The Green Bay Packers will enter training camp with nothing resembling a reliable pass rush, no obvious backup nose tackle and an underperforming third-round pick with no clear path to playing time.
That’s the focus of Part 10 of our annual 91-to-1 roster rankings. These aren’t a ranking of the best players. Rather, the ranking is based on talent, track record, importance of the position, depth of the position and salary.
No. 50: Edge Collin Oliver
There were high hopes for last year’s fifth-round pick, Oklahoma State star Collin Oliver. Would he help at linebacker or would he rush the passer? Could he earn a role on defense and be a key factor on special teams?
Turns out, all of those things were torn like Oliver’s hamstring.
“Damn, it’s a long story,” Oliver said after being activated from injured reserve just before Christmas. “I had surgery in March after I injured it at the (Scouting) Combine. I basically tore a tendon off my bone. I had to have surgery on that.
“That happened in March, and then from March until I got drafted, I just had to be rehabbing it. It was a long process just because along the way I would get strains and stuff because my body was getting adjusted to basically only having two hamstring muscles in my right hip and my right leg. It’s complicated but I’m just glad I’m here right now, man. I ain’t gonna lie.”
Oliver played in Week 18 against Minnesota, then spent a big part of the offseason working out with Micah Parsons and Barryn Sorrell. Once again, there were high hopes.
Instead, he sat out OTAs and the minicamp with an undisclosed injury.
After recording 11.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for losses as a freshman, five sacks and 7.5 tackles for losses as a sophomore and six sacks and 15.5 tackles for losses as a junior, Oliver played in two games as a senior and one game as a rookie.
With Parsons coming off a torn ACL, it will be all hands on deck to mount a credible pass rush. The Packers need Oliver. Will he be able to contribute? Is he even good enough to contribute? Answers will be coming soon.
No. 49: DT Jonathan Ford
The Packers drafted Chris McClellan in the third round. Presumably, he will be the team’s starting nose tackle.
The Packers will need a backup, though, and Ford is one of the options.
A seventh-round pick by the Packers in 2022, he didn’t play in a game in more than two-and-a-half seasons with the team. After playing in four games for the Bears late in 2024 and eight games for them in 2025, Ford returned to Green Bay late last season to plug the gap created by the torn Achilles sustained by Jordon Riley (who was signed to plug the gap created by Devonte Wyatt’s injuries).
It was an incredibly small sample size, but Ford played well in 30 snaps at Minnesota in Week 18 and 18 snaps in the playoffs.
“I came here as a young player,” Ford said last year. “This is where I started. So, when they got me, I was still a puppy and I’m not a 10-year vet, but I’ve grown over the years as far as my technique, my attention to detail, just the way I play the game overall. I just think that as a player I just grew.”
No. 48: DT Nazir Stackhouse
The other option at nose tackle will be Stackhouse, who kept the Packers’ streak alive at 21 consecutive seasons in which at least one undrafted rookie made the opening roster.
Stackhouse went from key player to afterthought, depending on the week. He played 27 snaps in Week 4 at Dallas, for instance, only to play five snaps in the next game against the Bengals. He was a healthy scratch for a month – he “hit a little bit of a wall,” former defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said at the time – before logging 45 snaps in Week 18 at Minnesota and 14 snaps in the playoff loss to Chicago.
In 13 regular-season games, Stackhouse was in on 12 tackles. He will need to take a significant Year 2 jump to beat out Ford.
“Really just playing at Georgia, I learned about next-man-up mentality, regardless of what the situation is,” Stackhouse said. “Just got to be ready, always got to have your head on straight, so be level-headed. At the same time, don’t let it become pressure. It’s not pressure at all. If anything, it’s just an open opportunity.”
No. 47: CB Domani Jackson
At this time last year, Jackson was viewed as a potential first-round pick. In his first season at Alabama after two years at USC, Jackson intercepted two passes, broke up five others and allowed a catch rate of 54.0 percent, according to PFF.
Instead, Jackson was a sixth-round pick. Why? Jackson had zero interceptions, one pass breakup and allowed a catch rate of 76.2 percent. He lost his starting job and played only seven snaps in the rivalry showdown at Auburn.
But, with the help of former Packers safety HaHa Clinton-Dix, Jackson got his career straightened out. Jackson started the final three games, including the SEC Championship Game and bowl game. He was targeted six times and gave up five catches but for only 7 yards. Not an average of 7 yards. A total of 7 yards.
“He’s been through some of the full experiences of college football, where he’s highly recruited – No. 1 guy, five-star and all those things – went to USC and maybe in the national perspective underwhelmed there,” his position coach told Packers On SI.
“And then he came to Alabama with a renewed mindset, a renewed spirit and wanted to go prove some things. He came off of a really great junior year for us and then kind of went back and had some early adversity again this past year. So, he’s a guy that’s shown great personal resiliency, great mental toughness, because he could have easily gone off into the deep end, for lack of a better term, but he always stayed steady, always stayed positive. He’s a good teammate, a good person. People like being around him, his teammates respected him.”
Jackson sat out the offseason practices due to injury. The depth chart might work against him this year but Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine will be free agents at the end of the season. If nothing else, this will be an important year to show he can be an important player next year.
“He’s got size, he’s got length, he’s got some ball production,” position coach Daniel Bullocks said before OTAs. “The thing about him, he’s got a lot of experience playing the corner position, playing at Alabama, playing at USC. He can play off, he can play press, he can tackle. He’s got the play style we’re looking for at the corner position.”
No. 46: LB Ty’Ron Hopper
A third-round draft pick entering his third season in the NFL should be a starter or, at worst, a key backup.
What Hopper’s role will be is anyone’s guess. The Packers could have moved him into the starting lineup following the loss of Quay Walker. Instead, they traded for Zaire Franklin. Then, they gave fellow linebacker Isaiah McDuffie a one-year contract extension. The new 3-4 defense requires two off-the-ball linebackers. It’s possible Hopper will be No. 4 behind Edgerrin Cooper, Franklin and McDuffie.
In two seasons, Hopper has played 144 defensive snaps. Almost half (67) came in Week 18 at Minnesota, when he had five tackles (but missed two). In the playoff game at Chicago, he played seven snaps but intercepted a pass.
Hopper ranked among the team leaders with 12 tackles on special teams. If nothing else, he’ll be a key player for Cam Achord. The potential lack of a role on defense is why he’s not ranked higher.
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