GREEN BAY, Wis. – Dynamite comes in small packages. The Green Bay Packers’ six-man draft class was small but has been dynamic, even without a first-round pick.

Dane Brugler’s midseason all-rookie team for The Athletic, for instance, listed second-round pick Brandon Cisse as a first-team cornerback, third-round pick Chris McClellan as an honorable mention at defensive tackle and fourth-round pick Dani Dennis-Sutton as a second-team choice at edge.

Here’s a closer look at each of the draft picks with nine of the season’s 18 weeks complete.

Second Round: CB Brandon Cisse

Stock up: The 52nd pick of the draft has been excellent. He’s started every game and seemingly gotten better by the week. He’s allowed one or two catches in six games and less than 50 yards in seven. He is tied for the rookie lead with nine passes defensed.

Only 10 rookie cornerbacks have played at least 100 coverage snaps. That alone tells you the challenge for a first-year player. From that group, Cisse ranks second with 14.5 coverage snaps per reception allowed, according to Pro Football Focus. Among the 72 cornerbacks overall who have played at least 150 coverage snaps, he is 18th in snaps per reception and 37th in passer rating allowed (88.7). He’s missed too many tackles, but the mentality is obviously there.

“Remember you guys asked me where can he go, and I said I’ll tell you when I see some balls get caught on him. Week 1, he got a bomb caught on him and he responded the right way,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said on Tuesday. “So, that was huge to me. That was kind of the first measuring stick of when we get into the season how is this guy going to be? He’s got quite a bit of resilience about his game.”

Cisse was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month for October. A serious player who prefers to look ahead, Cisse enjoyed the honor – for a moment.

“I think that comes with it,” he said. “I feel like you can’t be always so hyperfocused on not celebrating those things because those things don’t come around often and it’s hard to even win in this league, so I celebrate the wins. So, take a little bit of time to enjoy it, but now I’m onto this week.”

Grade: A.

Third Round: DT Chris McClellan

Stock up: As is the case at cornerback, defensive tackle is a tough position for rookies to break through. Only 11 have played 100 snaps this season. That McClellan leads all rookie defensive tackles in snaps is quite a feat.

Statistically, he hasn’t done much with five solo tackles, 16 total tackles, zero sacks, two quarterback hits and six pressures, but he seems to be playing better every week. The Packers have needed him with Javon Hargrave, Warren Brinson and Jonathan Ford on injured reserve, and he’s delivered while playing at least 24 snaps in every game.

“Honestly, more mental than physical,” he said of his growth. “I feel like physically, I definitely can see I've gotten a little stronger, just the way I can handle blocks now compared to back in the spring. But mentally, formation rec(ognition), and knowing when certain things are coming, knowing how to play blocks better, and just knowing when to do certain things, I feel like I've evolved a lot more in that aspect.” 

The Packers drafted him because he’s not just a big, two-gapping defensive tackle but because he can be that player while also getting after the quarterback. There have been plenty of flashes of that potential.

Grade: B.

Fourth Round: Edge Dani Dennis-Sutton

Stock up: With Micah Parsons (and Collin Oliver) sidelined by injuries all season, the Packers desperately needed Dennis-Sutton to be a key player in a four-man rotation with Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell and Brenton Cox. He has delivered week after week after week.

Edge is a position where rookies should make an immediate impact. Indeed, 18 have played at least 100 snaps, with Dennis-Sutton ranking fourth in that group with 280. He is third with 23 tackles (behind first-round picks David Bailey and Akheem Mesidor) and third with 21 pressures (behind Bailey and Gabe Jacas).

Dennis-Sutton is tied for second on the team with three sacks. Just as importantly, he’s been strong against the run and even made some plays in coverage because of his instincts and athleticism.

“I feel like it’s starting to slow down for me a little bit,” he said last week. “But just got so much more to work on and continue to grow. But, yes, I feel like I am getting to know the game a little bit better and knowing what's coming.”

Simply put, the Packers thought they got a steal at the time and they were right.

Grade: A.

Fifth Round: C/G Jager Burton

Stock down: Burton was thrown into the fire during the second half against the Jets in Week 2 and started in Week 3 against the Falcons. He was horrendous against Atlanta. The Packers responded by signing three veterans, meaning he hasn’t been heard from again aside from eight garbage-time snaps at the end of last week’s blowout win.

Burton has played 97 snaps. Among the 15 rookie guards/centers to play at least that many snaps, he ranks last by a significant margin in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency, which measures sacks, hits and hurries allowed.

Grade: F, with the obvious caveat that one bad game by a rookie doesn’t mean he will be bad for the rest of his career.

Sixth Round: CB Domani Jackson

Stock down: The Packers, with Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine set to be free agents at the end of the season, doubled down on cornerback by taking a flier on Jackson, a former top high school recruit who had an up-and-down college career.

Jackson didn’t make the 53-man roster, landed on the practice squad and hasn’t played in a game.

Grade: F, with the important caveat that he missed all of the offseason practices and the start of training camp due to core-muscle surgery, so was behind the 8-ball from the start.

Sixth Round: K Trey Smack

Stock up: The stock up/stock down portion of this could vary by the minute. For now, let’s go stock up because he made every kick at New England, including a 51-yard field goal.

Smack was the only kicker drafted and one of three full-time rookies. The Giants’ Dominic Zvada is 13-of-13 on extra points and 17-of-22 on field goals, the Commanders’ Drew Stevens is 12-of-15 on extra points and 16-of-19 on field goals and Smack is 20-of-23 on extra points and 14-of-19 on field goals.

By percentages among the rookies, he is second in extra points and last in field goals. Overall, out of 29 kickers who have attempted at least 10 field goals, Smack is 25th in field-goal percentage and 26th in extra-point percentage.

“I think the ball striking was improved,” special teams coordinator Cam Achord said on Tuesday. “It’s still not back to where we exactly want it. So, we’ll continue to work with it, and the more we can get out there on the field in practice, I think we’ll get the result we want moving forward.”

Grade: D.

Winners and losers for the Packers after yet another do-nothing trade deadline. ⬇️https://t.co/HGChjLebyh

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 11, 2026