Updated Packers Depth Chart After Minicamp Includes One Rookie Starter

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Based on how the players lined up during the offseason practices, this would be the Green Bay Packers’ depth chart for the start of training camp assuming everyone was healthy.

Quarterbacks

Starter: Jordan Love.

Top backup: Tyrod Taylor.

Other backups: Kyle McCord, Kyron Drones.

Analysis: Love is coming off a strong series of practices. He had the play of training camp during Day 2 of minicamp, when he booted out to the left, stopped and fired a bomb to the right to receiver Jayden Reed for a touchdown of about 70 yards.

“It was an impressive play,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think that just kind of tells like what he is capable of doing, and so hopefully we can continue to build on that and get more of that.”

Running Backs

Starter: Josh Jacobs.

Top backup: Chris Brooks.

Other backups: MarShawn Lloyd, Pierre Strong, Damien Martinez, Jaden Nixon.

Analysis: Jacobs’ status is the big question here, though it’s perhaps worth noting that former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was accused of domestic violence in July 2016 but wasn’t suspended until the start of the 2017 season.

The big development of the offseason was the consistent presence of Lloyd following two seasons that were lost to injuries. Still, he ran behind Brooks throughout OTAs and minicamp. If Lloyd really has found the answers, a trio of Jacobs, Brooks and Lloyd would be strong.

Receivers

Starters: Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, Jayden Reed.

Top backup: Savion Williams, Skyy Moore, Bo Melton.

Green Bay Packers receivers Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden are shown at minicamp.. | Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Other backups: Will Sheppard, Isaiah Neyor, Jakobie Keeney-James, J. Michael Sturdivant, Brenden Rice.

Analysis: You can write the top three in Sharpie. They are locked into the starting lineup and will be asked to carry the passing game. Williams (10), Moore (five) and Melton (four) combined to catch 19 passes last season. They are the clear front-runners for the other spots if the Packers carry six receivers into the season, but the door is wide open for one of the young challengers. Sheppard, Neyor and Keeney-James are returning players and Sturdivant is the only rookie addition. You might have heard of Rice’s father, Jerry.

Tight Ends

Starter: Tucker Kraft.

Top backup: Josh Whyle.

Other backups: Luke Musgrave, Messiah Swinson, Drake Dabney, RJ Maryland.

Analysis: Kraft expects to start training camp on the physically unable to perform list. He also expects to start the season in the starting lineup.

“My anticipation is – they don’t really want us talking about our injuries and stuff – but with how I feel, I would say I’m going to get all the conditioning I need in camp to start Week 1 on no pitch count,” Kraft said this week.

Whyle was much more productive than Musgrave throughout the offseason.

Offensive Line

Starters: LT Jordan Morgan, LG Aaron Banks, C Sean Rhyan, RG Anthony Belton, RT Zach Tom.

Top backups: LT Brant Banks, LG John Williams, C Jacob Monk, RG Jager Burton, RT Darian Kinnard.

Other backups: LT Dalton Cooper, RT Travis Glover, LG Dillon Wade, G/C Donovan Jennings, RG Karsen Barnhart, LG Josh Gesky, G/C Dylan Barrett.

Analysis: The Packers are expecting Morgan to be better than Rasheed Walker, Aaron Banks to be better after an injury-plagued debut season, Rhyan to be better in his first full season at center, Belton to be better in his second NFL season (and first full season at right guard) and Tom to bounce back from last year’s knee injury.

For the players listed as the top backups, that might be how it would look if the Packers did a hockey-style line change. Brant Banks took the No. 2 snaps at left tackle for most of the offseason. For the final practice of the spring, though, those reps mostly went to Cooper. Two returning players, Monk and Jennings, were sidelined by injuries for all (Monk) or most (Jennings) of the offseason, which allowed Burton to take first-team reps and Wade to be anchored as the No. 2 left guard.

If the season were to start today and everyone was healthy, Kinnard and Burton probably would be the top backups.

Edge

Starters: Micah Parsons, Lukas Van Ness.

Top backups: Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox.

Other backups: Dani Dennis-Sutton, Collin Oliver, Aaron Mosby, Nyjalik Kelly, Dante Barnett (international).

Green Bay Packers defensive end Brenton Cox Jr. (57) sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams in 2024.. | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Analysis: This is an interesting group with absolutely zero proven depth but plenty of intriguing options. Cox was productive during the second half of 2024, Sorrell and Oliver spent the offseason with Parsons, and Dennis-Sutton looks the part. How that group develops might determine if the Packers reach the playoffs because, somehow, the Packers need to cobble together a winning pass rush without Parsons to start the season.

With Parsons and Oliver injured througout the offseason, the pairings were Van Ness and Sorrell, Cox and Dennis-Sutton, and Mosby and Kelly.

Defensive Tackles

Starters: DT Devonte Wyatt, NT Chris McClellan, DT Javon Hargrave.

Top backup: DT Karl Brooks, NT Nazir Stackhouse, DT Warren Brinson.

Other backups: DT Anthony Campbell, NT Jonathan Ford, NT Jordon Riley, DT Jaden Crumedy.

Analysis: The guess is McClellan will be the team’s first rookie starter. Brinson was the No. 1 nose tackle for the start of OTAs but McClellan took over from there. He will feature prominently, whether it’s as the nose tackle in the base defense or at defensive tackle in nickel packages.

Linebackers

Starters: Edgerrin Cooper, Zaire Franklin.

Top backups: Ty’Ron Hopper, Isaiah McDuffie.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin (44) tries to knock the ball away from linebacker Edgerrin Cooper during drills. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Other backups: Nick Niemann, Kristian Welch, T.J. Quinn.

Analysis: McDuffie missed the offseason practices due to an undisclosed injury. Once he’s healthy, it will be interesting to see if he will be the No. 1 backup overall or if Hopper will be the backup for Cooper and McDuffie the backup for Franklin. We say that because, during the final day of minicamp, Nick Niemann (not Hopper) replaced Franklin for a bunch of first-team snaps.

Cornerbacks

Starters: Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine.

Top backups: Brandon Cisse, Benjamin St-Juste.

Other backups: Kamal Hadden, Jaylin Simpson, Shemar Bartholomew, M.J. Devonshire, Domani Jackson, Marlon Jones.

Analysis: Cisse, a second-round draft pick, took a handful of first-team reps most days during the offseason, but the returning starters, Nixon and Valentine, formed the No. 1 tandem for the overwhelming majority of snaps. There’s no reason to believe they won’t be the starters to open training camp. How the group will come out of training camp is anyone’s guess.

St-Juste, a key free-agent addition, Hadden and Jackson, a sixth-round pick, did not practice during the offseason due to injuries.

Safeties

Starters: Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard (slot).

Top backups: Kitan Oladapo, Mark Perry, Johnathan Baldwin (slot).

Other backup: Murvin Kenion.

Analysis: The loss of Zayne Anderson in free agency has opened the door for a fresh face at safety. Perry has excellent size and speed but is on his sixth team and hasn’t played in a game. Baldwin spent most of the spring as the No. 2 in the slot. Kenion, an undrafted free agent, is the only addition.

Specialists

Starters: K Trey Smack, P Daniel Whelan, LS Matt Orzech.

Top backup: K Lucas Havrisik.

Other backups: None.

Analysis: Smack struggled through the spring but, obviously, will be the favorite to win the job. Whelan and Orzech are excellent players and will fly solo through training camp.

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google