The 90 to 1 Green Bay Packers roster countdown: No. 29

The Green Bay Packers, and their 90 players on the roster, are in the midst of their first training camp under coach Matt LaFleur. In an annual tradition from my 11 years at Packer Report, I rank the players in order of importance from No. 90 to No. 1. This isn’t just a listing of the team’s best players. Our rankings take into account talent, importance of the position, depth at the position, salary and draft history. More than the ranking, we hope you learn something about each player. (Note: The start of this series can be found with my former employer.)

No. 29: QB Tim Boyle ($572,000 cap)

While Aaron Rodgers has started every meaningful game six of the past eight seasons, a pair of broken collarbones, a calf injury and last year’s knee injury show Rodgers is tough but not unbreakable. Thus, the backup quarterback position could be critical to the team – especially for a team like Green Bay, which has enough talent to get to the playoffs but doesn’t have much margin for error.

Boyle will challenge incumbent backup DeShone Kizer for the No. 2 job. Throughout the offseason and start of training camp, they split the No. 2 reps as first-year coach Matt LaFleur stages an open competition.

That Boyle is in this position is remarkable. He had a terrible college career, with stops at Connecticut and Eastern Kentucky. At UConn, he had one touchdown pass vs. 13 interceptions. Since 2000, no major-college quarterback with at least 200 career passing attempts had a worse passer rating or threw fewer touchdowns than Boyle.

Then again, that Boyle is in this position isn’t a surprise. From a pure physical perspective, he is a legit NFL quarterback. He has the arm strength, quick release and intelligence that are necessary for the position. In last year’s preseason game vs. Tennessee, he showed the toughness to stand in the pocket and deliver a strike.

Boyle made one of the plays of the offseason, with a perfect deep ball that got over the defender’s fingers by maybe an inch and was caught at the sideline to J’Mon Moore to keep alive a two-minute drill. His first week of training camp was filled with some really good and some not-so-good.

For six of the past seven years, Boyle has had to learn a new offense, so the change in schemes from Mike McCarthy to Matt LaFleur is nothing new. His ability to confidently run LaFleur’s scheme will be key in his battle with Kizer.

“I have a way of learning an offense,” Boyle said during minicamp. “It’s gotten to a point where I can confidently talk to Coach LaFleur and Aaron about what’s going on and carry that conversation and almost teach him a little bit about formations or stuff like that. When I come back here in July, it’s going to be a fun training camp.”

Boyle has grown close with Rodgers – he famously wore a Rodgers jersey in the locker room at one point last year and Rodgers frequently chides Boyle during his weekly interview sessions – and has learned well from the two-time MVP.

“Aaron has been awesome to me,” Boyle said recently. “He’s definitely taken me under his wing. I ask him questions all the time and he likes to talk ball with me. He goes out of his way to tell me things that work for him, just to see if they’ll rub off on me a little bit. Every quarterback in the NFL is different. When you’re around a guy like that, you take certain things from the game, the mental approach and the physical approach, and see what works for you. Mentally, if he’s hurt, (it is educational) just seeing how he prepares every week. He is always preparing. I tell a lot of people this, in my opinion Aaron has the most arm talent in the NFL of any quarterback by far — strength and accuracy. In point-blank terms, he is an absolute freak. He’s just different. When you’re around someone like that, it rubs off on you. I feel that my arm strength is better now (than in 2018). I feel like I have to keep up with Aaron Rodgers. Our friendship continues to grow and he’s been awesome to me.”