The Green Bay Packers moved up in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft to take Missouri defensive tackle Chris McClellan. Originally, the Packers held the 84th overall pick in the third round. They moved that selection and the 160th pick, their original fifth-round pick, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 77th overall pick. In the process, they skipped over the following teams: the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers and Buccaneers.

McClellan was ranked the 108th overall prospect in the class per the consensus draft board. He was the fourth-highest rated defensive tackle available, behind Iowa State’s Domonique Orange, Oklahoma’s Grace Halton and Florida State’s Darrell Jackson Jr. Halton, unlike the other three, is the only true three-technique defensive tackle. Orange, Jackson and McClellan can all play nose tackle, though McClellan played fewer nose reps at Missouri than either Orange or Jackson did in college.

Green Bay has a need at the nose tackle position, following the losses of T.J. Slaton, Kenny Clark and Colby Wooden over the last two seasons. General manager Brian Gutekunst stated in his pre-draft press conference that free agent signing Javon Hargrave can play nose tackle, but that the team is still in the “true nose tackle” market, as only Nazir Stackhouse (2025 free agent), Jonathan Ford (claimed last year) and Will Brinson (2025 sixth-round pick) fit that mold.

Chris McClellan is a DT prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 6.01 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 911 out of 2278 DT from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/M1cu9obeQm pic.twitter.com/ug61u7DXpz

McClellan should be able to compete for playing time in that room in 2026. He began his career at Florida before transferring to Missouri in 2024. Last year, he was named a second-team All-SEC player with the Tigers.

For what it’s worth, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, author of “The Beast” had McClellan graded as a 3rd-4th round pick and named McClellan his eighth-ranked defensive tackle of the class. Orange, whom he graded as a 2nd-round pick, was the only defensive tackle still available who Brugler had graded ahead of McClellan at the time of McClellan’s selection.