Most Interesting Prospects: Southeastern Louisiana defensive lineman Kaleb Proctor

My interest in Kaleb Proctor is simple: defensive linemen are big, and Proctor is small.

Proctor is, to be clear, only small for a defensive lineman, not for a general human being, but at a shade under 6-foot-2 and 291 pounds, he is a certifiably small defensive lineman.

He’s smaller than any defensive lineman the Packers’ currently employ, especially with previous title holder Colby Wooden now a member of the Indianapolis Colts. He’s smaller than the typical nose tackle that Packers fans have (probably correctly) assumed the team needs, especially if the team is switching to a defensive base that uses three down linemen with new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in town. He’s even smaller than Oklahoma’s Gracen Halton, and Halton has been regularly and repeatedly docked on draft boards for his height.

Proctor is small.

But he’s good. And he makes up for his lack of size in interesting ways.

First, the results. Though he was playing at FCS-level Southeastern Louisiana, Proctor did what everyone wants small school prospects to do: he dominated his level of competition. His production ratio (sacks + tackles for loss divided by games played) was 0.88. That’s not a skyscraper of a number, but it’s the highest of any defensive lineman I looked at in the 2026 draft class. No defensive lineman getting drafted this year produced plays in opposing backfields at a higher rate than Proctor. That’s a stone cold fact.

How’d he do it? Great athleticism, and knowing how to use it. Proctor put down a 4.79-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine this spring, which isn’t a surprising time if you consider that he was clocked at a top speed of 20.95 miles per hour at the Senior Bowl, the fastest of all defensive linemen. His 40-time included a 1.68-second 10-yard split, and there are more than a few tight ends in this year’s class who don’t get off the line that quick.

Proctor’s explosiveness as a sprinter isn’t a one-off, either. There’s plenty more where that came from, including a 33-inch vertical and 9-foot, 5-inch broad jump, both above the 90th percentile for his position.

Proctor puts those testing numbers to work exactly as you might expect for an undersized pass rusher. He’s no power-packed mini bull rusher; on tape, you regularly see him using his speed to get around people, making quick first moves before they can get a hand on him. And frequently, it works, even against big-time competition. Against LSU in 2025, Proctor was a problem for the Tigers, recording two quarterback sacks and regularly finding himself in the backfield.

Still, all the normal caveats about size should apply. Football is a big man’s game, and getting it done at the college level as a smaller-than-normal defensive lineman is no guarantee success will follow in the NFL. He’ll require some seasoning. But the Packers have a track record of betting on athleticism, and they’ve already brought Proctor in for a visit. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him end up in Green Bay, and if he does, the Packers will be adding an intriguing, high-motor, high-athleticism prospect to their defensive line rotation.