With Malik Willis likely leaving in free agency, the Green Bay Packers need to figure out what their next plan is at backup quarterback behind Jordan Love.
There’s a real chance that the Packers are content with their current situation, with Desmond Ridder returning, along with Kyle McCord being signed to a futures contract. However, neither of those players inspires the kind of confidence that Willis brought to the table when having to step in and run the offense.
The 2026 NFL Draft class is awfully
thin at the top for quarterbacks. However, there are a handful of intriguing backup options in the later rounds of the draft class. In fact, Justis Mosqueda and I broke down the QB class in this week’s debut episode of Draft Talk, which can be watched on YouTube or listened to on Frozen Tundra Frequencies.
Here are a few backup QB options that could make sense for the Packers.
Sawyer Robertson, Baylor
If you told me that Sawyer Robertson had never had a proper QB coach, I would believe you.
That’s no knock against the Baylor quarterback, who oozes talent as a 6’4”, 220-pound gunslinger with the arm talent and athletic ability to make a ton of plays. His arm strength looks so effortless at times, and his core strength allows him to generate enough torque to generate zip on the football from awkward angles.
However, my biggest issue with Robertson is his overall accuracy. His lower-body mechanics are a mess, as he consistently plays backyard football and slings the ball from all kinds of awkward angles, instead of focusing on his footwork and stepping into throws.
The right QB coach could clean up a lot of Robertson’s deficiencies and unlock an eventual starter in this league. There’s just so much that needs to be worked on before he can get to that point, but that’s the kind of worthwhile flier the Packers could consider taking to develop and let him utilize his talent if he ever needed to fill in for Love.
Taylen Green, Arkansas
What’s better than one silly body quarterback? Two of them.
Green is a 6’6” quarterback prospect with all kinds of athletic talent. He’s a legitimate dual-threat QB who brings tons of value as a runner, both with his size and play speed to generate explosives on the ground. At the same time, he has the arm strength to deliver shots downfield and deliver all kinds of passes with legitimate velocity.
The mechanics need a lot of work for Green. His throwing motion is funky, likely due to his unusual length and size as a QB prospect, which makes it difficult to tighten the throwing motion despite his long limbs. That throwing motion likely plays a factor in his accuracy issues.
The other concern for Green is his decision-making. There are times when he can be over-reliant on his athletic ability, resulting hin im dancing around for too long and taking some bad sacks that put his offense in difficult situations.
Still, if the Packers want a quarterback who can run a different kind of offense in a pinch, as Willis ran during his time in Green Bay, then Green could be a fun dual-threat project.
Drew Allar, Penn State
I have no idea how early Drew Allar gets drafted, but if he slides into Day 3, the Packers might be awfully tempted to take a swing on the former Penn State QB.
The tools have been evident with Allar for years. He’s a giant quarterback at 6’5” and 240 pounds, and has the arm strength and athletic ability to take shots in a vertical passing attack or run the ball in condensed/jumbo packages.
Unfortunately, the Nittany Lions’ offense makes it awfully difficult to fully evaluate Allar as a prospect. The offense was heavily reliant on gadgets and gimmicks throughout James Franklin’s tenure, and that takes away a lot of tape to properly look at more NFL-adjacent offensive film with Allar.
Mechanically, he’s still a work in progress, but Allar made real strides and improved from 2023 to 2024 while in Happy Valley. The bigger questions remain about his consistency and mental toughness to bounce back from bad plays, because there are plenty of instances where he spiraled after making negative plays.
A team like the Los Angeles Rams might take a surprise swing on Allar in Day 2, but he’s still someone Packers fans should monitor if he drops into Day 3.
