Ranking Every Player on Packers Roster, Part 3: Plankton Mentality

The Green Bay Packers will hit the field for the first practice of training camp on July 29. Part 3 of our annual ranking of every player on the roster continues with two defensive linemen and three defensive backs.

No. 85: CB Shemar Bartholomew

An undrafted free agent in 2024, Bartholomew played in five games as a rookie with the Panthers. He joined the Packers late last season and played 34 snaps in Week 18 against the Vikings, with all but one of the snaps coming as a perimeter cornerback.

The Packers are his fourth team. He brings intriguing size and physicality at 6-foot 1/4. He ran his 40 in 4.44 seconds for a Relative Athletic Score of 8.57.

“I’m grateful for the path,” he said after he was promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. “It’s my story. Everybody’s story is different and that’s my story now. Wherever my story leads me, whatever God has in store for me, that’s what I’m happy to have.”

Bartholomew has a chance to be a pretty good player but the Packers signed Benjamin St-Juste and drafted Brandon Cisse and Domani Jackson.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Shemar Bartholomew (34) tackles Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jeshaun Jones. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

No. 84: S Murvin Kenion

The Packers lost Zayne Anderson in free agency. Their only addition at safety was Kenion, an undrafted rookie from Nevada. He intercepted 11 passes at four schools, including five last year during his lone season at Nevada, which tied for the conference lead.

Kenion was coached at Nevada by former Packers cornerback Joey Thomas, who made sure to put Kenion into playmaking positions.

“You have to identify who your playmakers are,” Thomas told Nevada Sports Report. “Who are your war daddies? Who are the guys that are going to be leaders? Who are the guys that can make plays? Identify skill-sets. Because if you understand the skill-sets, you know where to place people, and that’s all you’re trying to do.

“Does this piece work here or does this piece work there? What group works well together? Who communicates? Who’s a leader but not vocal? Who’s vocal? You’ve got to figure out those things.”

Kenion received a $10,000 signing bonus. If the NFL doesn’t work out, he’s got Plan B.

“I’m going to chase football as long as I can,” Kenion said, “but after football, I want to be an athletic director.”

No. 83: DB Jaylin Simpson

After a versatile career at Auburn in which he played cornerback and safety, Simpson was a fifth-round pick by the Colts in 2024. After several injuries in the defensive backfield, he joined the Packers during training camp in 2025.

At Auburn, he said he had a “Plankton mentality.”

Pardon me?

Plankton is a character from Spongebob Squarepants. His life’s mission is to get Mr. Krabs’ Krabby Patty formula (as you of course know).

“Since I’ve been knowing Plankton, dude just has one goal, to get that Krabby Patty Formula,” Simpson explained. “I just feel like he don’t stop, every episode he’s on it. So, I’m just like, man, we got to get that Plankton Mentality every game. We got to get that formula every game.”

Green Bay Packers defensive back Jaylin Simpson celebrates a student's touchdown during a Green Bay Packers Football Outreach Camp at Syble Hopp School. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Packers list Simpson as a defensive back. Every other player in the secondary is listed as a cornerback or as a safety.

“I think a corner or a DB that can play multiple positions is probably one of the best DBs you can have in the room,” he said after a late-season practice.

“Obviously, you want to have your guys who have mastered the cornerback position, mastered nickel, mastered safety. A guy that’s reliable that you can count on whenever somebody goes down, I think that’s the best type of player you can have in your room and that’s what the Green Bay Packers have with me.”

He made his debut in Week 18 at Minnesota and played mostly perimeter cornerback. It did not go well with four catches allowed and two penalties.

A more-you-can-do mentality, obviously, will bolster his chances of earning a roster spot during training camp.

“I got switched by my coaches,” Simpson said after being drafted, “but it was because they knew I was a versatile guy and they felt as if I was the guy that could have played multiple positions. That’s just going to translate, that’s just who I am, that’s what I do. I’m just a DB. I’m not one defined defensive back. Corner, safety, nickel – I can play all of them.”

No. 82: DT Anthony Campbell

Campbell went undrafted last year after spending his final two seasons at Miami, where he had one tackle in eight games during his final collegiate season. He opened his rookie season on Seattle’s practice squad before joining the Packers’ practice squad for the last couple weeks.

At 6-foot-6 and 307 pounds, he’s got an enticing skill-set even without much production in college.

No. 81: DT Jaden Crumedy

Packers defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy (96) runs through a drill while with the Panthers. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Crumedy was a sixth-round pick by the Panthers in 2024. The 200th overall selection played in five games as a rookie and three games last season for a total of 165 snaps. The Panthers released him at midseason last year and he finished the season on their practice squad. The Packers signed him to a futures contract after the season.

Even though he’s entering only his third year in the NFL, he’s an older player – by NFL standards, anyway – with his 26th birthday falling on the second practice of training camp.

“It just gives me a better way of observing everything,” he said after being drafted out of Mississippi State, where he had 8.5 sacks and 16 tackles for losses during his final five seasons.

“I’ve been through a lot of different things, and I’ve seen a lot of different schemes and things like that. So, I’ll be able to recognize more things than others, (that) haven’t seen it yet. And it just gave me a lot of time and just like a lot of consideration of, you know, what I’ve seen and it just helps me along the way.”

On Green Bay’s defensive line, Devonte Wyatt, Javon Hargrave and Chris McClellan are locks. Campbell and Crumedy will challenge Karl Brooks, Warren Brinson, Nazir Stackhouse and Jonathan Ford for the final couple spots.

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