The Green Bay Packers’ three biggest needs this offseason are center, nose tackle and cornerback, in some order. We have already mentioned what the free agent market looks like the cornerback positionso today I want to tackle the nose tackle.
Here’s why the Packers need a nose tackle:
Advertisement
Packers Nose Situation in 2025
Green Bay ran into a problem after trading Micah Parsons, which also sent starting tackle Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys. They didn’t have a replacement for Clark.
Last year’s free agent class at defensive tackle wasn’t good, but there was some hope the team would sign a post-Clark starter (his contract almost guaranteed he wouldn’t make the team in 2026) in 2025. Instead, Nose tackles have been much higher than expected throughout the draftlikely a response to the low free agent crop.
Green Bay ended up adding Warren Brinson in the sixth round, then pay a good amount of guarantees to lock Nazir Stackhouse in undrafted free agency. Neither started in 2025, however, as the post-Clark position ended up going to Colby Wooden, who wasn’t bad, but ended up playing nose tackle after measuring in at 273 pounds at the 2023 combine. His weight is noticeably above his college height, but he remains an undersized player for the position.
The Packers’ lack of volume inside is one reason the team’s defense has worn down so quickly. They were one of, if not the best, defenses in the league for about a quarter of the game last year. After this quarter, however, they were among the worst. This was the story of Green Bay’s defense in 2025.
Advertisement
Behind Wooden, the Packers sprinkled Karl Brooks and Devonte Wyatt (usually three-technique defensive tackles) at nose tackle, but only in obvious passing situations. When it comes to true backup nose tackles, the role has been split between Stackhouse, Brinson, Jordon Riley, Quinton Bohanna and Jonathan Ford, with the final three players on that list being season pickups. Green Bay has done its best to find an answer, but nose tackles simply don’t become available after the draft. Everyone keeps what they have at their post, if they can help it.
In 2026, they will likely need to draft a starter at that position, so Wooden won’t have to play as many reps, because he clearly can’t handle the volume of snaps he played last year. Whether it’s free agency or the draft, I’d be surprised if the Packers don’t take at least one notable hit at nose tackle this offseason.
Free agent nose tackles in 2026
Okay, I want to set the table for who is or isn’t a nose tackle and who is or isn’t producing at this point in their career. You’ll see guys like John Franklin-Myers listed as one of the best defensive tackles in this free agent class. He weighs 288 pounds (weighed 283 at his combine) and is absolutely not a nose tackle. If we’re going to make a nose tackle watch list, I want to make sure real nose tackles are the only players included.
Advertisement
So here are the criteria I wanted to look at:
-
I want to know which players lined up at nose for at least half Wooden’s rate (312 snaps, so 156 snaps would qualify) in 2025. That left 58 qualifiers league-wide.
-
Of those 58, I want to know how many of them had higher Pro Football Focus grades than Wooden, especially at the nose tackle position. For what it’s worth, Wooden posted a 60.1 grade at nose tackle in 2025 (among qualifiers, the average grade is 61.3). The list dropped to 32 after this reduction.
Pretty simple: did you play half as many snaps as Wooden, and did you play better than him? After that, I checked each player to see the status of their contract, and only 8 of those 32 are scheduled to become free agents in 2026. Here they are:
Sheldon Rankins, Houston Texans
Rankins will be 32 years old at the start of next season, and he is the only fake nose tackle on this list. He posted an 89.4 grade on PFF at the position and was 10 points better as a passer than a run defender. He’s the only player on this list who hasn’t played at least a third of his snaps at nose in 2025. Basically, he was really good in a pressure role at the nose job, but his usage there was more like how the Packers used Brooks and Wyatt in obvious passing situations. Solid player who has a great pressure nose role? Yes! A legitimate response to replace the wood problem? Probably not!
