Jan. 14, 2026, 7:41 p.m. CT

The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects who the Green Bay Packers could select in the 2026 NFL draft.

During the 2025 NFL Draft, Brian Gutekunst selected two players (Savion Williams and Barryn Sorrell) who appeared on Bruce Feldman’s annual Freaks list article that was published before the start of the 2024-2025 college football season. 

A player from the 2025 list whom Gutekunst could target in the 2026 NFL Draft is Dontay Corleone. The Cincinnati nose tackle checks in at No. 95 in the Unpacking Future Packers Countdown. 

A native of Cincinnati, Corleone attended Colerian High School and earned all-state honors during the 2020 season. 

“I truly don’t think words could describe how much Corleone has meant to the Cincinnati program,” Neil Meyer, the Cincinnati beat writer for The Front Office News, said. “I covered his whole career, and he absolutely loved being able to play in front of his family and friends. When you hear ‘hometown hero.’ I think Corleone is the first guy to come to mind in terms of that phrase around the program. His loyalty to Cincinnati over the years and his career were unwavering. He had plenty of opportunities to leave and pursue a bigger paycheck at other institutions, but he wanted to remain here at Cincinnati.”

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After Corleone redshirted in 2021, he enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2022, recording 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. In 2023, The Godfather recorded 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. 

In June of 2024, Corleone suffered a health scare with blood clots in his lungs. By July, Corleone was back to physical activity and that fall he recorded five tackles for loss and a career-high 3.5 sacks. 

“He’s so well liked and respected by his peers, I think that’s what stands out the most,” Meyer said. “With everything he’s endured throughout his playing career, then to stick with the coaching changes, overcome the health scare, he really gave everything he had to Cincinnati and did so with so much pride.”

During his final season with his hometown team, Corleone was limited to just 10 games after suffering an injury against Bowling Green. 

“He’s meant so much to Cincinnati over the years and I think anyone you ask around the program or who’s covered Dontay would say the same thing,” Meyer said. “He is such a great voice, leader, and role model for this program and city. I honestly won’t be surprised if we see him inducted into the Cincinnati Hall of Fame here at one point.”

At 6-0, 331 pounds, Corleone is naturally stout and plays with good leverage. He holds his ground against power and is able to root in against double teams to clog up running lanes. The Cincinnati defensive tackle has nimble feet and the contact balance to play through contact. The Godfather has the power to move centers wherever he pleases and forklift them out of the way once he locates the football.

During his first two seasons on campus, Corleone recorded 51 run stops and finished his career with 68. With his brute strength and his quickness off the snap, Corleone has the tools to be more than just a boulder against the run. He can wreck the opposing team’s ground game.

While he may not always make the play, he disrupts the action in the backfield and helps keep linebackers clean. Jake Golday, Cincinnati’s linebacker who will likely be picked in the Top 100 in April, likely sent him fruit baskets every week.

“What makes him so effective in the run is his strength and ability to shed blocks quickly due to his elite strength and physicality,” Meyer said. “No matter what is going on, he finds a way to make a play. He plays with great football IQ and has a knack for locating the football.”

Corleone’s calling card at the next level will be his ability to two-gap and shut down running lanes. However, he has some juice as an interior pass rusher. The Cincinnati defensive tackle has the power to drive offensive linemen backwards to destroy the integrity of the pocket. He finished his career with 68 pressures.

“The first thing people tend to look at is his size being a little undersized for a nose guard,” Meyer said. “However, his leverage and strength are what make him so talented…He’s a guy who’s going to disrupt every play, as you saw over the last year or so. Most teams were double and or triple-teaming him and he still found a way to have production at an elite level.”

Fit with the Packers

A priority this offseason for Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers is beefing up the interior of the defensive line. It’s a group that needs more impactful players.

Devonte Wyatt is their X-factor at defensive tackle. The former Georgia Bulldog will return next season from a fractured ankle he suffered against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. He’ll be entering the final year of his rookie contract and it’s anybody’s guess whether he’ll earn a second contract with the Packers.

Colby Wooden, Karl Brooks and Warren Brinson are all solid depth pieces, but they are not difference makers. Green Bay needs to add a more active player to that group and someone who could help shore up the run defense.

Corleone would no doubt help shore up Green Bay’s run defense. He’d be a natural fit playing next to Wyatt on early downs.

“He is a first-generation college graduate if I remember correctly, and comes from a single-parent household and made it a priority to graduate college with not one but two degrees as well,” Meyer said. “A guy that could go in and ace every single draft interview but whatever team takes him in the draft, whether that’s first round or seventh round, someone is getting a steal just due to the kind of person he is on and off the field. He’s the kind of person that you want in your locker room in good and bad days because he’s always ready to strap up and give 100% effort any time he touches the field.”

With the Packers in need of a player of Corleone’s skill set, it would not be surprising to see the Packers draft him if he were still on the board in the fourth round. There is no doubt he could carve out a role on early downs as an impactful run-stuffing nose tackle, who could potentially stay on the field for passing downs with his initial quickness and raw power.