It would be stunning to see the Green Bay Packers exit the draft in April without selecting at least one cornerback. It’s a priority position for the Packers to address, so much so that it’s possible they could select a corner with their first pick at No. 52 overall. However, if they don’t, Georgia’s Daylen Everette is a hell of an intriguing prospect for a likely mid-round pick.
Everette has the ideal size that the Packers desire at the position. At 6’1”, 193 lbs., he leans on his athleticism to get the job done on the boundary. Green Bay loves freakish athletes. While Everette isn’t on the extreme side of that, his greatest strength might be his pure athleticism.
He played 41 games for Georgia, and watching his film from Georgia, how smooth and natural he looks at cornerback stands out. It’s the first thing NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein noted in his breakdown of Everette.
Smooth athlete with good size, length and foot agility as an inside/outside option. Everette started 41 games at Georgia, including several high-leverage affairs. He’s well-built with run-through pop when he wants to dial it up.
He’s controlled and patient from press, forcing wider release stems, and does a nice job of mirroring breaks when in-phase. Everette appears to lack make-up speed and sudden acceleration from transitions, so when he gets behind, he tends to stay behind. He’s willing in run support but is more of a drag-down tackler.
There’s plenty to gush about, but Everette’s weak tackling and apparent average acceleration are a couple of reasons as to why teams likely won’t draft him in the first couple of rounds. Green Bay may be looking for a more prominent prospect at cornerback who could have more of an immediate impact. But let’s be real: The Packers haven’t drafted a cornerback outside of the seventh round since 2021. Anything a cornerback in the middle of the draft would feel like a win.
Daylen Everette falls into that sweet spot where he won’t go in the first round and probably won’t go in the second, either. He’s almost certainly not going fall to the sixth or seventh. Experts expect a team to scoop him up in the middle of the draft. Green Bay doesn’t have its first-round pick this year or next due to the Micah Parsons trade, so capitalizing on the selections they do have, especially in Rounds 2 and 3, will be vital.
Everette appears to have a high enough floor that even if he doesn’t mold into a bona fide, no-doubt No. 1 corner, he’ll provide a team with a strong depth option who sees regular playing time. Brian Gutekunst could have greater aspirations in mind. However, in February, he said that the team doesn’t need wholesale changes at the position. The Packers lack a true No. 1 cornerback, but they also just need to fill out the room with stronger depth.
After being a five-star coming out of high school, Everette was expected to be the next big thing at cornerback for Georgia. He had plenty of strong outings and provided Kirby Smart‘s defense with reliability. Still, it’d be an embellishment to suggest Everette became the type of player many expected. There may still be layers to his game that have yet to unfold, and he needs more time and development. It’s equally possible that Everette didn’t become a superstar in college, and that will also be the case in the NFL.
Green Bay has long operated under the philosophy that it prioritizes raw talent and believes it has a particular ability as an organization to develop those prospects into fully realized players. Lukas Van Ness never started a game at Iowa, but was touted as an athletic marvel with raw talent that jumped out on film. Savion Williams never fully excelled at one thing at TCU, but did a lot of things very well and had all the makings of an athletic monster.
The Packers can’t beat around the bush. They have to draft at least one cornerback in April. If it isn’t with their first selection at No. 52 overall, Everette fits the size they prefer and the athleticism they desire. Next Gen Stats has Everette projected to finish sixth among all cornerbacks at the combine in athleticism score.
Daylen Everette wouldn’t come in and immediately be a starter. Still, if Gutekunst truly believes in the trio of Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, and Carrington Valentine for 2026, Everette would be a heck of a prospect to develop.