Advertisement
Roy Lopez, Detroit Lions
Lopez did not start a game for the Lions in 2025, but he played 39 percent of the Lions’ overall defensive snaps. He played about 44 percent (185 snaps) of his snaps at nose tackle. The 28-year-old former undrafted player notably played for Jonathan Gannon, now defensive coordinator of the Packers, in 2023 and 2024 before signing a one-year contract with Detroit. He might be the circling type. He had a 76.3 PFF grade at nose tackle in 2025.
David Onyemata, Atlanta Falcons
I’m not sure how much longer Onyemata will be doing it, since he’ll be 34 this season, but he’s been a full-time starter in the NFL since 2019. He hasn’t missed a game in the last two years (or in 2022, for that matter) and has made 33 of 34 potential starts over that span. He posted a 74.6 overall grade at nose tackle and a 70.8 grade in run defense. Along with Rankins and Lopez, he is one of three players to break 70 in run defense on this list.
Advertisement
Khyiris Tonga, New England Patriots
Tonga is one of my favorites in this free agency class. He’s huge, weighing in at 335 pounds, and I’ve been watching him since he was a prospect coming out of BYU. He will turn 30 this year, although he is a member of the 2021 draft class, as he went on a mission before playing at BYU.
He started eight games for the Patriots in 2025, after starting just seven games total in his previous four years in the NFL, but was used almost exclusively as a nose tackle for New England. He graded 72.7 at nose tackle in 2025. He also played for Gannon, along with Lopez, in 2024.
Advertisement
DaQuan Jones, Buffalo Bills
Jones just turned 34 and has been in the league since 2014. He’s been able to hold down a full-time starting job for a while now, as he’s played 61 percent of the Bills’ defensive snaps in 2025 (in games he was available for). It would be out of the norm for the Packers to add a player this old, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Jones is also the last notable name on this list, ratings-wise. He posted a 71.8 grade in 2025. The next three players we’ll talk about had, at most, a 64.4 grade at nose tackle last year.
Tim Settle, Houston Texans
Settle, not Rankins, was actually Houston’s starting nose tackle in 2025. That was until Settle suffered a foot injury in December that ended his 2025 campaign and required surgery. He’s only 28, so he’s young, on the relative scale of this list. His PFF grade is 64.4, only slightly better than Wooden’s 61.3 grade.
Advertisement
Shelby Harris, Cleveland Browns
Harris grew up in the Milwaukee area and initially signed up to play at Wisconsin before transferring to Illinois State after a redshirt year. Despite weighing just 288 pounds, he played 41 percent of his total snaps in 2025 at true nose tackle spot in a stunt-and-blitz-heavy defense.
He’ll be 35 at the draft, but Harris might also be able to give the team a little edge in 2025 on special teams. With long 35″ arms, he is known for being a kick blocking specialist in the league. It was the Brown who blocked Brandon McManus’ kick late in regulation in 2025, ultimately leading to the Packers’ first loss of the season. Harris posted a 62.4 grade last year, with a 66.6 run defense and 58.9 pass rushing grade. Don’t worry. don’t expect him to go after the quarterback.
DJ Reader, Detroit Lions
Reader, who turns 32 next season, has started 32 of the Lions’ 34 games over the past two years. This year, he played 63 percent of his snaps at the nose tackle position. He was the player Lopez played behind in Detroit, although Lopez was rated higher at the position, according to Pro Football Focus. Ultimately, the service gave Reader a score of 62.3. Quite funny, Reader’s contract is canceled todaywhich means it will absolutely be available on the open market.
Advertisement
–
So if you look at the nose tackle market right now, it’s hard to find young players who are even in the ballpark of Colby Wooden’s snap count and PFF grade at the nose tackle position. The only players currently under 30 who both had a better grade than Wooden in 2025 and played at least half the volume of snaps he did last year are Roy Lopez, Khyiris Tonga and Tim Settle. Lopez and Tonga both have previous experience with Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, while Settle is coming off season-ending foot surgery. With that in mind, I would highlight Lopez and Tonga as the Packers’ most likely targets in free agency.
