March 22, 2026, 3:34 p.m. CT

The Green Bay Packers’ scouting system has been in place since Ron Wolf came to town in 1991 and has been passed down to Ted Thompson and then Brian Gutekunst. This continuity in draft philosophy has led to an advanced understanding outside the building of what Green Bay wants from prospects in terms of physical dimensions and athleticism at various positions.

At cornerback for example, the average player drafted since Thompson took over in 2005 has measured 5-11.7, 194 pounds with 31 ¼” arms. The lowest marks they have drafted in that time are 5-10.2 for height, 183 pounds for weight and 30 ¼” arms.

Generally, it is fair to judge a corner’s fit with the Packers based on those numbers. There is more to it though. It is not just a case of clearing the floors in both height and weight, it is about the relationship between the two, and specifically body density.

Any scout will tell you a lot of their job is about body shaming. They are looking at how well prospects are put together. Different players with similar measurements can look very different. Having a well-proportioned body and carrying weight well matters.

As it pertains to the Packers, they have drafted tall, heavy corners, and occasionally a couple of short and light ones. But they simply have not drafted skinny cornerbacks, regardless of how short or tall they are.

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.

The numbers bear it out. Using the Relative Athletic Score (RAS) system since 2005, the average difference between the height and weight of a Packers corner has been just 0.2 percentage points. That means they are essentially exactly aligned in height and weight.

The biggest discrepancy in that time in favor of height has been 21 percentage points, with Micah Robinson ranking in the 52nd percentile for height at 5-10.7 and the 31st percentile for weight at 183 pounds. He was also a seventh-round pick who did not make the team.

Outside of him, the largest gap in height and weight has been Eric Stokes at 16 points, with 86th percentile height at 6-0.5 and 70th percentile weight at 194 pounds.

Even with Stokes, looking back at what he looked like at his pro day before entering the league, which is when these measurements are recorded, it would be a stretch to say he looked skinny. He had a muscular frame.

The eye test matches the data. It is hard to think of a cornerback the Packers have had who looked truly lightweight. Carrington Valentine may be the most prominent one, but his height and weight were actually both in the 68th percentile, so he is well proportioned.

What about discrepancies in the other direction? Players who are dense in weight despite not being tall are seemingly actively encouraged in Green Bay.

Jaire Alexander is the most extreme example. He was just over 5-10, ranking in the 39th percentile for height, but he weighed 196 pounds, which ranks in the 77th percentile for weight. This bulk made the Packers feel comfortable taking him despite the lack of length.

The overall approach makes sense for a team always talking about how they need their corners to defend the run. The main reason Valentine has struggled to become a consistent starter is because of his unreliable run defense.

So what does all this mean for the upcoming draft? There are some cornerbacks who on the surface look like Packers types, but may not be in reality, because although they hit the floors for height and weight, they are not well-balanced athletes.

It is easy to see the recorded measurements of a ‘big’ corner, and assume they are a Packers type due to the team’s general desire for size over the years.

But the taller a prospect is, the more bulk they need to have. Simply being tall is not going to help anyone hold up in run defense if they do not have any stopping power to go with it.

Take Davison Igbinosun for example, who was a popular early ‘Packers type’ before the combine as a big boundary corner.

Then he weighed in at just over 6-2, 189 pounds. Between his 96th percentile height and 54th percentile weight, that’s a 42-point discrepancy, which is double the biggest amount the Packers have drafted. Igbinosun also tested fine, but not exceptionally, with a 7.46 RAS.

Will Lee III tested much better but had a 40-point discrepancy between height (94th percentile at 6-1.5) and weight (54th percentile at 189 pounds).

Comparing Igbinosun and Lee at 189 pounds to previous Packers draft picks, the only two corners they’ve drafted since 2005 who weighed 190 or less were shorter than 5-11. That’s quite a difference.

Malik Muhammad is a particularly glaring outlier at 6-0, 182 pounds. That makes him lighter than any corner Thompson or Gutekunst has drafted. There is a whopping 48 percentage point gap between his height (75th percentile) and weight (27th percentile).

Tacario Davis is maybe the most interesting case. He is a huge guy at over 6-3.5, so seems like a Packers type. But at that size, ‘only’ being 194 pounds (2 pounds lighter than Alexander was), could be a problem, even though it is the exact average height of a Green Bay draft pick at corner since 2005.

Watching Davis go through his combine workout, where players’ physical forms are very much on display at the ‘underwear olympics’, he looked lanky and a bit awkward, not powerful.

The tallest corner the Packers have drafted since 2005 was Kevin King at 6-3 even, and he was 200 pounds. It may not seem like a big difference to someone like Davis, but six fewer pounds spread over more than half an inch of extra human can mean the two players look a lot different.

It is the difference between a 26-point discrepancy for Davis (99th percentile height, 73rd percentile weight) and a 12-point gap for King (99th percentile height, 87th percentile weight).

Treydan Stukes being 6-1 (89th percentile) and 190 pounds (59th percentile) means a 30-point gap, which may take him out of the running for Green Bay, although he could be seen as a slot-only player anyway, which is not what they need.

Latrell McCutchin (6-1.5, 191) and Collin Wright (6-0, 188) are a couple of other examples who were at the combine.

There are few cases of this scale working in someone’s favor, making them more ‘Packersy’ due to being shorter to explain a lack of weight, but Brandon Cisse might get away with only being 189 pounds in a 5-11.5 frame, as this is only a 16-point gap, the same as Stokes was.

If he were to fall to 52, which is not a given, he would likely be in play for Green Bay, especially since his arms are also plenty long enough at 31 ⅜.”

This is all worth factoring in when examining if a corner might be a good fit for the Packers, and a similar principle applies at wide receiver, where a 30 point gap between height and weight (height being the higher of the two) has been the widest they have drafted, or 22 points under Gutekunst.

Measurements matter in Green Bay’s draft philosophy, but so do body types and proportions.