The 2026 NFL Draft is still two months away, but fans are already looking ahead to it as this year’s scouting combine is underway in Indianapolis. Over the course of the upcoming weeks, fans and analysts will attempt to determine which players their teams will select. The hope, of course, is that each player drafted will turn out to be solid NFL players that will contribute to a winning team.
Unfortunately, that does not always happen. Some players, especially those taken in the later rounds, do not always end up sticking in the NFL or with the teams that originally drafted. them And even more unfortunate, some players taken early do not either. And then the “bust” is born.
Wisconsin Sports Heroics takes a look at some picks from 2020-2025 that can be considered Packers Draft busts thus far.
Green Bay Packers fans chant “Go Pack, Go!” during the third and final day of the 2025 NFL Draft on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Biggest Packers Draft Busts: Were Lessons Learned?
2020 NFL Draft: Josiah Deguara- third round (84th overall pick)
There could be an argument that AJ Dillon could be considered a bust from this round. After all, he was a second round pick whose tenure in Green Bay was marred by injuries towards the end. Making the jump to the NFL. However, he did have two solid seasons as the primary RB2.
Josiah Deguara, on the other hand, never emerged to be the offensive weapon that the Packers wanted him to be. In four seasons, he had 47 receptions for 436 yards and two touchdowns. To put that low level of production in perspective, Tucker Kraft, also a top-100 third round pick, had 32 receptions for 489 yards and six touchdowns in eight games last year alone.
Deguara spent the 2024 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars and 2025 with the Arizona Cardinals. He has six receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown in the last two years combined. Much of his time has been spent off the field and on the bench, and one can click here to see how players in similar situations end up spending their time.
**2021 NFL Draft:**Amari Rodgers- third round (85th overall)
There could be an argument that Eric Stokes could be considered a bust for the Packers after two injury-riddled seasons out of his four with the Packers. But his rookie campaign was exceptionally good and he was far from bad in his fourth year. Furthermore, he had a really solid year for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025. Perhaps if Green Bay had the chance to do it again, they would have picked up his fifth-year option.
The one player from this draft that stands out as a glaring bust is wide receiver Amari Rodgers, who many believed was going to be the next Randall Cobb in Green Bay. Unfortunately, he never was able to climb up the wide receiver depth chart and had serious fumble issues when he was the Packers kick returner.
Not only did Rodgers wash out of the NFL by 2023, he also has since retired from football altogether after some lackluster seasons in the USFL.
**2022 NFL Draft:**None
Fans may have varying opinions on players taken in this draft, like Quay Walker, Christian Watson, and Sean Rhyan. But the fact of the matter is that they all ended up contributing to Green Bay in varying degrees with the exception of seventh round pick Tariq Carpenter, who is no longer in the league.
Jonathan Ford and Samori Toure, both seventh round picks, did not last long in Green Bay, but are still consistently on NFL rosters/practice squads.
**2023 NFL Draft:**Anders Carlson- sixth round (207th overall pick)
Luke Musgrave has been a massive disappointment as a second round pick who never emerged into the prime Jimmy Graham-like player many envisioned he would be. Injuries have been an issue and Kraft has far surpassed him as the tight end of both the present and future.
But perhaps the worst pick in this particular draft was the selection of Anders Carlson in the sixth round. There is a reason why many do not believe NFL teams should draft kickers, and the team wasting a sixth round pick on Carlson is a prime example as to why.
He led the NFL in missed kicks in 2023 and ended up losing the kicking job in 2024. After bouncing around the NFL in 2024, he did not end up kicking for any team in 2025.
**2024 NFL Draft:**Marshawn Lloyd- third round (88th overall)
There is still time for Marshawn Lloyd to shed bust status, but the fact of the matter is that he has only been healthy enough to play one game in two years since being drafted by the Packers, and he got hurt in it.
He has two more seasons to prove that he can stay healthy and be an effective contributor to the offense, but he is oftentimes forgotten by fans because he is always on the injured list.
Hopefully 2026 is better for him.
**2025 NFL Draft:**None- yet
Fans may be upset about the low level of production from first round pick Matthew Golden as a rookie, but the fact of the matter is that, by Packers standards, he did not have a very bad year at all. Rather, he was brought along in the same way that Green Bay has done many of their wide receivers early in their career as they played behind veterans.
Furthermore, one NFL season is not enough to declare a player a bust. At this time next year, though, there could start to be conversations along those lines.
image credit: Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin