What Does It Mean If Collin Oliver Doesn't Get Any Playing Time On Sunday?

The Green Bay Packers’ Week 18 trip to Minneapolis will offer Matt LaFleur a chance to rest key starters while giving backups a live-game audition. With the playoffs approaching and a 2026 offseason expected to be constrained by limited cap space and numerous free-agent decisions, Sunday’s game provides valuable insight for roster evaluation and long-term planning.

Among the most intriguing potential auditions is Collin Oliver’s NFL debut. Selected in the fifth round of the 2025 draft, Oliver was placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform (PUP) list in August and only activated in December. Still, he has yet to take a regular-season snap, making Week 18 a prime opportunity to see what he can contribute at the next level.

Green Bay is navigating turbulent waters following Micah Parsons’ season-ending knee injury and will need to be creative to revitalize the pass rush. One way to do that could be by evaluating Oliver, who has already earned the “Baby Micah” nickname in the locker room.

"That's my dawg,” Oliver said about Warren Brinson, who was joking around and enjoying the attention Oliver was getting in the locker room. “I'm glad that they see I'm a talented player," Oliver said with a laugh. "Being compared to Micah, though, is crazy. I ain't gonna lie."

Collin Oliver is coming off a serious hamstring injury, having torn the tendon from the bone. Therefore, it would be unrealistic to expect him to go straight from the PUP list to a full workload on artificial turf. Any meaningful contributions are likely to come gradually, with a larger role projected in 2026.

“Does he have promise? Absolutely, he does,” LaFleur said on Tuesday. “I think just watching him practice all last week, you see why we took him. I just think he needs more reps. But in the event that we need him, early showings are promising.”

Parsons has set his sights on returning from injury in September. Still, the Packers have historically been conservative with players coming off significant injuries, and extra caution is warranted with a generational edge rusher. Adding to the uncertainty, Rashan Gary’s future in Green Bay beyond 2025 is unclear, and Kingsley Enagbare is slated to be an unrestricted free agent in March. With these factors in play, evaluating what the team has in Oliver becomes not just an option but a necessity.

So, while it’s reasonable not to expect Oliver to carry a heavy workload against the Minnesota Vikings, it would still benefit Green Bay to gauge what the Oklahoma State product can do. When fully healthy, he has the potential to be one of the team’s most versatile players.

Early in his college career, Collin Oliver played primarily along the defensive line, with occasional snaps in the box as an off-ball linebacker. He logged 320 snaps on the line and 54 in the box in 2021, before expanding his role to 400 snaps on the line and 60 in the box the following season.

Over the next two years, Oliver continued to develop his versatility, and he began seeing time in the secondary. He lined up as a slot corner and outside corner while still contributing heavily on the line and at linebacker, totaling 436 snaps on the defensive line, 417 as an off-ball linebacker, and 61 in the secondary. His role decreased in 2024, with just 86 snaps, 79 of which came on the defensive line.

You know who else has that kind of versatility to move seamlessly between pass-rushing duties and off-ball responsibilities? Micah Parsons. Of course, it’s important to temper expectations. Collin Oliver has a long way to go before he can even come close to earning that comparison. Still, it’s hard not to watch his tape and get excited about his potential.

Hopefully, Collin Oliver sees some playing time in Minnesota. He will likely not be a starter in 2026, so Sunday could be his best opportunity to make an impression ahead of the playoffs and set the stage for next season.