The Green Bay Packers are in an attention-grabbing spot going into the 2026 offseason. Their most well-liked center in 2025, Elgton Jenkins, has regressed in two successive seasons and completed the yr on the injured reserve after struggling a fractured fibula halfway by means of the season in opposition to the Philadelphia Eagles. In all chance, the Packers will be releasing him for $20 million in cap relief, much-needed area to get the group below the cap ceiling, earlier than the new league yr begins.
Jenkins’ damage alternative was Sean Rhyan, who performed fairly effectively on the place, however is a free agent going into this offseason. With all the danger now behind him, it will make sense for Rhyan to check the open market earlier than accepting any supply from Green Bay earlier than the beginning of free company. Whenever Rhyan will get one other quantity from groups, who is aware of if the Packers would be the highest bidder for Rhyan’s providers.
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On top of that, this center class, so far as the draft goes, isn’t superb. Below are six (sure, solely six) top-200 center prospects on the consensus board right now.
Consensus Board Center Rankings
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#95 Jake Slaughter, Florida
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#96 Parker Brailsford, Alabama
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#129 Matt Gulbin, Michigan State
I’ve been instructed that at the very least Slaughter, Brailsford and Jones are appreciated extra by the media than NFL scouts at this level within the course of. There’s a good probability that Connor Lew of Auburn, coming off an ACL tear, is the one participant who will get picked within the first three rounds of the draft, at the very least so far as center-only gamers go.
The actual X issue on this class, although, has been who might be changing to the place full-time on the subsequent degree. As I have beforehand reported right here at Acme Packing Company, scouts have tabbed Texas A&M’s Trey Zuhn III (#163 on the consensus board) and Duke’s Brian Parker II (#82) as guys who ought to transfer inside full-time within the NFL. Zuhn has some expertise at center, working there in coaching camp for the Aggies and seeing limited snaps there on Saturdays, whereas Parker is new to the place.
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Well, that was till Thursday.
Parker, regardless of being an early declaration for the draft, is attending this week’s East-West Shrine Bowl motion. He is considered to be the best offensive lineman at the event.
Today, he measured in with 32.25” arms, which might be within the twelfth percentile of offensive linemen, a massive motive why scouts consider that Parker would want to kick in from sort out to center within the NFL. He has a longer body at practically 6’5” and 306 kilos (small for an NFL offensive lineman, however not out of the abnormal for a center) nevertheless it doesn’t translate to his arm size.
While doing a media occasion on the East-West Shrine Bowl, Parker instructed the press that he plans on completely working at center in the course of the week of follow, which begins tomorrow, Friday, January twenty third. Depending on how this week works for Parker and the way Lew’s medicals come again in the course of the draft course of, the Duke lineman’s inventory might vault into the primary spot on the center place.
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The East-West Shrine Bowl might be performed on Tuesday, January twenty seventh at 6 pm CT on the NFL Network. If you need to delve a little extra into the draft, you possibly can learn our full East-West Shrine Bowl preview and our American Bowl preview, a sport that might be performed tonight on NFL Network.