Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Green Bay Packers have four key young players who could elevate their roster in 2026.
- Each of these players faces a critical opportunity to prove themselves during organized team activities this offseason.
- A strong showing at OTAs could push the Packers closer to title contention and reshape their offensive and defensive game plans.
Heading into 2026, the Green Bay Packers are in a weird spot. They're a good team, no doubt. But are they a Super Bowl team? That I'm not sure about.
But Green Bay can inch closer to title contention without a ton of work. The team has a number of young players on the roster who haven't quite hit their stride yet. If these four players do figure it out, the team could be in position to make a surprise run at a title.
WR Matthew Golden
The Packers used a first-round pick on Matthew Golden last season in hopes they'd found the answer to their issue at wide receiver, where they had plenty of solid guys but no true No. 1 option. But Golden never put it all together in his debut season.
Stat | Team rank |
|---|---|
Targets | 6th |
Receptions | 6th |
Receiving Yards | 4th |
Touchdowns | N/A |
Golden didn't even catch a touchdown pass as a rookie, and played just a little over half of Green Bay's offensive snaps over the course of the season. The team had other weapons to rely on, and Golden simply wasn't ready to be the guy.
Will he be in 2026? We'll see. He's a dynamic athlete who has the leaping ability to make wild plays out on the boundary, and he should have a chance to showcase that on a depth chart that's thinned out a bit. He might not develop into a true alpha player, but he has a chance to still be a very nice receiver for Green Bay.
RB MarShawn Lloyd
The depth chart at running back behind Josh Jacobs is wide open, and that should finally lead to the MarShawn Lloyd breakout that we've been waiting on.
Lloyd, a third-round pick in 2024, has a grand total of six NFL carries under his belt and has played in just one game. Injuries have hampered his ability to see the field, with a hamstring issue costing him the entire 2025 season.
Betting on Lloyd to be healthy at this point might be a risky move. Actually, let me rephrase that: It is a risky move. And even if he's healthy, it's possible that the explosiveness that he displayed in college won't return. But he also has to beat out guys like Chris Brooks and Pierre Strong for touches, which theoretically won't be hard — again, if he's actually healthy. It's possible that we're about to see the NFL world fall in love with this kid during OTAs provided he's out there consistently.
CB Brandon Cisse
2026 second-round pick Brandon Cisse is going to have a great opportunity to earn snaps at corner for the Packers in 2026.
The South Carolina product didn't arrive in the NFL with a ton of hype behind him, but he's a legitimately good football player. Cisse needs to show he can play more zone at the next level, as that's been a weakness of his. But put him one-on-one in coverage against someone and he'll make their life very tough with his combination of speed and toughness.
The Packers can really use Cisse, too. Former seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine's spot in the defensive back rotation feels like it's just sitting there for the taking, and a strong showing at OTAs can put Cisse on the path to playing heavily in 2026.
WR Savion Williams
While many expected that drafting Golden would lead to an immediate breakout, Green Bay's other 2025 wide receiver pick, Savion Williams, was always expected to be a multi-year project. With a full year in the Packers system under his belt, this is the moment for Williams to finally start to show something.
As a rookie, Williams played sparingly, and he ended up with just 21 touches — 11 of which came in the run game. But here's what I liked: He brought in all 10 targets that went his way. Williams is extremely fast, but the Packers didn't really find a good way to take advantage of that in 2025. With another offseason under his belt, he could see a signficant uptick in his role this year.
He's also a bit of a luxury for the team, as it's unlikely he surpasses Golden, Christian Watson or Jayden Reed for one of the primary roles when the team uses 11 personnel. Instead, the Packers can use Williams more as a situational weapon this season. He doesn't need to have a massive role, just a role that's significantly scaled up over last year.
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