Title: “The Steal No One Saw Coming: Jamon Dumas-Johnson Joins the Packers”
The third day of the 2025 NFL Draft came and went in a flurry of surprises, trades, and last-minute scrambles, but one of the most shocking developments wasn’t a pick — it was a signature. In the quiet after the storm, news broke: the Green Bay Packers had signed Kentucky linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson as an undrafted free agent.
For those who had truly watched college football, the news hit like a bolt of lightning.
How did this happen? How did one of the most instinctive, hard-nosed linebackers in the country fall through seven rounds of selections? Maybe it was the injury that sidelined him for part of his senior season. Maybe teams questioned his straight-line speed in an NFL obsessed with 40-yard dash times. But for those who watched the film — really watched it — Dumas-Johnson was the kind of player you build a defense around: smart, relentless, and violently precise.
Standing at 6’1” and a chiseled 245 pounds, Dumas-Johnson doesn’t just play linebacker — he embodies it. His ability to read offenses is almost eerie; he anticipates the snap, knifes through blockers like a heat-seeking missile, and brings down ball carriers with a thud you feel through the television. He plays the game with an edge, a chip-on-his-shoulder intensity that some scouts quietly worried might not “fit” the new, polished, corporate image of NFL locker rooms.
The Packers, however, have always had a different eye for talent. And now, they might have pulled off one of the best moves of the 2025 offseason.
It’s not just a depth signing — it’s a shot across the NFC North’s bow. Green Bay needed more nastiness on defense, more brains in the second level, and more leadership in a locker room that felt just a little too quiet during the critical stretches of 2024. Dumas-Johnson brings all that, wrapped in a package of controlled aggression and raw football IQ.
In my opinion, this isn’t just a good signing. It’s a potential franchise-altering steal.
Imagine Dumas-Johnson lining up next to Quay Walker, another rangy, instinctive linebacker. The Packers could unleash exotic blitzes, create confusion in passing lanes, and shut down the run in ways they struggled to last year. He’s the kind of player who changes the temperature of a defense — and the temperature of an entire game.
Of course, no UDFA signing is guaranteed. The NFL is brutally unforgiving, and Dumas-Johnson will have to battle through rookie minicamp, organized team activities, and a gauntlet of preseason games just to earn a roster spot. But if he stays healthy and keeps the chip on his shoulder sharp, the Packers might not just have found a role player.
They might have found a cornerstone.
And when we look back at the 2025 NFL Draft in five years, we might not talk about the first-round picks.
We might talk about how the Packers stole Jamon Dumas-Johnson from the entire league — and never looked back.
Here’s my honest opinion on this topic:
If the Packers are signing Jamon Dumas-Johnson as a UDFA, I think it’s a huge win for Green Bay.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson, when healthy, is a starting-caliber linebacker — no question. He’s one of those players who outplays the stopwatch: maybe he’s not the fastest or the flashiest at a combine, but when the ball is snapped, he’s always where he needs to be. His instincts, tackling ability, and leadership on the field make him an ideal fit for a team like the Packers, who value smart, aggressive defenders.
I personally believe teams overthought him during the draft. NFL franchises sometimes fall too in love with “measurables” — 40 times, broad jumps, verticals — and forget to trust the tape. On tape, Dumas-Johnson is a machine. He sniffs out runs, diagnoses plays, and has that old-school linebacker mentality that’s becoming rare.
The Packers grabbing him as an undrafted free agent would be stealing real value without using a draft pick.
At worst, he’s a core special teamer who can develop behind the starters.
At best, he’s starting by midseason and becoming the heart of the Packers’ defense by 2026.
So overall:
Love the move.
High upside, low risk.
Could end up being one of the smartest pickups of the entire draft weekend.
Would you want me to also give a quick projection of how I think he’d fit specifically into the Packers’ linebacker rotation? (I could even sketch out a possible 2025 linebacker depth chart if you want.)
