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Ranking Every Player on Packers Roster, Part 8: Who Can Steal Job at WR?

In an annual tradition, we are ranking every player on the Packers’ roster. Part 8 includes three receivers who will wind up in the mix for a roster spot and two tight ends fighting for a niche role.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers receiver Will Sheppard catches a pass during minicamp.
Green Bay Packers receiver Will Sheppard catches a pass during minicamp. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers will go into training camp betting on Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden to lead their revamped receiver corps as well as someone to emerge from the shadows to provide critical depth.

The frontrunners to round out the receiver depth are Savion Williams, a third-round pick last year, Bo Melton, who is a key player on special teams and a speed threat at receiver, and Skyy Moore, who was signed in free agency to fill the void at returner.

In Part 8 of our annual 91-to-1 Packers roster rankings, we turn our attention to three young receivers who will challenge for a roster spot along with two tight ends who will have a chance to fill a big void.

No. 60: WR Will Sheppard

After four years of consistently solid production at Vanderbilt and Colorado, Sheppard went undrafted in 2025 and was going to sign with the Buccaneers but failed his physical.

A couple days before the first practice of training camp last year, the Packers signed Sheppard. He didn’t make their roster but was good enough to stick around all year on the practice squad. He was added to the 53-man roster for a week but did not play in a game.

Sheppard caught 198 passes during his final three seasons at Vanderbilt and his lone season at Colorado. Including his two catches as a freshman, he finished his college career with 200 catches for 2,688 yards and 27 touchdowns. He caught more than 40 passes during each of his final four seasons, including 48 grabs for 621 yards and six scores with Shedeur Sanders and the Buffaloes in 2024.

“This kid can play this game,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said at pro day. “I talked to a lot of the scouts earlier about how fond I am of his game and his consistency thereof. He’s a big-time receiver. A 50-50 ball, he’s going to get that more times than not. 

“And I just love his character and what he brings to the table, what he brings to the practice field, day in and day out. He’s a tremendous asset.”

For the Packers last preseason, he caught 3-of-4 targets for 23 yards and one touchdown.

No. 59: WR Isaiah Neyor

After six seasons at Wyoming, Texas and Nebraska, Neyor went undrafted last year and signed with the 49ers. About a week into training camp, he was released by the Niners and scooped up by the Packers. He didn’t catch any passes in the preseason, failed to make their roster and spent the entire season on the practice squad. He made his NFL debut with a few snaps in the playoff loss to Chicago but was not targeted in the passing game.

Neyor is an elite size-speed prospect, which will give him a shot in the race to take the place of Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks on the roster.

“Yeah, I love those guys. I still keep in contact with them,” he said. “You know, my goal is just to go out there and just compete, regardless of who’s here, who’s not here. I’m just going to go out there and perform my best, do what I can, and continue to get better.”

Neyor said he spent the offseason working on his releases and routes. He needed the additional polish; while he played six collegiate seasons, he missed the 2022 season due a torn ACL and played in only one game in 2023.

“It was pretty tough, going those two years without playing,” Neyor said. “You kind of lose your competitive spirit a little bit.”

Beyond that, he knows the offense a lot better now compared to training camp last year, when he was learning the plays on the fly.

“I’d say it’s night and day for him,” coach Matt LaFleur said before the final day of minicamp. “He’s really shown a lot, a lot of flashes of excellence. He’s another big, long guy that can run. You can never have enough of those guys, especially at that position. So, I’m excited about what’s to come for training camp for him.”

No. 58: WR J. Michael Sturdivant

If Neyor is an elite size-speed prospect, what does that make Sturdivant? Sturdivant posted a RAS even higher than Neyor’s, and his college production was better, too, with 150 catches at Cal (2022), UCLA (2023 and 2024) and Florida (2025). With the Gators, he caught 27 passes for 406 yards and three touchdowns with just one drop.

While the Packers lost Doubs and Wicks this offseason, their only rookie addition was Sturdivant, an undrafted free agent.

“They didn’t draft a receiver,” he told Packers On SI. “They got a great receiver room, they have a great quarterback, a great head coach that calls great plays. And it’s got a lot of stability, and that’s something that I never really had in my college career.

“So, being able to pick to go to a very stable situation that could allow me to play and develop more as a receiver under people that know what they’re doing and have receivers in the room that look like me, that have been successful in the league to be able to play next to is great.”

His sister is a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

“She beat me to the NFL,” he laughed.

No. 57: TE Luke Lachey

The Packers’ best blocking tight end from last season, John FitzPatrick, sustained a torn Achilles late last season and was not re-signed in free agency. So, there is a niche role available for Lachey to win.

Green Bay claimed Lachey off waivers from the Texans before the start of OTAs, but he failed his physical. At the close of the offseason program, Lachey passed his physical and signed a contract.

During his final four seasons at Iowa, he caught 74 passes for 893 yards and four touchdowns. After a breakout 2022 season, he missed most of the 2023 season due to an ankle injury. He returned in 2024 and matched his career high with 28 catches.

The Texans drafted him in the seventh round in 2025, and he wound up spending the season on their practice squad.

Lachey’s dad, Jim, is a member of the Washington Redskins’ legendary “Hogs” offensive line. The DNA and his role at Iowa will give him a chance to fill the blocking role.

“If you can’t block, you can’t play,” he told Steelers Depot at the East-West Shrine Bowl. “Coming from Iowa, we are a very fun-heavy team. And I love to block, and that’s the first thing you’ve got to be able to do. If you’re a tight end, they’re probably not going to put you on the field very much if you can’t block. So, that’s what I take pride in.”

No. 56: TE Messiah Swinson

Green Bay Packers tight end Messiah Swinson (48) catches a pass during Green Bay Packers Family Night last year.
Green Bay Packers tight end Messiah Swinson (48) catches a pass during Green Bay Packers Family Night last year. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Swinson is the other candidate to win a spot on the roster if the Packers are looking for a blocker. This will be his third shot at it, having competed in 2024 as an undrafted rookie and again last year.

As a rookie, he failed to make the Packers’ roster and signed to their practice squad. The Panthers quickly added him to their 53. In three weeks, he did not play in a game, was released and returned to Green Bay’s practice squad. In 2025, he once again was released at the end of camp. He spent most of the season on the practice squads of the 49ers and Cardinals before ending the season back in Green Bay.

At 6-foot-7 and 259 pounds, he’s a big man.

“It takes development for that Y-type position, but I’m excited to work with him again,” position coach John Dunn said at the start of the offseason program. “This is a great time of year. Obviously, when you’re talking about blocking and doing those things, you got to go play padded football, real football, but I’m excited to see where it goes for him.”

In college, he caught 28 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns at Missouri and Arizona State. Most of his production came in 2022, when he caught 15 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns for the Sun Devils.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.