Next-Man-Up Rankings, Grades for Packers, Who Have Been Crushed by Injuries

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It’s been a painful start to the season for the Green Bay Packers.

According to Rotowire, they are the fourth-most-injured team in the NFL through five games. While the 49ers might tell the Packers to hold their chardonnay when it comes to injuries, the Packers in some instances will have backups on the field for backups when they host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.

While the star players have been instrumental in the Packers surviving with a 3-2 record, the backups have played key roles. From worst to first, here are our next-man-up rankings.

LGs Donovan Jennings and Jager Burton (for Aaron Banks)

With Aaron Banks inactive for Week 1 at Minnesota, Donovan Jennings made his first career start. It didn’t go well. When Banks was unable to get through Week 2 against the Jets, Jennings replaced him again. When Jennings was injured, he was replaced by rookie Jager Burton. For Week 3 against Atlanta, it was Burton’s turn to start.

If Jennings was bad, Burton was worse with a ghastly 10 pressures allowed against the Falcons. Due to a combination of Banks’ injuries and the play of the backups, general manager Brian Gutekunst signed 34-year-old Laken Tomlinson off Dallas’ practice squad. More on him later.

Grade: F.

DT Anthony Campbell (for Warren Brinson)

The Packers carried seven defensive tackles into the regular season, with Campbell earning the final spot after a surprisingly strong training camp.

Campbell, however, suffered an ankle injury in his NFL debut against the Jets and missed the last three games. He is going to need to step up in big-time fashion with the Packers reeling without Brinson and Javon Hargrave and potentially Jonathan Ford.

Grade: Incomplete.

WR Skyy Moore (for Jayden Reed)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Christian Rozeboom (52) tackles Green Bay Packers wide receiver Skyy Moore. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jayden Reed is one of the top slot receivers in the NFL. There simply is no replacing him from an impact perspective.

Skyy Moore was the player who took over the slot role. Moore was a second-round pick in 2022 who the Packers signed this offseason to solve their kickoff- and punt-return woes. He’s been excellent in that role.

On offense, though, it’s been a different story. After catching a total of 43 passes in 30 games for the Chiefs in 2022 and 2023, he’s caught a combined 12 passes in 28 games for the Chiefs in 2024, 49ers in 2025 and Packers in 2026. That includes 7-of-14 targets this year for just 35 yards.

According to PFF, he’s one of 54 players who’ve been targeted at least seven times in the slot. He’s caught 2-of-7 passes for 8 yards and is last with 0.21 yards per route.

Moore suffered an ankle injury against Chicago and isn’t expected to play against Dallas.

Grade: D.

WR Bo Melton (for Savion Williams)

With Savion Williams starting the season on injured reserve with an ankle injury, Bo Melton saw a bump in playing time. In five games, he has caught 4-of-8 targets for 30 yards. His one opportunity to make a play was at Tampa Bay, which he dropped. Of 113 receivers who’ve been targeted at least eight times, Melton is 109th with 0.58 yards per route.

Grade: D.

RB Pierre Strong (for Chris Brooks)

At the end of training camp, the Packers opted to trade for Kaleb Johnson rather than hand the No. 3 job to Pierre Strong.

Strong got his chance last week. After spending all of last season on the practice squad without getting into a game, he carried the ball five times for 7 yards and caught three passes for 11 yards against Chicago. The numbers are pretty bad, but he converted on fourth-and-1 and broke a tackle on an 8-yard catch.

“He has nice vision, good balance, he can cut, and then he’s reliable in pass protection,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said this week. “He made some nice plays on the edge catching the ball, broke a couple tackles. So, he’s just a good overall back that you can trust in any situation to go out there and do his job.”

Grade: C-minus.

DT Jonathan Ford (for Jordon Riley)

Jonathan Ford earned his spot on the roster with an excellent training camp and preseason. So, he was a natural to replace Jordon Riley, who missed training camp and the start of the season following last year’s torn Achilles, in a run-stopping role.

He has five tackles in five games, including a half-sack against Minnesota, while averaging 23 snaps per game. Ford’s not on the roster to rush the passer, though he has only one less than Devonte Wyatt.

Ford hasn’t practiced this week due to a calf injury and Riley returned to practice this week.

Grade: C.

Edge Barryn Sorrell (for Micah Parsons)

Green Bay Packers defensive end Barryn Sorrell (99) nearly blocks a punt by Chicago Bears punter Tory Taylor. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Barryn Sorrell has started all five games as Micah Parsons comes back from last year’s torn ACL. He has a half-sack, zero tackles for losses and 13 tackles. PFF has credited him with six pressures. Six pressures was a decent game for Parsons.

According to PFF, Sorrell is one of 83 edge players who’ve had at least 66 pass-rushing opportunities. He ranks 68th in pass-rush win rate and 65th in pass-rush productivity, a formula that includes sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap.

Sorrell is a solid player who’s going to have a long career. Asking him to play 33 snaps a game, which has been the case this season, might be too much.

