One of the lasting impacts of the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay will be the draft class itself, with the Packers adding eight new players to the roster.
As we've done in the past, we took a look at an interesting nugget about each of the newcomers.
Matthew Golden, wide receiver, Texas
His plans for his NFL money went viral
Golden represents a milestone for the Packers, famously the first wide receiver taken in the first round since 2002. During the pre-draft process, Golden repeatedly answered the question of what he's going to do with his financial windfall as an NFL player the same way: He planned to buy his grandmother a house.
And maybe the exact house she lost a couple of years ago? Golden told On3 Sports that the house where he grew up is literally on the market right now, located close to his high school.
Anthony Belton, tackle, North Carolina State
He’s got an unusual nickname: ‘Big Escalade’
According to Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated, Belton's “Big Escalade” nickname came from North Carolina State director of strength and conditioning Dantonio Burnette, a nod to Belton's immense size (6-foot-6, 336 pounds). Burnette himself drives an Escalade, which Belton said contributed to the concept, which also speaks to how smoothly Belton can move despite his size.
Belton also began his career at Georgia Military College for two years after getting zero stars from recruiting services. He wound up playing three years at NC State.
Savion Williams, wide receiver, Texas Christian
His daughter needed a life-saving procedure in 2023
Williams and his wife, Jorden, have a daughter named Legacy who was born six weeks premature in 2023 and spent 17 weeks in the NICU because of an AV canal defect that required open-heart surgery. In 2024, he told the Texas Christian campus magazine that she's now an active, healthy girl.
Barryn Sorrell, defensive end, Texas
He showed up to the draft in Green Bay, and it paid off
By now, you've seen the videos. Sorrell spent the opening night of the draft in his hotel room and watched Texas teammate Matthew Golden taken with the first Packers pick. He physically went to the draft for Day 2 and stayed in the green room but didn't hear his name get called. On Day 3, the Packers came knocking ... but even they were surprised when he emerged from the tunnel.
“We did not know he was here,” director of football operations Milt Hendrickson said, “in the sense that that wasn’t the reason we picked it. Some things are just meant to be, and that was a pretty cool moment for him and the organization as well. Really love what he brings, both as a human being and the ruggedness and physicality this guy plays with."
Collin Oliver, defensive end, Oklahoma State
Nobody who played FBS last year had more career sacks than him
A right-foot injury limited Oliver to just two games in his final year at Oklahoma State and perhaps kept him from going much higher in the draft. He's a three-time second-team selection in the Big 12 and was also the conference's unanimous Big 12 defensive freshman of the year in 2021, as well as a member of four different freshman All-America teams. His 23.5 career sacks at the school are still the fifth-most in program history, and he's fourth with 40.5 tackles for loss. Last year, he was the active career leader in sacks among any player in FBS, as well as the active career leader in tackles for loss.
Warren Brinson, defensive tackle, Georgia
He’s flown an airplane
Dane Brugler of The Athletic wrote in his annual draft epic, “The Beast,” that Brinson is a hunter, fisherman and amateur pilot who flew his first plane in 2024.
Brinson posted video of the occasion to Twitter in July 2024. Perhaps we'll see him at the next EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, which could coincide with Packers training camp in late July 2025.
Micah Robinson, cornerback, Tulane
He went to the same high school as a familiar NFL name (who was covering the draft) and the current Packers backup quarterback
Adam “Pacman” Jones was in attendance during the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, covering the event as credentialed media member. The former NFL cornerback attended Westlake High School in Atlanta, which also happens to be Robinson's alma mater.
Not only that, but Robinson's selection marked the second straight year the Packers took a seventh-rounder out of Tulane; quarterback Michael Pratt got the call in 2024. Pratt didn't stick with the team; it was part of the reason the Packers brought in former Tennessee quarterback Malik Willis ... who also attended Westlake before transferring to Roswell High School.
Quarterback Cam Newton is also among the future NFL players to emerge from the school.
John Williams, tackle, Cincinnati
He played for Luke Fickell and had a remarkable major in college
Williams was part of the 2020 recruiting class at Cincinnati for now-Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, and he would end up playing four seasons at left tackle for the Bearcats. Not only that, he majored in aerospace engineering at the school. So, yes, he could theoretically be an offensive lineman or ... a rocket scientist?
It cannot possibly be lost on you that famed movie composer John Williams created the music for E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the Star Wars films.
