Last week, we dug into Dani Dennis-Sutton, the Green Bay Packers 4th round pick in the 2026 draft. Today we’re going a little further down the list and taking a look at one of the undrafted free agents the Packers brought in. The Packers stayed out of the run of tight ends taken in the middle rounds of the draft, choosing instead to focus on the defensive side of the ball during that time.
After the 7th round dust had settled, the Packers brought in two tight ends: Eni Falayi from Wake Forest and
RJ Maryland from SMU. I watched both of them and originally planned on writing about Falayi last week, but he’s the only one of the UDFAs who wasn’t at rookie minicamp.
I’m still crossing my fingers he makes an appearance (because I really like him and I’ve got all these clips), but I’m not going to hold my breath.
So today, we’re looking at RJ Maryland out of SMU.
Here are the main things about Maryland up front: he’s a bit undersized for a tight end (he really looks more like a hybrid TE/FB) and he tore his ACL in his right knee in October of 2024. Both of those things are important for the overall evaluation and projection and we’ll dig into both of them as we go along, but I wanted to make sure to set the stage.
He also comes from an NFL bloodline, being the son of defensive tackle Russell Maryland. Russell played in the NFL for 10 years (5 with the Cowboys, 4 with the Raiders and 1 with the Packers to end his career).
As you can see from the RAS card above, Maryland possesses nice speed. His 4.51 40 time was the second-fastest 40 time among tight ends this past year, behind Kenyon Sadiq’s 4.39. As you can also see on his RAS card, it was more of a build-up speed, as his 10 yard split was merely fine. He didn’t do any agility testing, but, based on what he showed on film in 2025, I can’t imagine he would have tested well.
When I’m looking at a draft prospect, I tend to try to focus on the most recent season against top competition, as that can give a more accurate picture of where the player is as they get ready to enter the league. That’s how I started with Maryland, watching his 2025 film against Miami, Louisville and Cal. But it felt like something was missing. His straight-line speed was good, but his build-up was slow and there was no suddenness out of the breaks. That led me to go back to how he looked before his injury in 2024 and see if there was a difference in how he looked. I ended up watching two games from 2024 (Nevada and Louisville), so we’ll be talking about all of those today.
Let’s start with the bad.
Weaknesses
I mentioned earlier that Maryland is a bit undersized. That definitely shows up in his blocking. It’s not that he’s always an unwilling blocker: it’s more that you will see him put all of himself into simply stopping a man at the line.
It’s not even that the technique is bad: it’s simply non-existent. Maryland’s best blocking comes by ducking his head and throwing himself shoulder-first at his opponent. That can work (you don’t necessarily need a tight end to be a people mover), but you need a tight end who can play with good, consistent technique and play to the occasional stalemate. Right now, Maryland is not that guy.
There are times you’ll see Maryland block with decent technique and do fine, but there are just as many examples where he tries to block with technique, only to either miss or be cast aside. One of my favorites is when he fires out to block, then tosses his man aside like he won the rep, only to have thrown the man directly into the ballcarrier.
Is this something that could be cleaned up in Green Bay? It’s possible. Again, the willingness is there – and we’ve seen him block from both in-line and from the backfield – but I don’t know that he’ll ever be anything other than a below-average blocker. You can get away with that, but I’m also worried that his habit of throwing himself into larger men will result in injury concerns.
In the passing game, there are quite a few examples in 2025 where he just does not look sudden, either off the line or out of the break.
Even his straight-line speed seems wanting (which is a bit surprising, given his 40 time).
Strengths
His full receiving skillset can truly be seen pre-injury in 2024. He shows true burst off the line, and a great ability to track and adjust to the ball down the field.
If you want a guy who can can vertical up the field from in-line, Maryland has more than his share of examples of that.
Maryland shows good hands and an ability to make tough catches all over the field.
One of the things I really like about him is what he does after the catch. He’s not going to be a guy who is going to run people over, but he’s a natural catcher of the ball and his first move after catching is upfield. He transitions from catcher to runner quickly and naturally, getting upfield in a hurry and getting as many yards as he can.
Maryland has also shown an ability to adjust to what the defense is showing. He has a good feel in zone and has some nice examples of making himself available late in the rep. In the next clip, we see him drifting away from coverage to give his QB an outlet.
Takeaways
The hope with Maryland is that he can get back to the burst he showed before his ACL injury in 2024. While his long speed came back by the end of 2025, his high-level burst never truly resurfaced. If he can get back to the player he was in 2024, Maryland has shown himself to be a reliable pass-catcher, capable of stretching the field and making tough catches. He’s a willing blocker most of the time, but he will need to work on his technique and strength if he hopes to hold up in the NFL. Even at his best, I would never expect Maryland to be a game-changing blocker, but can he get to a point where he’s effective enough to get on the field in the 12 personnel package?
Maryland’s ideal path to the roster would be a special teamer or practice squad guy in 2026 while he refines his game. If he works at those points (and regains the burst he showed in 2024), he looks to be a more dangerous option in the passing game than Musgrave or Whyle, so perhaps he could step in as TE2 or TE3 in 2027.
The more realistic story is that he never fully gets back to where he was in 2024 and his size prohibits him from seeing the field very often as a tight end at the NFL. He could look to bulk up a bit, but, in cases like that, I wonder how that gained weight would affect his speed/burst.
His versatility and ability as a pass catcher makes him a fun player to dream on. I’d like to bet on player like this and try to develop him. If he is able to approach his ceiling, he could be a really fun, useful player in this Packers offense.
Albums listened to: Lykke Li – The Afterparty; Not For Radio – Blood; American Football – LP4; Ringo Deathstarr – Mauve; Maya Hawke – MAITREYA CORSO; Hammock – The Second Coming Was a Moonrise EP; The Julies – Cherisher; Action Bronson – Planet Frog
