History-Making Canadian Quarterback Will Have NFL Draft Visit with Packers

Taylor Elgersma, who is hoping to become the first quarterback from a Canadian university to be drafted since the NFL went to a seven-round format in 1994, will have a predraft visit with the Green Bay Packers on Wednesday, according to 3 Down Nation’s Justin Dunk.

Elgersma won Canada’s version of the Heisman Trophy in 2024. As a senior at Wilfrid Laurier University, he completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 4,011 yards with 34 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions. Plus, he added another six rushing touchdowns.

The accomplishments made him the first Canadian-born quarterback to earn an invite to the prestigious Senior Bowl, where he impressed the all-star game’s former executive director, Jim Nagy.

“It’s really a challenge and what it comes down to is: Do they have the physical tools to compete in the NFL? In terms of the actual level of competition, I think it’s comparable to our Division III here in the United States or Division II, some of our lower levels,” said Nagy, who recently took a job at the University of Oklahoma.

“I know he’s got the right physical stuff. 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 Packers do not have an immediate need at quarterback. Last year’s depth chart of Jordan Love, Malik Willis and Sean Clifford will return for 2025. However, Willis, the former third-round pick who was acquired from the Titans toward the end of training camp and impressed when thrust into action for an injured Love, will be a free agent next offseason.

Drafting a quarterback such as Elgersma this year would give the team a jump on having a ready-to-go backup for Love in 2026.

A Packers scout was at Buffalo’s pro day, where Elgersma worked out. So, the visit is the next step.

Elgersma would feel right at home in Green Bay. To make money, he shoveled snow.

“Being a Canadian kid, we don’t have the NIL and that stuff,” Elgersma said at the start of Senior Bowl week, “so I’m working a job on the side of football, I’m going to class and then I’m also putting in hours and hours and hours at the facility. It excites me that my job is going to be football now instead of having to work, go to class and do full-time football. Just get to focus on the main thing.”

Elgersma is relatively late to the game. He grew up playing hockey and didn’t start playing football until 10th grade. In Canada, the field is longer and wider, there are 12 players on the field, and offenses gets three downs instead of four.

“This is my first time taking 11-on-11 snaps. It’s exciting for me to get that opportunity,” he told The Athletic. “I think I have the frame, I have the size for this level, I have the arm talent. So what it’s all about for me is cleaning up my mechanics, cleaning up my footwork, continuing to improve and getting used to this American game.”

In hockey, Elgersma wasn’t a skilled goal scorer. Rather, he was a defenseman who blocked shots, checked players and got in the occasional fight.

“That was my role,” he said via AL.com. “And so being able to stand in the pocket and take a hit, not be afraid to go for a first down, play with my pads down – you know, I’m a bigger-bodied guy (at 6-foot-4 and 216 pounds). I think that’s what I learned from hockey.”

During the Senior Bowl game, he completed 4-of-7 passes for 57 yards.

“Taylor came in against all-stars in the Senior Bowl, I thought he handled himself really well,” former NFL quarterback David Carr said on NFL Network. “He played better towards the end of the week and then had a good game. I’m excited to see what he does.”