Tyler Nubin of Minnesota and Kamren Kinchens of Miami are increasingly less likely to become draft picks of the Green Bay Packers following the workout portion of the pre-draft process.
The Packers signed Xavier McKinney in free agency but will almost certainly go into the draft needing to add at least one more safety. At Pro Football Focus, Nubin is the No. 1 safety and No. 25 prospect overall, while Kinchens is the No. 4 safety and No. 88 prospect overall. By the consensus draft board, Nubin and Kinchens are the top two safety prospects.
And it’s possible neither will be legitimate options for the safety-needy Packers.
Both are in play to top-50 pick, and the Packers just aren’t going to use a premium draft asset on a player with lacking athleticism.
Nubin’s Relative Athletic Score out of 10.0 following his pro day at Minnesota? 2.91.
Tyler Nubin pro day numbers pic.twitter.com/WlurBvuBV4
— Jake Schyvinck (@JakeNFLDraft) March 20, 2024
Poor agility, acceleration and long speed all conspired to plummet Nubin’s overall RAS score.
A similar story for Kinchens. He had a historically poor broad jump and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds at the combine. His RAS is even worse than Nubin’s at 1.83 out of 10.0.
Kamren Kinchens is a FS prospect in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 1.83 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 818 out of 1000 FS from 1987 to 2024.
Pro day pending.https://t.co/eqCLsDHBV2 pic.twitter.com/oDyOMDXNZ3
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 14, 2024
At Miami’s pro day, Kinchens only slightly improved his 40-yard time and didn’t do agility testing.
Athleticism is just one piece of the draft puzzle, but it can be a disqualifying one for the Packers, especially for top prospects. The draft is an exercise is risk management, and using a high pick on a below average athlete is a risk the Packers just aren’t willing to take, especially under Brian Gutekunst.
The Packers have five top 100 picks, and it’s possible Gutekunst will bend his rules if he thinks Nubin or Kinchens is a tremendous value pick towards the end of Day 2. But given the athletic testing for each player, there’s a good chance neither is a likely option for the Packers.
