{"id":570854,"date":"2026-03-28T22:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570854\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T22:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:46:08","slug":"green-bay-packers-2026-nfl-draft-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570854\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Bay Packers 2026 NFL Draft Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Green Bay Packers failed to meet the high expectations of their fan base in 2025. The addition of star pass rusher Micah Parsons<\/a> offered zero relief from a tradition of painful playoff losses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Packers closed out their 2025 season with a crushing loss to their division rival, the Chicago Bears, following a fourth-quarter collapse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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General Manager Brian Gutekunst<\/a> and the Packers\u2019 front office must immediately turn their focus to the 2026 NFL draft. Despite sending a first-round selection to the Dallas Cowboys to acquire Parsons, Gutekunst is armed with a handful of selections.<\/p>\n

Packers Draft Picks:<\/p>\n

Green Bay will have to wait until Day 2 to make its first selection in this year\u2019s draft. Gutekunst isn\u2019t concerned. The Packers\u2019 GM exuded confidence as he insisted<\/a> that he has\u00a0\u201call the flexibility to do what we need to do\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gutekunst must leverage that flexibility to address several key positions.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Packers Positions of Need:Key Draft Targets for Packers:Trey Zuhn III \u2013 C \u2013 Texas A&M\u00a0<\/p>\n

Green Bay has historically prioritized experienced and versatile offensive linemen. Trey Zuhn III<\/a> matches that description wonderfully as a senior coming out of the SEC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Zuhn is currently ranked as the 159th overall prospect by ESPN, meaning Green Bay should have a chance to snag him with its fourth-round pick.<\/p>\n

Julian Neal<\/a> \u2013 CB \u2013 Arkansas\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Packers have prioritized length and height at the cornerback position since getting toasted by Julio Jones<\/a> in the 2017 NFCCG. Julian Neal<\/a> offers the size and intensity to appeal to Gutekunst and the Packers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neal would immediately compete for playing time on a defense where solid cornerback play has been absent. If there is a singular missing piece to the Packers\u2019 defense, it is at cornerback. Mock drafts<\/a> have Neal floating at a Round 3 grade.<\/p>\n

Domonique Orange<\/a> \u2013 DT \u2013 Iowa State<\/p>\n

Injuries at the defensive tackle position changed the way the Packers played defense last season. For a team that prepares all year for sub-zero playoff football in Wisconsin, Green Bay must be able to stop the run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Domonique Orange<\/a> is a proven difference maker in the interior of the defense. The \u201cBig Citrus<\/a>\u201d would serve as an immediate enhancement to a Packers\u2019 defense that projects to compete for championships. ESPN currently has Orange as their 112th-ranked<\/a> prospect.<\/p>\n

The post Green Bay Packers 2026 NFL Draft Preview<\/a> appeared first on The Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Green Bay Packers failed to meet the high expectations of their fan base in 2025. The addition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,52005,1248,1234,161670,6587,1243,76422,280339,1245,593,85],"class_list":["post-570854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brian-gutekunst","tag-chicago-bears","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-first-round-selection","tag-green-bay","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-gutekunst","tag-julio-jones","tag-micah-parsons","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}