The system of Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is built around outstanding cornerback play, and the biggest asset of any strong secondary is a dominant pass rush.
Green Bay is still looking for consistency up front, despite missing out on some of the top edge rushers in the 2025 NFL Draft and hoping that Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness step up and make a difference. There is a lot of pressure on the pass rushers on the roster to perform this fall.
Could the Green Bay Packers select a first-round edge rusher in 2026?
ESPN’s Matt Miller created an early 2026 NFL Mock Draft in which the Packers finally addressed a major need at edge rusher by drafting LT Overton from Alabama with the No. 19 overall choice.
“When the Packers broke their 20-plus-year first-round receiver drought by selecting Matthew Golden in 2025,” Miller writes for the sports network ESPN. “They overlooked an urgent requirement. So, in 2026, Green Bay should prioritize edge rush help, and Overton fits what Packers GM Brian Gutekunst is looking for in that position.
“The 6-foot-5, 283-pounder is big, long, and versatile, and he would have been a top-50 pick in the 2025 draft.”
However, he returned to Alabama to enhance his skills, perfect his pass-rush methods to better complement his speed-to-power flashes, and build on his two sacks in 2024.”
Overton is a raw talent with huge potential, despite only three sacks in his first three NCAA seasons. However, similar to wide receiver last spring, the Packers have few more evident needs than edge rusher as the 2025 season approaches and could attempt to fill it with an early choice in 2026.
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