Acme Packing Company
With all of the injuries to their roster this season, some major weaknesses have started to pop up for the Green Bay Packers, but nothing has looked like a bigger priority ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft than help on the defensive line.
Last Saturday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens proved that, with the Packers’ defense allowing 307 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. While Derrick Henry and Patrick Ricard are a unique matchup, the Packers have looked particularly susceptible against the run this year, ranking 20th in defensive DVOA against the run this season.
The return of Devonte Wyatt and Micah Parsons in 2026 will bolster that defensive front, but there’s still a major need for a massive, run-stuffing nose tackle (or two) in the trenches.
Here are a few Day 2 options that the Packers should be taking a look at just a few months ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft.
It’s not totally clear which DT prospects are going to skyrocket up draft boards by the time late April comes around, but Alabama’s Tim Keenan III is someone to keep a close eye on, especially during Thursday’s Rose Bowl against the Indiana Hoosiers.
Keenan is a straightforward prospect as a run-stuffing DT capable of using his size and upper/lower body strength to dominate the point of attack and hold his ground against double teams. While he still needs to work on his leg drive to be a more productive pass rusher (or at least pocket pusher), he’s a formidable player in the trenches with some really good pop in his pads as a tackler.
That kind of immovable presence in the middle of the defense would make things significantly easier for Edgerrin Cooper and Quay Walker to trigger downhill and bring ball carriers down near the line of scrimmage.
If the Packers want a little bit of a different flavor at nose tackle, then “The Godfather” would be a pretty exciting and disruptive option for their defense.
Dontay Corleone has been someone to monitor for a few years, but his career was nearly derailed by blood clots that led to a pulmonary embolism in the summer of 2024. Despite that medical scare, he returned to the field of play and has been a key contributor for the Bearcats, earning all-conference honors for four straight seasons.
At 335 pounds, Corleone brings plenty of upper-body strength and explosiveness off of the snap to be a dangerous bull rusher on the interior. Those tools, along with his hand usage, can make him a disruptive interior defender who is capable of getting into the backfield.
The anchor and lower body strength could be a tick better to be a more reliable gap stuffer, but that’s not really Corleone’s play style. So if the Packers want a flashier, more disruptive nose tackle capable of generating splash plays, then The Godfather might be their guy.
