GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will roll with Aaron Banks at left guard, Elgton Jenkins at center and Sean Rhyan at right guard for the 2025 NFL season. With Jordan Morgan slated to compete at left tackle, who will provide the depth on the interior?
That question was answered in a new mock draft by The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, who authors the annual “Freaks List” of the most athletic college players. He sent North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel to the Packers at No. 23 of the first round.
This mock stands out because it included quotes from rival coaches. Zabel would be the latest in a solid line of FCS-level offensive linemen.
“He’s a talented, physical kid,” a Missouri Valley head coach told Feldman. “I don’t think he’s quite as good as (Buccaneers guard) Cody Mauch or (Bills offensive tackle) Spencer Brown, but I think he’s better than (Saints first-round offensive tackle) Trevor Penning. Grey is a really good athlete, but I think Mauch bent better and was more of a mauler.”
At the Scouting Combine, he measured 6-foot-5 7/8 and 312 pounds. He didn’t run a 40 or do the agility testing, but he put up elite numbers in the jumps.
That came on the heels of an outstanding week at the Senior Bowl, where the college left tackle played well at guard and even center to look like a “Day 1 starter,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said. In the actual game, he played 26 snaps at center and 21 at right guard.
“It was an awesome week,” Zabel said at the Combine. “Just getting back in pads and playing football again was a great feeling. The opportunity to go down to an all-star game, compete against high-level competition, and showcase who I am as a player was really valuable. The Senior Bowl does a great job of setting up a competitive environment, and I feel like I had a pretty good week down there.”
With 32-inch arms, he’s destined to be an interior lineman but “he has got legit five-position flex,” Jeremiah said in a pre-Combine conference call.
“He is someone that has really good balance,” Jeremiah added. “He’s always under control. He’s never on the ground. He’s got strong hands. He’s really aware in terms of seeing things and picking things up.
“He’s just a guy who has played a lot of football who is polished and answered some of the smaller-school questions at the Senior Bowl, even though North Dakota State has been a school that’s pumped out a lot of linemen. I’m a huge fan of his, and I think he’s definitely in the mix to go in the first round.”
Zabel was a first-team All-American in 2024, when he started 16 games for the FCS national champions. Obviously, he’s facing a different caliber of competition than a lineman from the SEC, but he allowed only one sack.
For his career, according to PFF, he played 2,776 snaps. The breakdown: 974 at left tackle, 463 at left guard, 17 at center, 222 at right guard, 1,064 at right tackle and 42 as an extra tight end.
“The biggest thing is understanding the different responsibilities depending on which hand you have down, which stance you’re in, and even if you have to snap the football,” he said. “You never know where a team might need you in any given week, so just being the best football player you can be is the most important thing.”
The Vikings took a safety and the Lions took a pass rusher. At receiver, Arizona’s Tet McMillan and Texas’ Matthew Golden went off the board shortly before Green Bay was up.