Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia Generating Interest From Surprising NFL Team – Heavy Sports

Over the last couple of years, the Vanderbilt Commodores have been one of the most surprising teams in college football. A lot of their success has had to do with the play of standout quarterback Diego Pavia.
Pavia, who started his college career at New Mexico State, helped put Vanderbilt back on the map. Now, his collegiate career has come to an end and he is hoping to take his talents to the NFL in the 2026 draft.
Leading up to the draft this year, Pavia will be one of the most polarizing names in discussion. He has an aggressive and confident personality. Some have grown a dislike for him due to perceived arrogance, but his impact on Vanderbilt makes him an intriguing prospect.
During the 2025 college football season with the Commodores, Pavia had another big year and ended up being a Heisman Trophy finalist. He completed 70.6 percent of his pass attempts for 3,539 yards, 29 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, while also running for 862 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
With that being said, Pavia has drawn preliminary interest from an intriguing NFL contender with the draft just over two months away.
According to Easton Butler of Packer Report, the Green Bay Packers interviewed Pavia at the Senior Bowl. They are going to be looking for a new backup quarterback to replace Malik Willis this offseason.
Jordan Love is currently the starting quarterback for the Packers. He has become one of the NFL’s best signal callers and won’t be off of the field barring an injury.
That being said, Green Bay has seen Love go down with injury in each of the last two years. Willis has stepped in nicely when called upon. Losing him will be a tough blow for the Packers, but it could open the door for Pavia.
Being able to join a historic franchise like Green Bay would be a dream come true in and of itself. However, there are more factors to prove why the Packers would be a perfect fit.
Pavia would have an opportunity to be coached by Matt LaFleur. He has been one of the best offensive coaches, especially when it comes to quarterbacks, in the NFL. Working one on one with LaFleur would help Pavia develop his game.
The opportunity to learn behind Love would also be valuable for Pavia.
Heading into the 2026 NFL season, there would also be a chance that the Vanderbilt standout would be able to compete to be Love’s primary backup. Assuming Willis does leave Green Bay, Pavia would be given an opportunity to earn the job in preseason and training camp action.
Whether or not the Green Bay Packers will actually have interest in Pavia or not come draft day remains to be seen. That being said, they’re at least interested enough to show early interest in him.
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Evan Massey Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst located in Indianapolis, Indiana who covers the NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, and college sports. He has been featured on many publications, including Newsweek, Athlon Sports, ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Sporting News, and many others. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son. More about Evan Massey
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