From a high-stakes kicking gamble to an elite speedster in the secondary, there are specific prospects that emerge as the primary impact players for the Green Bay Packers' 2026 draft class.
The Green Bay Packers brought in a small class in the 2026 NFL Draft.
It's just how things worked out. They didn't have a first-round pick due to the trade that made Micah Parsons a Packer ahead of the 2025 season. General manager Brian Gutekunst also traded away two picks during the course of the draft.
In all, six players make up Green Bay's 2026 rookie class. They're not all going to contribute in 2026, but half of them should end up making an impact on this upcoming season.
The first player is obvious, though ironically, he was the last player Gutekunst selected.
That would be kicker Trey Smack, who the Packers picked at the end of the sixth round after trading up.
It was always obvious that Smack would get the chance to compete to be the starter right away in Green, but the Packers basically but the onus on him to be "the guy" from jump street when they released veteran kicker Brandon McManus.
The initial thought coming out of the draft was that McManus and Smack would have a kicking competition this fall. Instead, the Packers are putting all their eggs in the Smack basket.
"I think it was only fair to Brandon and to our football team to make the move now," LaFleur said of the moves at kicker. "I think we were just trying to put Trey in the best position possible moving forward, and he's going to get the bulk of it."
That's the Smack situation. The Packers are going to give him every chance to succeed and be their everyday kicker from day one.
He's not the only rookie who may play in 2026, though. The Packers obviously thought highly of cornerback Brandon Cisse out of South Carolina to make him their first pick in this past draft. As mentioned, that first pick came in the second round, but Cisse has elite speed, athleticism and all the markings of a potential CB1.
It will take him a bit of time to get used to covering wide receivers at the NFL level, and no rookie cornerback should ever be expected to be CB1 from day one.
Cisse should quickly be nipping at Carrington Valentine's heels, though, and it wouldn't be surprising if he overtook the former seventh-round pick on the depth chart by the time the 2026 season is complete.
Lastly, there's big defensive tackle Chris McClellan, who the Packers liked so much that they traded up seven spots in the third round to get him at No. 77 overall.
McClellan checks in at a beefy 6-3¾, 313 pounds, and he's versatile enough to play anywhere on the defensive line for the Packers. They've got a need for depth behind Javon Hargrave and Devonte Wyatt when he gets back onto the field. Notably, though, McClelland saw first team snaps in OTAs at 3-4 defensive end, nickel defensive tackle, and even nose tackle.
That doesn't mean he'll be a starter to start the year, but moreso, it shows that defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is already trying to figure out ways to use his versatility on the defensive line. \
McClellan will absolutely see snaps as a rookie, and potentially significant snaps at that.
The rest of the players in this class could surprise some folk. There's need for production on the EDGE and Dani Dennis-Sutton has potential coming out of Penn State. Jager Burton could find himself as a sub on the interior of the offensive line, and cornerback Domani Jackson has high-upside but it is untapped.
It's almost guaranteed that Smack, Cisse and McClellan will play a role in 2026, though, so they're absolutely the rookies to keep an eye on this summer.
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