The final beer cups have been swept up off Lombardi Avenue and the Green Bay Packers are getting ready for the 2025 season. With a successful NFL Draft behind them, the Packers will be looking to build off an 11-6 season that was marred by a third-place finish in the NFC North and a Wild Card playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The first step in that process is the team’s rookie minicamp, which began on Friday morning. The Packers’ rookie class, undrafted free agents and minicamp invitees will have a chance to make a positive first impression on the coaching staff. If things go well, they could receive the opportunity to prove themselves during offseason activities and perhaps bump a fringe player off the roster.
In the case of one failed draft pick, rookie camp will be a chance to see if there’s any competition and it could lead to a shocking release in the weeks after camp.
Colby Wooden is on Packers Roster Bubble Entering Rookie Minicamp
Colby Wooden was selected in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, but he enters minicamp with just as much on the line as the rookies that will be on the field. Wooten enjoyed a productive collegiate career at Auburn, making 154 total tackles including 32 for loss and 14.5 sacks in four seasons with the TIgers. But that potential hasn’t translated to the NFL as he enters his third season.
After serving in a reserve role during his rookie season, Wooden only played in 13 games and was a healthy scratch in four matchups last season. The 24-year-old’s snaps also went down from 298 snaps in his rookie year to 260 last season. His pressure rate dropped from 8.1% to 5.1% and it was an alarming development for a team that was begging for help along its defensive line.
It was a big reason why interior defenseman was one of the needs for Green Bay entering last week’s draft. But most of the players they coveted were overdrafted according to consensus boards (Derrick Harmon, Walter Nolen) or would have been massive reaches (Tyleik Williams, Vernon Broughton, Jamaree Caldwell) when the Packers were on the clock. This left Green Bay waiting until they selected Warren Brinson in the sixth-round but it doesn’t spare Wooten from being on the bubble.
Wooden is currently slotted behind Devonte Wyatt on the team’s unofficial depth chart, but it doesn’t seem like he would take over even if the Packers’ decline Wyatt’s fifth-year option for 2026. Wooden also doesn’t contribute on special teams, which puts him behind his fellow draft classmate Karl Brooks, who was selected in the sixth-round in 2023.
Ester James is currently behind Wooden and the combination of free agent pickups Nesta Jade Silvera and Keith Randolph and UDFA signing Nazier Stackhouse doesn’t seem intimidating. But the Packers have made a habit for mining talent outside of the draft as Green Bay has had at least one undrafted player make the roster in each of the past 20 seasons.
If someone steps up, Wooden could be left out in the cold and pave the way for his release sometime after rookie minicamp.