The Final Green Bay Packers 53-Man Roster Projection
GREEN BAY, Wis. – By 3 p.m. Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers must have their initial 53-man roster set. For some of the players who will be released, it will be the end of the line, the end of a dream.
“It’s always hard this time of year to walk away from players you’ve seen give so much to you,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said last week.
Picking the 53 isn’t about picking the best 53 players. There are injuries to consider. Contracts and draft status and long-term upside are part of the conversation. There’s a gambling element involved, too. Player A might be better than Player B but can the team sneak Player A onto the practice squad?
“You’d love to be able to keep just the 53 best players. It doesn’t always work that way,” Gutekunst said. “Certainly, you need a certain amount of numbers at each spot. But I think positionally, you look at it horizontally, how you want to keep them and have a target number, but then you’re weighing this offensive lineman versus this wide receiver versus that defensive tackle.
“We’re really trying to find the best 53 players that make up the best football team right now. But, as you guys know, it’s just the beginning. The 53 guys who will make our initial roster, by the time we get to Game 4, 5 and 6, that’ll change. You’re trying to make the best decisions you can to give your team the best kind of ruggedness to get through a 17-plus game season.”
After watching the three preseason games and all 18 training camp practices that were open to reporters, and following multiple conversations with Gutekunst, the assistant coaches and other sources, here is a final projection of the 53-man roster that could emerge on Tuesday. The 16-man practice squad can be formed at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Quarterbacks
Made it (2): Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love.
Didn’t make it (1): Kurt Benkert.
What changed? Nothing.
Why: The first decision is one of the hardest. What to do with Benkert? He possesses obvious NFL talent. And with the prospect of the torch being handed to Love for 2022, it would be nice to have Benkert on the team to continue his growth so he can hit the ground running next offseason as the front-runner to be Love’s backup.
Keeping him on the 53 would ensure that growth. Placing him on waivers with the intention of getting him to the practice squad would be a roll of the dice.
That said, Benkert is 26 and in his fourth season in the NFL. After he was released by Atlanta in February, he was available for every team to sign for three months before the Packers brought him in for a tryout and signed him in May. He made some impressive plays during his three preseason appearances but, out of 24 qualifying quarterbacks, he finished 19th in passer rating and 21st in interception percentage.
So, is he a legit quarterback? “I think he proved that this preseason,” quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy said.
Running Backs
Made it (3): Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon, Kylin Hill.
Didn’t make it (2): Dexter Williams, Patrick Taylor.
What changed? Nothing.
Why: This seems incredibly easy. Williams started strong and finished strong. Assuming the Packers can get him to the practice squad – a strong likelihood considering the dime-a-dozen nature of the position – he’d serve as the team’s No. 4 back.
Receivers
Made it (6): Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Randall Cobb, Amari Rodgers, Malik Taylor.
Didn’t make it (4): Equanimeous St. Brown, Juwann Winfree, Reggie Begelton, Damon Hazelton.
What changed? Nothing.
Why: The question isn’t whether the Packers can keep seven receivers. It’s whether they’ll keep only five. The top quintet is really good and it’s not as if coach Matt LaFleur’s offense is dependent on three- and four-receiver sets. That said, Taylor and Begelton made strong cases to be that sixth receiver. Taylor, who is about 2 1/2 years younger than Begelton, led the NFL with 11 receptions that resulted in first downs during the preseason. Other than a drop in the preseason game against the Jets, he was incredibly consistent all summer. So, while the Packers might not need six receivers, he’s earned a spot.
Tight ends
Made it (4): Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis, Josiah Deguara, Dominique Dafney.
Suspended (1): Jace Sternberger.
Didn’t make it (1): Bronson Kaufusi.
What changed: Nothing.
Why: This seems to be a cut-and-dried position group. The questions are whether Sternberger has a place on the team following his two-week suspension and whether the 30-year-old Kaufusi, who was drafted in the third round in 2016 as a pass rusher, is viewed as a developmental prospect for the practice squad. He was a people-mover in the run game.
Offensive line
Made it (10): LT David Bakhtiari, LG Elgton Jenkins, C Josh Myers, RG Lucas Patrick, RT Billy Turner, T/G Royce Newman, G Jon Runyan, G Ben Braden, T Dennis Kelly, T Yosh Nijman.
Didn’t make it (4): T/G Cole Van Lanen, G/T Coy Cronk, G Jacob Capra, C Jake Hanson.
What changed: Nothing.
Why: Health is the wild card here with Bakhtiari and Kelly on the shelf. Because he’s on the physically unable to perform list, Bakhtiari could stick on PUP to start the season. That would mean he’d be out for six weeks – he couldn’t even start practicing until before Week 7 vs. Washington – but wouldn’t cost a roster spot. A second option: The Packers could keep Bakhtiari on the 53 on Tuesday and then put him on injured reserve on Wednesday. That would mean he’d be out for at least the first three games and would cost a roster spot on Tuesday. Or, finally, if the team feels he’s close to returning, it could keep him on the 53 and wait.
