We’re on the brink of training camp and the Green Bay Packers kicking off their 2026-27 campaign. We know the big talking points. Who’s gonna start at corner? How will the rookies look? Do they have a kicker? How will the new-look offensive line gel? Will the pass rush be good enough until Micah Parsons is back? How will the several key players returning from season-ending injuries look?
However, if you’re like me, you’re reading every single Andy Herman training camp live tweet. You’re watching family night start to finish, and all four quarters of every preseason game, searching for overlooked details and predictors of the regular season.
To create excitement start to finish with some of these more mundane parts of training camp and the preseason – like, say, the second half of every preseason game – it takes knowing what to look for and who to watch. So, in that spirit, here are three underrated players or positions I will be watching when the third-stringers are running the two-minute drill in practice, or when it’s the second half in Mile High on August 21.
Offense: The Third-String QBs
We know what Green Bay’s QB room is going to look like. Jordan Love is the starter, and Tyrod Taylor is the veteran backup. However, beyond that, Green Bay will likely keep one more QB on the practice squad. Lucky for us, they have a couple of quarterbacks with diverse and exciting styles of play: Kyron Drones and Kyle McCord.
Drones was an undrafted free agent out of Virginia Tech. He brings a play style more similar to Malik Willis and Tyrod Taylor. He’s a great athlete with terrific playmaking instincts. Put that together, and you get an exciting dual-threat QB who had 1798 rushing yards in 34 games his last three seasons in college. He’s also willing to throw it around the yard, putting up 44 passing TDs in those 34 games. Drones even already has an awesome signature throw name: Drones Strike.
McCord is the opposite. He’s more similar to Love. He brings a gunslinger mentality and isn’t afraid to throw the ball to any part of the field (or to the other team). The Philadelphia Eagles took him in the sixth round of the 2025 draft, and he spent his first season on their practice squad after playing college football at Ohio State initially and then transferring to Syracuse for his final season and setting an ACC single-season record with 4,776 passing yards along with 37 TDs and 12 Ints.
One of Drones or McCord is likely to stick around, and it will be exciting to watch them duel it out.
Defense: Kitan Oladapo
Oladapo is the only defensive player that isn’t a rookie or second-year player set to step into a real role this season. He’s set to be the third true safety behind Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams. However, he’s played just 68 defensive snaps in each of the first two seasons with Green Bay. Therefore, it would be wise to get him out there for plenty of snaps in the preseason.
He’s always projected as a fun player because of his raw athleticism. Oladapo will be a guy that jumps off the screen in the middle of the field. He loves to hit, and you’ll see him flying in to break up a pass or stuff the running back in the hole.
Special Teams: The Returners
Trey Smack will be the focus of fan attention on special teams throughout training camp and preseason. However, for the first time in what feels like a decade, Green Bay has several options at punt returner. They have struggled to find a reliable kick returner since the kickoff rules changed. Keisean Nixon has since become more important to the defense and no longer returns kicks.
Skyy Moore is the obvious candidate to take over all return duties, especially in the preseason. Green Bay signed Moore to a one-year deal in the offseason. If he makes the team, it will likely be because he made it as a returner. Moore excels as a kick and punt returner and would give Packers fans some comfort with the return game.
While I’d expect Moore to get his fair share of return opportunities, I expect the Packers to give some other guys a shot. Outside of Moore, Green Bay has a few other players who can be electric back there fielding kicks. The first is rookie UDFA Jaden Nixon out of UCF. Nixon was the primary kick returner in each of his last four seasons, averaging 22.8 yards per return, and led the Big 12 in 2022 (then at Oklahoma State) in yards per return with 27.5.
I would also expect Savion Williams, who’s always electric with the ball in his hands, to continue to get opportunities to return kicks along with Bo Melton. Meanwhile, Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden may continue to see opportunities to return punts in the case that Moore doesn’t make the roster.
