The Green Bay Packers are going into the 2026 season with Super Bowl aspirations. As is typically the case, a lot of the focus is on who is new to the roster.
However, the reality is a lot of the improvement for a team comes from those that were on the roster to close out the prior season.
That’s especially true in Green Bay, a dedicated draft-and-develop franchise in which the Year 2 jump is practically a necessity. As players get ready for their second season in the NFL, they know the playbook, they’re familiar with NFL competition and they get to spend the offseason focusing on football rather than Scouting Combine drills.
“I think it just kind of naturally happens for a lot of guys,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “Year 1 as a rookie, there’s just so much on your plate, trying to learn a whole new scheme (and), obviously, trying to go play now at the highest level there is. It takes time. I know for me it definitely did, and it wasn’t all clicking my rookie year. It takes time and reps.”
The 2025 draft class started with a bang and ended with a player who is no longer on the roster. Here is the outlook, starting with Matthew Golden, for how each player is progressing into their second season as a pro.
First Round: WR Matthew Golden
The roar from the crowd after Mark Murphy announced Matthew Golden’s name outside a raucous Lambeau Field was palpable. For the first time in 23 years, the Packers had selected a receiver in the first round.
The hype for Golden would only grow through a spectacular training camp, but he wound up having a quiet rookie season. Golden did not score a touchdown until the postseason and was largely buried behind the four veterans on the roster.
Part of Brian Gutekunst’s mission this offseason, it appears, was to get Golden more opportunities next to Christian Watson and Jayden Reed as the long-term fixtures in Green Bay’s passing game.
Golden, despite having a quiet first season as a pro, was consistently on the tips of the tongues of his quarterback and head coach as a player who is destined to make a significant impact when the opportunities come his way.
“We rely on doing a lot of different things in this offense from a wide receiver standpoint,” Watson said. “It’s definitely tough for any rookie or young guy to come in here and have all that stuff down right away.
“I definitely seen him take a few steps forward this offseason in terms of going out there and playing fast, just playing free out there. That’s the best way to play, and I’ve definitely seen that from him so far. I’m excited to see where he goes this year.”
Now, Golden is in line to be the other outside receiver opposite Watson in the team’s base formations. With the offseason departures of Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, there are 131 targets from last year’s passing game to replace.
Golden will not get all of them, but that is a large opportunity in front of both him and another receiver who was Golden’s classmate.
Second Round: RG Anthony Belton
Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Anthony Belton (71) runs on to the field before their wild card playoff game at Chicago.
Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Anthony Belton (71) runs on to the field before their wild card playoff game at Chicago. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The aptly named Big Escalade primarily played tackle during training camp and the preseason last year. He started working more at guard during the middle of the regular season and replaced Jordan Morgan at right guard on Nov. 23 against the Vikings. Belton started the rest of the season and looks to be a long-term fixture at the position.
Unless he isn’t? Belton struggled at times as a rookie, especially in pass protection, and the Packers love competition on their offensive line. They’ve proven in LaFleur’s tenure as coach that they’re not afraid to rotate players on a series-by-series basis if they think someone is struggling.
With the addition of rookie Jager Burton in the fifth round and the return of former sixth-round pick Travis Glover, who LaFleur said was an ascending player before he sustained a season-ending injury during training camp last summer, Belton is likely on notice.
For now, he is penciled in as the team’s starting right guard, but that is a situation that will be fluid if Belton falters during training camp and the preseason.
“I think this portion of the offseason program is going to be important for him because, last year, he was a tackle and we were just having him play swing tackle, focus on that,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said.
“And then, all of a sudden, we lost a bunch of guys. It’s like, ‘Hey, bud, you got to go in to play guard.’ And when he went out there against Detroit, that was really the first week he’d ever [started at] guard for us. So, credit to him for going out there and doing it and playing pretty well. But I think now, just focusing on the little fundamentals, the little details, we can teach him, all that stuff from a guard’s perspective, I think that’ll be really good for him in his development.”
