Seven Packers Players on Roster Bubble Who Can Win Spot on 53 vs. Cardinals

GREEN BAY, Wis. – From a winning and losing perspective, the Green Bay Packers’ preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals couldn’t be more irrelevant. However, it’s a big game for the players fighting for spots on the back end of the roster.

A standout performance might not trump everything that happened over the last month, but it could be the deciding factor for players on the bubble.

“I wouldn’t say superseded but, yeah, it certainly affects it. No doubt about it,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said before the joint practice against Arizona. “Obviously, injuries do that, as well. I always feel at this time we got more than 53 that are good enough to make it and we’re going to have to make those choices. So, the practice and the game, they’re really important.

“This (game) certainly could sway things. It doesn’t erase the things that happened in the past and you try to be careful of recency bias. You’re always fighting against some of that. But, at the end of the day, you’re just trying to make the best decision for the Packers for the season and moving forward. It’ll matter.”

Here are seven players on the roster bubble who must come through against the Cardinals in the preseason finale, plus one roster lock who needs to bounce back.

RB Pierre Strong

Nobody, of course, is a “winner” in the Josh Jacobs situation, but Pierre Strong could be the beneficiary.

With a no-questions-asked backfield, the Packers almost certainly would go into the regular season with Jacobs, MarShawn Lloyd and Chris Brooks as their three on the 53 and with Strong stashed on the practice squad. Now, Strong, who is entering his fifth season in the league, has a chance to grab a real role if Jacobs winds up on the sideline.

Strong is the clear-cut No. 4 back. He’s been running with the top players on offense for most of the summer after an impressive string of offseason practices. His big kickoff return at Denver reinforced to the rest of the football world what he’s capable of doing.

If Strong has a good game against Arizona, the Packers might not feel the need to make a move.

WR J. Michael Sturdivant

Sturdivant returned to practice yesterday. pic.twitter.com/PvH0WuTs2m
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 25, 2026

You could lump undrafted rookie J. Michael Sturdivant in with first-year players Isaiah Neyor and Will Sheppard, but we’ll use this to focus on Sturdivant.

Even while missing the second half at Denver after a helmet-to-helmet hit, no Packers receiver has played more special-teams snaps than Sturdivant. Preseason reps are precious. They cannot be blown on nobodies. Would the Packers be wasting those snaps if they didn’t believe in Sturdivant’s ability to help the team, whether it’s in Week 1 or Week 11?

With Savion Williams missing most of the Denver game due to a calf injury, there might be an opening on the roster as the No. 6 receiver. With elite size and speed, Sturdivant could be that player – but only if he comes through under the lights at Lambeau.

TE Drake Dabney

With Luke Musgrave out indefinitely with a neck injury, Drake Dabney has been the front-runner to be the No. 3 tight end. Now, with the forthcoming addition of veteran Jonnu Smith, Dabney’s hold on a roster spot might be precarious.

Dabney has played a lot in the first two games and will play a lot again against the Cardinals. He’s progressed as a blocker. Can he do enough in that phase to earn a dirty-work role? Or, will the Packers have to look for that type of player after final cuts?

OL John Williams

The Packers have a lot of decisions to make at the bottom of the offensive line depth chart. Darian Kinnard did a decent job at right tackle last season. Donovan Jennings provides interior flexibility. Travis Glover can play the right-side positions. Undrafted rookie Dillon Wade has taken a lot of No. 2 reps at left guard during Aaron Banks’ limited camp.

John Williams, though, is the intriguing player from the bubble players. A seventh-round pick last year, Williams played left tackle at Cincinnati and is back at left tackle after spending the offseason practices and the start of training camp playing guard and center. He’s been OK, with PFF charging him with one sack and three pressures allowed in 43 pass-protecting snaps.

Competent left tackles are worth their weight in gold. So are versatile offensive linemen. Williams merits a long look to show if he can be a legit blindside protector capable of playing multiple positions. Otherwise, Anthony Belton must return to left tackle – the position he played at North Carolina State – ASAP. Rather inexplicably, that has not happened.

Edge Nyjalik Kelly

With Collin Oliver out with a calf injury, the door is open for Nyjalik Kelly to be the player who extends the Packers’ streak to 22 consecutive years in which at least one undrafted rookie won a spot on the roster.

Kelly is tied for the team lead with four pressures in the preseason, one of which was the sack/strip against Denver.

For what it’s worth, according to PFF, Kelly has four pressures in 35 pass-rushing snaps while Oliver has only one in 27 opportunities.

DT Anthony Campbell

Anthony Campbell has been one of the more incredible training camp stories in years. In 2024, he had one tackle as a senior at the University of Miami. In 2025, he went undrafted and spent most of the season out of the league until joining Green Bay’s practice squad in January.

From those humble football roots, the native of Kingston, Jamaica, has thrust himself into the thick of the competition on Green Bay’s surprisingly strong defensive line. After routinely making plays on the practice field, he had a powerful sack against Denver last week.

Anthony Campbell had a big night at Denver. Here’s his sack. pic.twitter.com/yarFNSW6L4
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 24, 2026

Second-year player Warren Brinson suffered a calf injury before the game at Denver. With Brinson on the sideline, Campbell joined Javon Hargrave as the second pair of defensive tackles during the 2-minute drill vs. Arizona at Wednesday’s practice. He immediately batted down a pass.

If Brinson winds up on injured reserve to start the regular season, the door will be wide open for Campbell. But first, he must finish strong against the Cardinals. For that matter, don’t sleep on the last man on the depth chart, Jaden Crumedy, a sixth-round pick by Carolina in 2024 who also has been productive.

CB Domani Jackson

Five of Green Bay’s draft picks are locks to make the roster. Will all six make it?

Domani Jackson has had a rough go of it. He missed all of the offseason practices and the start of training camp following core-muscle surgery. He made his preseason debut at Denver, where he played 10 snaps. He figures to get an extended look against the Cardinals.

The numbers might work against Jackson. He’s behind Brandon Cisse, Keisean Nixon, Benjamin St-Juste, Carrington Valentine and Kamal Hadden. That’s five, and there’s no guarantee the Packers will keep six. Maybe there’s a trade to be made further up the depth chart to create a spot. Or, maybe Jackson will show the upside that had him on first-round radars at this time 12 months ago.

Draft picks typically get the benefit of the doubt, but general manager Brian Gutekunst released 2024 seventh-round pick Kalen King and 2025 seventh-round pick Micah Robinson at the end of their rookie training camps.

Bonus: K Trey Smack

Trey Smack has had a stupendous preseason and is not even close to the roster bubble. Officially, he’s 7-of-7 on field goals and 3-of-3 on extra points. Unofficially, counting the nullified bomb to open the preseason at Pittsburgh, he’s 11-of-11 on his kicks.

Smack, however, made only 2-of-5 field-goal attempts during the joint practice against the Cardinals. He’s been much better in game situations, to state the obvious. Will that trend continue in his first game at Lambeau Field?

“You kind of treat every day like a game, so I kind of treat today’s practice like a game and then I’ll treat the game on Friday like it’s a regular game for me,” he said this week. “I haven’t experienced a regular-season game yet so I’m going to do my best to act like it’s a real game, because it is.”

The Packers, for what it’s worth in a game in which neither team is expected to play its starters, are 1.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook with an over/under of 36.5.

From the 100 percent locks to the long shots, here is our final run of the Packers Roster Lock-O-Meter. It includes a bunch of changes since last week due to the news with Josh Jacobs and Jonnu Smith. ⬇️https://t.co/aU223QklPB
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 28, 2026

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