The Green Bay Packers have a storied history. And I’m not just talking about the championships and Super Bowls—they’ve also built a reputation for finding hidden gems in the undrafted free agent pool.
In fact, they’re in the middle of a historically unprecedented run. For 20 straight seasons, dating back to 2005, Green Bay has had at least one undrafted rookie make their initial 53-man roster.
The pipeline actually started flowing long before this streak began. Pre-2005, the Packers unearthed players like Cullen Jenkins, Ryan Longwell, George Koonce, and even Mark Murphy—before he became team president and CEO.
Since then, the list has only grown: Ryan Grant, Tramon Williams, Sam Shields, Allen Lazard, and Keisean Nixon all arrived without hearing their names called on draft night.
One of the latest members of that club is running back Emanuel Wilson.
Wilson’s football journey is straight out of a small-school fairy tale. He began at Johnson C. Smith University, earning CIAA Freshman of the Year honors after rushing for over 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns. He later transferred to Fort Valley State, where he became a dominant force—racking up more than 2,500 total yards and 26 touchdowns over two seasons, winning SIAC Player of the Year in 2022.
Despite the numbers, the NFL largely overlooked him. When he went undrafted in 2023, NFL.com’s scouting blurb was just a handful of lines, praising his size and burst but questioning his decisiveness and physicality as a finisher.
Wilson responded the only way he knew how—by producing. He flashed in the 2023 preseason, earning a spot on Green Bay’s 53-man roster. Playing in just seven games his rookie year, he totaled 85 rushing yards on 14 carries.
But in 2024, he carved out a bigger role: 103 carries, 505 yards, and four touchdowns—an efficient 4.9 yards per tote.
And yet, life in the NFL moves fast. This summer, Wilson finds himself squarely on the roster bubble.
Josh Jacobs is locked in as RB1, and 2024 third-round pick Marshawn Lloyd—though injury-prone early in his career—is fully healthy and dynamic. Chris Brooks offers something neither Wilson nor Lloyd specialize in: top-tier pass protection out of the backfield. That’s a valuable skill when protecting Jordan Love from elite blitz packages.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Amar Johnson has flashed enough in camp to intrigue coaches. He’s younger, cheaper, and offers developmental upside. If Jacobs and Lloyd stay healthy, Brooks could hold the RB3 role, while Johnson slides to the practice squad as an emergency call-up.
That leaves Wilson in a precarious position. Even after averaging nearly five yards per carry last year, he could go from productive contributor to waiver-wire casualty in the span of one offseason.