The Chris McClellan Pick Is More About the Tape Than the Numbers

The best teams build a foundation in the trenches, and the Green Bay Packers know they need to upgrade their defensive line in the 2026 draft. On Friday night, Brian Gutekunst made his first move to address that area, trading up from pick 84 to 77 to select Chris McClellan out of Missouri.

"We had some communication at the Senior Bowl, at the combine, and did a couple Zooms as well,” McClellan said about Green Bay’s interest in him during the draft process. “I definitely knew they had interest, but for them to trade up to come and get me is a great feeling."

The third-round pick comes in with a lot of experience under his belt. He’s played nearly 1,600 snaps in college, splitting his time between two years at Florida and two more at Missouri. His 2025 season was probably his most complete. He finished with six sacks and made the most of his opportunities, converting pressures into sacks at a 23.8% rate. He also posted an 8.1% run-stop rate.

Physically, there’s a lot to work with. He’s got 34” arms and 11” hands, and you can see that translate into how he plays. He latches on to blockers, controls reps, and shows real grip strength at the point of attack. Moreover, he had a 6.6% career missed-tackle rate in college.

At first, the move definitely felt a little off. McClellan wasn’t seen as a top-80 guy. He was closer to that 100 range on most boards, so it initially didn’t make sense why they traded up for him.

But the more you hear about it, the more it adds up. Packers director of football operations Milt Hendrickson said they had several people in the room actively working the phones trying to make that jump. That’s usually a sign they weren’t just reacting – they had him circled and didn’t want to risk losing him.

One interesting part of this evaluation is the testing. McClellan graded out in the lower 20th percentile in the short shuttle and the three-cone. Typically, that’s the kind of thing that would raise red flags for Green Bay.

Athleticism has usually been one of the core traits they evaluate, especially with defensive linemen. So seeing them go out of their way to get a player who didn’t check those boxes is definitely notable.

But it also tells you how they see him on tape. They’re betting that what he does on the field outweighs the testing numbers, and McClellan didn’t take long to say just how versatile he can be.

"I can play anywhere across the line, and that's what I'm going to do,” he said after getting drafted. “Wherever they need me to go, I'll go and play and contribute and help the team in whatever way I can. I don't care if I have to be a zero nose or a five-technique."

Now it’s about how Jonathan Gannon uses him. Playing alongside someone like Micah Parsons doesn’t hurt either. That kind of presence can make life a lot easier for everyone else up front. But the real appeal here is the flexibility. McClellan isn’t locked into one spot, and that gives Gannon some room to get creative with his front seven.