smack doesn't look to have any of that."
Again, if Crosby is okay with it, the rest of us should be okay too.
Smack was considered the top kicker in the 2026 draft. In three seasons at Florida, he hit 53-of-64 kicks (82.8%) and 100-of-101 extra points. He went 10-of-13 from 50-plus yards and boasted a career long of 56.
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