Yes, read that title again. The Packers cornerback Brandon Cisse, a rookie picked out of the second round in the 2026 NFL Draft, was just given an award by the NFL for the month of October. The rookie was awarded the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month.
The Packers entered last offseason with a huge need at corner. After barely addressing the holes in the room through the offseason, it was a high likelihood that the Packers would draft a cornerback early.
In the second round at pick 52, Brandon Cisse was the guy and so far, he’s been quite the addition and has thrived under Jonathan Gannon’s defense. This is exactly what the Packers needed in the rookie.
In the month of October, Cisse recorded 21 tackles, seven passes defended, an interception and two tackles for loss. He managed to get to the quarterback once as well for a single sack.
The seven passes defended led all rookies and he was the only defensive back to record at least 20 tackles and one interception in the month of October. Quite the month for the rookie.
Historically, Cisse becomes the third Packers cornerback to win a Defensive Rookie of the Month award. Casey Hayward won in October of 2012 and Damarious Randall in November of 2015.
Cisse had this to say about receiving the award, “Super-excited to win an award like that. I thank my teammates, my coaches, so onto this month. What happened in the past don’t matter now, so we got to get ready for this weekend.”
Additionally, Cisse becomes the first South Carolina Gamecock to earn this honor. He even calls former Gamecock Stephon Gilmore, who also had a solid career at corner in the NFL, his mentor.
With cornerback being such a huge question mark, Brian Gutekunst and company have to be happy about the performance from their rookie so far.
