The Green Bay Packers should select this local product in the 2023 NFL Draft

A Wisconsin Badger at outside linebacker could be a sneaky-good pick for the Green Bay Packers in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Neither the collegiate nor the pro football team in Wisconsin made much noise last season, with the Green Bay Packers missing out on the postseason and the Badgers going 4-5 in-conference and firing their head coach midway through the season.

So, Packers fans might actually want the team to stay away from possible Badgers additions this go-around of the NFL Draft. Considering that the Packers needs are both wide and deep, and they don’t exactly know what’s going on with Aaron Rodgers yet, maybe it’s time to look toward winning programs to bring in talent.

But just because a team didn’t win does not mean that the pieces within aren’t talented or worth a look, and there is definitely still some talent to be mined of the Badgers players moving onto the pro levels.

One the Packers should consider from Wisconsin is outside linebacker, Nick Herbig.

Packers could use the sneaky-good Badger Nick Herbig in NFL Draft

You’ll hear one big thing about Nick Herbig when he’s being assessed throughout the pre-draft process: His size just isn’t enough.

But at the edge-rusher position, there’s a chance that big weakness could actually turn out to be a point of strength if a coaching staff can properly utilize him within their scheme.

What Herbig lacks in size, he can make up for in agility, speed, and craftiness.

What a team needs from an outside linebacker is not necessarily pure strength and size. Sometimes, a player that can burst out of the gate is an advantage since they can overwhelm blockers.

Herbig is being noted by some as one of the biggest sleepers in the draft because lazier scouts won’t look past the outer flaws to see the potential Herbig brings to the table.

The NFL’s Scouting Combine is coming up in just a week, and Herbig is one of three players invited to represent the Badgers and show teams what they hope to bring to the next level of the game.

Herbig tallied 134 tackles (95 solo), 21 sacks, and 36.0 tackles for loss in three years at Madison while also forcing four fumbles. His 11 sacks in 2022 and 16 tackles for loss both led the Big Ten, proof that size isn’t everything when it comes to results.

The Packers would probably need to use their second-round pick (46 overall) on him, or third (79 overall) if he tumbles down the draft order.