We won’t know for sure how good the crop of players that general manager Brian Gutekunst just drafted is going to be until three years or so down the line, but that won’t stop us from speculating. I took a look at 10 draft grades that were handed out to the Green Bay Packers by national analysts and found very differing opinions about the Packers’ six-man class.
It seems like some people are holding the fact that the Packers didn’t own a first-round pick (Micah Parsons trade) against them for this class, while others are just grading on a scale for the picks that Green Bay actually owned going into the 2026 draft. The context of them not being on the clock until the 52nd overall pick is pretty big, and you see that in the variance of the grades.
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Packers 2026 draft class
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#52: Brandon Cisse, CB, South Carolina
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#77: Chris McClellan, iDL, Missouri
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#153: Jager Burton, iOL, Kentucky
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#216: Trey Smack, K, Florida
Packers 2026 Draft Grades
Bleacher Report: B
ESPN: C+
NFL.com: B+
A B grade for not having a first-round pick because the team traded for Micah Parsons is a choice.
Pro Football Focus: B
Sharp Football Analysis: 14/32
Considering that the Packers came into the draft with some of the worst draft capital in the league, I’ll take an average value draft in the NFL if we’re grading on a scale where the team didn’t have a first-round pick.
The Sporting News: A-
“GM Brian Gutekunst operated with limited capital and no first-rounder but did well to make the class defensive-focused. Cisse and McClellan strengthen Jonathan Gannon’s defense up the middle and Dennis-Sutton gives Micah Parsons some good Penn State support. Burton can start and be effective soon, too.”
This is one of two A- grades that the Packers received, so I wanted to include the analysis here. Generally, people seem to like what Green Bay did on Day 3 of the draft a little more than what they did on Day 2.
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Sports Illustrated: D
“Cornerbacks from the first and second tiers had already been selected by the time the Packers went on the clock. Still, the team landed a cornerback with plenty of upside in Cisse. The problem, though, is that he’s a raw prospect who will likely need time to develop, and the Packers aren’t in a position to be patient with a roster that needs to win now. Green Bay also waited a long time to address the holes on its offensive line, selecting Burton to potentially replace the departed Elgton Jenkins. Maybe the Packers’ front office thinks it has an eye for gems, because it doesn’t appear this team acquired immediate help in this class. Green Bay ended the draft by adding Smack to compete with veteran kicker Brandon McManus, who missed kicks in crucial moments last season.”
By far, this was the lowest grade for the Packers’ draft by any publication. I’d push back that Brandon Cisse was a third-tier cornerback in this class. After Mansoor Delane of LSU (whom the Kansas City Chiefs traded up to the sixth overall pick for), Cisse was neck-and-neck for me with any of the other healthy (sorry, Jermod McCoy) cornerbacks in this class. Cisse is full tier worse than Chris Johnson, Colton Hood, Avieon Terrell and De’Angelo Ponds, the only other cornerbacks to go ahead of him? I’d push back on that.
Underdog NFL: B-
USA Today: A-
“Why this high? Because their first-round pick was used last year as part of the blockbuster acquisition of Parsons. Enough said. But if you want us to say a little more, promising second-round CB Brandon Cisse might not need much time to work his way into the starting lineup.”
Yahoo! Sports: C+
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