In 2018, Bryan Bulaga returned to practice three days shy of nine months after his 2017 season ended with a torn ACL. On Tuesday, it will be exactly eight months since Bakhtiari’s injury. No ACL tear and no player’s recovery is the same but that’s pretty good guidance. Given the importance of Bakhtiari, not just to this season but as one of the highest-paid offensive linemen in the NFL, the team will take a conservative approach. As LaFleur put it, “We’re going to do what’s best for David and this football team.” The guess is he sticks on the roster on Tuesday and goes to IR on Wednesday, which would open a roster spot.
Kelly could practice this week. A 10-year pro who started for Tennessee last season, he’d bring critical experience with Bakhtiari sidelined.
Defensive line
Made it (5): Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry, Kingsley Keke, TJ Slaton, Jack Heflin.
Didn’t make it (4): Tyler Lancaster, Willington Previlon, Carlo Kemp, Abdullah Anderson.
What changed: Heflin (in), Lancaster (out).
Why: Heflin, an undrafted free agent from Iowa via Northern Illinois, took full advantage of all the snaps he got in training camp and the preseason. The Packers could get tricky and keep Lancaster with the hope of sneaking Heflin onto the practice squad, but Heflin’s performance vs. Buffalo might make that a bit too risky. If it gets rid of Lancaster, a reliable run defender in his first three seasons, Green Bay would have to eat the $200,000 signing bonus it gave to him in free agency. But Lancaster’s career appears to have hit a plateau and Heflin provides some untapped potential. Either way, given how Slaton played, Heflin vs. Lancaster should be for the fifth spot on gamedays.
Outside linebackers
Made it (4): Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Rashan Gary, Jonathan Garvin.
Didn’t make it (3): Tipa Galeai, Chauncey Rivers, Delontae Scott.
What changed: Galeai (out).
Why: Za’Darius Smith’s back injury makes this one tricky. Do the Packers have to keep a fifth outside linebacker? Or can they lean on Preston Smith and Gary to take the majority of the snaps, give them a breather with the No. 4 outside linebacker, and elevate someone from the practice squad for insurance on gamedays?
Garvin vs. Rivers for that fourth spot is a tough one. During the preseason, Rivers played better run defense and Garvin was the better pass rusher. Really, though, neither player emerged from the pack, but the investment is larger in Garvin, a seventh-round pick last year who position coach Mike Smith raved about last week.
Inside linebackers
Made it (5): Krys Barnes, De’Vondre Campbell, Oren Burks, Ty Summers, Isaiah McDuffie.
Didn’t make it (2): De’Jon Harris, Ray Wilborn.
What changed: McDuffie (in).
Why: “You guys that have been around here awhile, there’s always guys in that last preseason game that end up making the team because of what they did in the last preseason game,” Gutekunst said last week.
McDuffie is the personification of that statement. The sixth-round pick missed the first half of training camp with a hamstring injury and had a promising debut with four tackles in 19 snaps vs. the New York Jets last week. On Saturday at Buffalo, McDuffie was perhaps the best player on the field for Green Bay, looking like the potential starter one scout called him. He played fast and physical with nine tackles.
Burks and Summers, who were kept on the sideline for the Buffalo game, will be key figures on special teams. That would be the role for McDuffie, as well.
Cornerbacks
Made it (6): Jaire Alexander, Kevin King, Eric Stokes, Chandon Sullivan, Isaac Yiadom, Shemar Jean-Charles.
Didn’t make it (3): Kabion Ento, Stephen Denmark, Rojesterman Farris.
What changed: Nothing
Why: If the final decision comes down to Yiadom vs. Ento, it will be a tricky one for Gutekunst. If you’re picking the player with the best coverage skills, you’d go with Ento. If you’re picking the player with the best upside, you’d go with Ento. But the sixth defensive back, barring a 2016-style avalanche of injuries, isn’t going to be on the roster to cover receivers. He’s going to be on the roster to tackle people on special teams. Yiadom is by far the better tackler. In fact, among all NFL cornerbacks, nobody missed more tackles in the preseason than Ento, according to Pro Football Focuss. Even when he got guys on the ground, it was an adventure. Who knows, though? The Packers’ sixth cornerback could come off the waiver wire.
Safeties
Made it (5): Adrian Amos, Darnell Savage, Vernon Scott, Henry Black, Christian Uphoff.
Didn’t make it (1): Innis Gaines.
What changed: Nothing.
Why: Black, who spent all summer as the No. 3 safety, would seem to be a lock. Gaines had an excellent training camp and solid preseason but his whiff on Buffalo quarterback Jake Fromm’s touchdown run on Saturday is impossible to ignore. As is the case at cornerback, the final safety on the roster is going to be on the team to tackle people on special teams. If Gaines, whose four missed tackles in the preseason ranked second-worst among NFL safeties, can’t tackle a plodding quarterback, how is he going to tackle a shifty returner? Not that Uphoff was great, though. Both players have intriguing upsides, though. The status of Scott, a seventh-round pick last year who missed the second half of camp with a hamstring injury, makes this a bit murky.
Specialists
Made it (2 but, really, 3): K Mason Crosby, P JK Scott, LS TBA.
Didn’t make it (2): K JJ Molson; LS Hunter Bradley.
What changed? Nothing.
Why: Bradley misfired on 3-of-6 snaps during a field-goal drill on Tuesday and 1-of-7 snaps during another field-goal drill on Thursday. There has to be a better option, whether it’s as an immediate cut on Tuesday or on Wednesday once Gutekunst checks the pool of available talent.
