The 90 to 1 Green Bay Packers roster countdown: No. 36

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. 36: WR Trevor Davis ($776,794 cap)

At the risk of oversimplification: In 2017, when Davis ranked third in the league in punt returns and had perfect ball security on punt and kickoff returns, the Packers ranked a respectable 16th in Rick Gosselin’s annual special-teams rankings. In 2018, when Davis played in only one game due to recurring hamstring issues, the Packers sank to 32nd.

“It’s tough. It’s something I’ve never been through,” Davis said. “I’ve never really had any hamstring issues before. You never know what’s going to happen. I just had to push through it and figure out all the steps. Really going through it helped me out a lot to figure out my body and what I need to get right. I feel really good coming into this one.”

Davis, despite his history, is no lock to make the roster. The Packers have a lot of potential at receiver, including Davante Adams, last year’s rookie trio of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown and J’Mon Moore, and holdovers Geronimo Allison, Jake Kumerow and Allen Lazard.

However, other than Davis, the Packers don’t have a proven returner on the roster. While special teams, like offense and defense, require 11 players working in tandem, the returner is the player that stirs the drink. An excellent returner brings out the best in the 10 blockers.

“Fielding and ball security is tops (and) handing the ball back to the official when it’s done,” special-teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga said of what he looks for in a returner. “Being able to set up blockers and have great vision. Being able to see things maybe even before they develop but then trusting that the return is going to be there and once he sees it having the intestinal fortitude to hit it. It’s kind of like being an NASCAR driver. Sometimes you see the cloud of smoke in front of you and you can go ahead and accelerate through, not knowing what’s on the other side. That’s what great kick returners do. And the punt returners know how to set things up and having the speed to take it the distance but have that vision to stick their foot in the ground and get their shoulders downhill and get what’s there. I think the speed, the elusiveness and the vision are great keys.”

Davis is the man with that skill-set. He’s the team’s best chance of reviving what was the worst special teams in the league last season.