Grade: C-plus.

RT Anthony Belton (for Zach Bako-Bewele)

The Packers’ excellent right tackle, Zach Bako-Bewele, suffered a season-ending knee injury during the opening series of Week 2 against the Jets. The next man up was Belton, who seems to have settled in after a rough start.

He is one of 64 offensive tackles to play at least 150 snaps. He ranks an excellent 18th in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency, which measures sacks, hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. He’s on a two-game streak without allowing a pressure. He’s a big guy but must play bigger in the run game.

“He’s done a nice job,” Stenavich said. “He’s firmed the pocket up. I think that was the biggest thing the first couple weeks was just the push that we were feeling in the pocket. So, I think him and Laken (Tomlinson) have done a really nice job just firming that up, allowing Jordan to see and not have that pocket pushed in his face. There were a couple reps in the game that, obviously, we got to clean up with him but, for the most part, he’s out there competing and doing a nice job.”

Grade: C-plus.

LBs Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper (for Edgerrin Cooper)

Edgerrin Cooper was one of the Packers’ most irreplaceable players. But, to their credit, they held off the Buccaneers following his torn Achilles and trounced the Bears in their first full game without him.

The Packers are fortunate to have Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper waiting in the wings. They aren’t Cooper – who is? – but you could do much, much worse in terms of depth.

They essentially shared the snaps against the Bears, with McDuffie recording five tackles and Hopper two tackles and a goal-line interception. By splitting the snaps on defense, both players also can be factors on special teams.

Asked about Hopper, defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said: “Consistency of doing what you’re coached to do with the way that you want to do it with technique, fundamentals, playmaking. But I thought he played well. You guys saw what we did to fill Coop’s spot and I thought him and Duff played well.”

Grade: B-minus.

TEs Mark Redman and Jonnu Smith (for Luke Musgrave)

With Luke Musgrave out with a neck injury, the Packers at the end of training camp signed veteran Jonnu Smith and traded for Mark Redman. Smith has played 101 snaps and Redman 98.

The 24-year-old Redman has been excellent in providing the best blocking tight end the Packers have had in years.

“Literally, I was just thinking about that a minute ago, you’re paid to play a sport where sometimes it takes running full speed at another grown man who’s 250 pounds, and yeah, I think logically you would say, ‘Don’t do that,’” Redman said. “But that’s part of the job description, and honestly, it’s fun for me.”

Smith’s calling card for most of his career has been catching the football. He’s caught only five passes for 85 yards but has been an asset alongside Redman in the team’s packages of two and three tight ends.

Grade: B.

RG Travis Glover (for Jacob Monk)

Green Bay Packers right guard Travis Glover (79) blocks Chicago Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The most incredible of the next-men-up stories has been Travis Glover. A sixth-round pick in 2024, he barely played as a rookie until being thrown in the fire in the playoff game against the Eagles. He wound up getting benched at one point. He spent last year on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

So, he entered training camp as a total afterthought. He was treated as such, too. When the team took the starting job at right guard away from Anthony Belton, Glover was never a consideration to take over.

When Jacob Monk bombed in three starts, the Packers signed Kevin Zeitler. However, with Zeitler getting in shape and learning the offense, Glover started the last two games and helped provide Jordan Love’s best pass protection this season.

“Just to know that you showing up for a reason and that's why you keep going,” he said this week. “That's why you keep building because I'm not trying to let nobody down – nobody in the building. So, I always just keep working, good or bad, ugly, just keep working, keep striving, continuing to grow.”

At some point, the Packers figure to give Zeitler a shot. But the Packers might not be 3-2 without Glover.

Grade: B-plus.

LG Laken Tomlinson (for Aaron Banks)

With Aaron Banks out with knee and toe injuries and the backups barely being a speed bump between the line of scrimmage and quarterback Jordan Love, the Packers signed Laken Tomlinson off Dallas’ practice squad.

Tomlinson, who probably will make his third consecutive start on Sunday against the Cowboys, has been a savior. Barely a week after being signed, he started against Tampa Bay, then was part of the breakout performance against Chicago. He has allowed only two pressures and been a huge addition to the run game.

“Just trusting the process, trusting my training in the offseason,” he said this week. “I did have that surgery in February and got healed up from that, but just trusting the process, trusting my training and I knew I still had it in me and I wanted to give that a legit shot.

“So, I trained my tail off this past offseason and watching film, doing anything I can, gained like 10 extra pounds of body mass, just give myself the best shot. Fortunate enough to have the opportunity here.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the Packers handle left guard once Banks is healthy. Organizationally, having a $77 million player on the bench wouldn’t be ideal. But what Tomlinson has done while learning on the fly in two games should bode well for what he can do as he gets more and more comfortable.

Grade: A.

“Isn’t everyone a little messed up in the head? Aren’t we all a little weird in our own sense?”

Packers TE Mark Redman on his mentality and role as a blocker. ⬇️https://t.co/rnY3f0jTBp
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 16, 2026

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google