Third Round: WR Savion Williams
When Jordan Love was asked at minicamp who he thought was in position to take a Year 2 jump, he did not give a canned answer about there being a lot of players. Instead, he singled out Savion Williams.
“He’s another guy that will have that Year 2 jump,” Love said.
Williams was not very impactful as a rookie. He struggled with injuries and a role that was relatively undefined outside of his contributions as a kickoff returner. He caught one pass down the field, a 33-yard completion to give the Packers new life against the Giants.
Apart from that, Williams was used largely in a gadget role with manufactured touches like jet sweeps and receiver screens.
With the departures of Wicks and Doubs this offseason, Williams will have to step into a bigger role. Rather than being someone who gets force-fed the ball, he’ll have to show he can be a playmaker as a natural wide receiver.
“The only thing that limits you is your imagination. So, certainly, Savion has got a unique skill-set,” LaFleur said. “I think he’s a guy that we’d like to get the ball in his hands and see what he can do. We gave him a couple last year, but we’re primarily focused on him as a wide receiver and continuing to develop him in that regard.”
Green Bay Packers receiver Savion Williams (83) catches a pass during practice on June 2.
Green Bay Packers receiver Savion Williams (83) catches a pass during practice on June 2. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Fourth Round: Edge Barryn Sorrell
There may not be a player in this draft class with a bigger opportunity in front of him than Barryn Sorrell.
Sorrell was in and out of the lineup last season before a big regular-season finale against the Vikings, which gave him a boost into the offseason. With Micah Parsons on the mend, Sorrell will enter training camp with a chance to establish himself as a starter across from Lukas Van Ness.
Sorrell’s competition is largely unproven. Brenton Cox, Collin Oliver and fourth-round pick Dani Dennis-Sutton also will be competing for snaps.
Sorrell has a wide range of outcomes. He could find himself starting until being the first man off the bench when Parsons returns. Or, he could be at the back end of the edge room fighting for snaps on special teams to be active on gameday.
Fifth Round: Edge Collin Oliver
Collin Oliver was a popular rookie because he was different from Green Bay’s other pass rushers. While most of the edge players won with power, Oliver was a speed rusher in college who showed the ability to turn the corner against opposing offensive tackles.
His acumen at the next level, however, is largely unknown. Oliver was injured for most of the season before making his NFL debut in a meaningless Week 18 game against the Vikings. Oliver played well but, ultimately, was a healthy scratch the following week against the Bears in the postseason.
Oliver, who with Sorrell spent a big chunk of the offseason with Parsons, could find his way on the field by being productive during training camp and the preseason. He could also find his way off the roster if he spends time struggling with injuries or ineffectiveness.
Oliver sat out all of the offseason practices due to an undisclosed injury, meaning he missed three weeks of potential development.
Sixth Round: DT Warren Brinson
Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Warren Brinson (91) rushes Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco.
Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Warren Brinson (91) rushes Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Warren Brinson bounced in and out of the lineup last season. He started the year behind fellow Georgia teammate Nazir Stackhouse before finding his way onto the field as injuries took their toll on Green Bay’s defensive line.
Brinson has the opportunity to start at nose tackle, with the Packers not making a significant addition at defensive tackle outside of third-round pick Chris McClellan. They both took reps with the No. 1 defensive line during the offseason practices. Until the pads come on, however, those reps mean very little.
Brinson will have a chance to win more reps but also could play his way out of a roster spot if he does not play well during training camp and in preseason games.
Seventh Round: CB Micah Robinson
Micah Robinson opened last season on Green Bay’s practice squad but was signed to the Titans’ 53-man roster at midseason. He wound up playing in nine games with one start.
Robinson’s inability to stick on the roster was at least one of the reasons the Packers had to dip into the cornerback pool again on Day 3 of the draft with the selection of Alabama’s Domani Jackson in the sixth round.
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