GREEN BAY, Wis. – There were 38 players participating at the Green Bay Packers’ rookie minicamp practice on Saturday. None of them were coached more than Taylor Elgersma, a Canadian-born quarterback who went undrafted and unsigned last week.
The practice ran a little longer than 1 hour and was focused solely on individual drills. Elgersma, who won the Canadian equivalent of the Heisman Trophy at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2024, was the only quarterback on the field. Every throw was watched and critiqued by new quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion, passing-game specialist Connor Lewis and senior assistant Luke Getsy, who was the team’s quarterbacks coach from 2019 through 2021.
Elgersma, who had more than a dozen rookie-camp invites, threw a lot of passes – none of them to Matthew Golden, Savion Williams or any of the receivers. Instead, he threw the ball to trainers and coaches and into nets. He’s got a “live arm,” as coach Matt LaFleur said on Friday, and showed the ability to throw on the move and from various arm angles.
“We could see that on tape,” LaFleur said. “He obviously played at the Senior Bowl and [passing-game coordinator Jason] Vrable got to see him there,” as well as the College Gridiron Showcase and Tropical Bowl.
“I watched the stuff from the Senior Bowl and then, obviously, talked to Vrable about that,” LaFleur continued. “We had him in on a 30 visit, so we got an opportunity to sit down with him. Another guy that loves football, and then just watching him throw an hour ago, he’s got a live arm. So, there’s a lot to like about him.”
Did the Packers like enough to sign him? It’s quite possible, though there would be a few more hoops to jump through to bring the native of London, Ontario, south of the border.
LaFleur at the time was noncommittal about the team adding a fourth quarterback to the returning trio of Jordan Love, Malik Willis and Sean Clifford. Willis saved the season last year when he won two starts after Love sustained a knee injury in Week 1 and won another game in relief after Love sustained a groin injury at Jacksonville.
Willis will be a free agent next offseason and could be a man in demand. On the other hand, Clifford’s mistake-filled training camp and preseason probably didn’t inspire much belief that he could replace Love and win a game.
With obvious tools, Elgersma would be a player worth grooming with an eye on having him be the No. 2 in 2026. That he was surrounded by coaches throughout Saturday’s practice would seem to signal the team likes his talent. It was almost as if he were getting a crash course in the Packers’ drills so he could be ready to jump right into things when OTAs begin in a few weeks.
Elgersma, as you might expect, grew up playing hockey. A shot-blocking defenseman, he started playing football in 10th grade and quickly fell in love with the sport. As a senior at Wilfrid Laurier, he completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 4,011 yards with 34 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions. He added six rushing touchdowns.
That was playing by Canadian rules, which include a longer and wider field and 12 players on each side of the ball. It also came against Canadian competition, which is the equivalent of Division III, former Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said. Thus, being a late addition to the Senior Bowl roster – the first Canadian-born quarterback to be selected – was a big deal to showcase his ability against better players.
“I know he’s got the right physical stuff,” Nagy said before Senior Bowl week. “He’s got all the size and arm length and hand size – the stuff NFL quarterbacks tend to have – and the mobility. What’s it going to look like when there’s 21 other moving parts on the field? There’s no way to know that until you get them down here.”
The 6-foot-5, 227-pounder would be a great fit in Green Bay. It snows here; it snows in Canada. To make money, he shoveled snow. He called football his “life’s passion.” He’s hockey-tough, having never missed a practice or game in four seasons of college.
“The main thing I would say is in hockey, I got to use my physical abilities,” Elgersma said before Senior Bowl week. “But being a quarterback, it’s 90 percent a cerebral position. It’s all about your processing speed, your brain and also your leadership ability, and so when I transitioned to being a quarterback, I really fell in love with that part of the game.
“I fell in love with the schematic part of the game. I fell in love with leading the guys in the huddle and having the ball in my hands every single play and being able to make decisions, and so it was pretty easy to fall in love with it.”
Finding players who “love” football was a priority for the Packers during the draft. That’s all well and good, but there obviously has to be some level of skill – especially at quarterback. Elgersma has talent that’s worth developing.
“I think you’re just looking for traits at that point,” LaFleur said. “Certainly, I think just coming from where he’s coming from to this level, I think there’s going to be a big learning curve. But if there’s anybody that will attack it head on, Taylor will. That was so evident when he was here on the 30 visit just, and I know he’s been working really hard at it. Even just talking to Vrable, the strides he’s probably made from the Senior Bowl to now has been significant.”
