2026 NFL Draft: Ranking the Packers' picks by potential for Year 1 impact

The Packers selected six players in the 2026 NFL Draft. Some of those picks have an easier road to contributing on the field than others.

In the NFL, it typically takes years to gain the perspective necessary to fully judge a draft class. Teams select prospects primarily on the basis of their long-term outlook, and often that potential doesn’t manifest on the field during a player’s rookie season.

However, for the 2026 Green Bay Packers, first-year contributions from their rookie class will matter in at least a few crucial spots. The defense will undergo a transformation with the arrival of DC Jonathan Gannon. That change will create opportunities, as will the multiple notable departures at the first two levels of the unit.

Accounting for all those factors -- though not for future injuries given the unpredictable nature of player health -- here’s a subjective ranking of the Packers’ newly minted draft picks in terms of likelihood to play a meaningful role this season.

6. Domani Jackson

Though not the Packers’ final selection, Domani Jackson faces the most obstacles when it comes to early contributions, at least on defense. The former five-star recruit offers great size (6-foot-1, 194 pounds) for a corner with impressive athleticism (9.01 Relative Athletic Score). However, injuries derailed his time at USC (patella tear and subsequent reinjury to the same knee), and he had an inconsistent run at Alabama (benched for a stretch of 2025).

“You can’t control what happens,” Jackson said last week of his benching last season. “You just got to go 100% in every situation, whether it’s special teams, if it’s supporting your team on the sidelines, if you’re on the field. You attack every single day like you’re playing. Yeah, I got benched, but it’s about perseverance and finding yourself again and just doing everything that coach asked you to do to win for the team.”

In Green Bay, Jackson will presumably open training camp behind Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Benjamin St-Juste, and the Packers’ other cornerback draft choice. That list doesn’t include Javon Bullard, who will handle slot duties and otherwise work at safety. Jackson still has a good shot to make the roster -- general manager Brian Gutekunst typically doesn’t cut his picks during their rookie seasons, and the team had far fewer selections than usual this year -- but a role on special teams seems like his calling in 2026.

5. Jager Burton

Before the draft, Gutekunst said he didn’t see the team drafting an offensive lineman who could only play center. That didn’t necessarily mean the Packers wouldn’t take a prospect who projects best at the pivot, but the player in question would have to offer positional versatility to land in Green Bay.

Jager Burton threads that needle. A former four-star recruit, Burton became a full-time starter at left guard as a redshirt freshman. The following season, he split his time between right guard and center before returning to left guard as a redshirt junior. Finally, in his final collegiate season, Burton got the chance to concentrate on center, taking all but two snaps there in 2025.

At a minimum, Burton’s arrival presents a direct challenge to Jacob Monk. Monk, a fifth-rounder in 2024, has received praise from the coaching staff but has done little so far in the NFL. If Burton can demonstrate merely replacement-level play along the interior, he will swipe Monk’s job. Some will wonder if Burton can push Aaron Banks, Anthony Belton, or Sean Rhyan for a starting job, but that seems overly ambitious for a late-round rookie.