In 2023, Schad finished second in the USFL with 7.5 sacks, despite playing the defensive tackle position.
According to James Larsen of Pro Football Newsroom, the Green Bay Packers will be signing defensive tackle Keonte Schad ahead of their game versus the Baltimore Ravens this weekend. The Packers are currently short-handed at the position, as Spencer Waege is dealing with a concussion. Without Waege, Green Bay only has seven healthy defensive tackles going into the preseason finale. For perspective, the team currently rosters 10 defensive ends, the other position on the defensive line.
Schad is a product of the Badger State, graduating from Madison East High School — where he played quarterback, offensive line and outside linebacker. Out of high school, Schad enrolled at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa. There, he was ranked as the second-best defensive tackle recruit out of the junior college level, earning scholarships to programs like Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee before enrolling at Minnesota in the winter of 2019.
After two years at Minnesota, Schad played his final year of college football — and his most productive one — at Oregon State. In 2021, he registered 46 tackles, 2.5 sacks and six tackles for losses for the Beavers. Since his college career, Schad has played with the Orlando Guardians of the XFL, the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL and the Houston Roughnecks of the UFL. In 2023, Schad’s 7.5 sacks for the Breakers were good for second-best in the entire USFL campaign.
Hopefully, Schad can give a little pass-rushing juice to a Packers unit that has few options for practice squad contenders. With only a week before cuts, though, Schad will have to make a quick impression.
