Can Grant DuBose Continue This Green Bay Packers Trend?

Robert Brooks, Antonio Freeman, Donald Driver, James Jones, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Romeo Doubs. Even Jeff Janis has cemented his place in Green Bay Packers lore.

What do those aforementioned players all have in common, beyond donning a Packers uniform? They have all been drafted in the third round or later, and they have all made their own special contributions to the third-oldest NFL team.

The Packers Routinely Extract Greatness From Unknown Players

Of course, some of those players have far more enduring legacies than the others; after all, Donald Driver is the greatest receiver in franchise history - all after being selected 213th overall in the seventh round of the 1999 Draft and having to live in a U-Haul truck during part of his childhood.

Jeff Janis has not played in the NFL since 2017; he caught 17 passes for 200 yards in 51 total regular season games - and yet, he will always be remembered for his otherworldly Hail Mary touchdown catch in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter of the 2015 NFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Arizona Cardinals. Janis was also drafted in the seventh round; his overall spot was 236th, and he played at Saginaw Valley State, a Division II football program that has produced just four other NFL draftees.

The examples are copious in supply, and the Packers' track record of developing later draft picks into impactful players transcends the receiver position; after all, they have gone 19 consecutive years with having at least one undrafted player make the 53-man roster - a feat that demonstrates that Green Bay is the best place to go for any player who may find himself on an island of misfit toys.

Grant DuBose Has A Background That Is Befitting Of A Player Battling For An NFL Roster Spot

DuBose played just two full seasons at Charlotte and was drafted before just four other players in 2023; he spent nearly all of last season on the practice squad, and was a zero-star recruit without a single offer when he began his senior year of high school. When DuBose received his only collegiate offer, which was from Division II Miles College, he accepted it just ten days before signing day.

DuBose's freshman year at Miles in 2019 was merely a blip on any scout's radar, as he registered 104 yards and a single touchdown. With the 2020 season being cancelled due to the pandemic, DuBose worked multiple part-time jobs - which included bagging groceries and another job at Walmart - and kept himself in shape, a credit to his fortitude and work ethic.

The following year, DuBose was persuaded to transfer to Charlotte after coalescing with a childhood friend. DuBose earned a spot on the team, and produced 1,684 yards and 15 touchdowns in 24 total games for Charlotte in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Despite just 24 games with his alma mater, DuBose ranks second all-time in program history in yards, receiving yards, receptions, and touchdowns.

Fast forward to this past January, DuBose was elevated to the Packers' active roster for Week 18 - which the Packers won, and catapulted themselves into the playoffs. DuBose himself did not see any actual game action, but it was a small taste of what could come.

DuBose Is Ready To Complete His Dream

NFL Football and its most storied franchise bring one word to mind for me: infracaninophile, which is a person who loves and roots for underdogs. Grant DuBose clearly exemplifies what it means to be an underdog, and earning a roster spot in the NFL is the pinnacle of meritocracy.

Back on Saturday, August 10th, DuBose had more catches and receiving yards than any other player on the field when he hauled in five receptions for 66 yards. Unlike last year, DuBose has been healthy for the duration of training camp, and he has the benefit of a rapid start to his training camp and preseason.

Although he will have to usurp Bo Melton, Julian Hicks, and Samori Toure for the final receiver spot on the roster, I have a confident feeling that the kid who was a zero-star recruit with no offers from any Division I program will be on the Packers' 53-man roster for Week One against the Eagles in Brazil - and perhaps even play a pivotal role throughout the entire season.

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