Seven Players Who Must Steal the Show for Packers vs. Steelers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love will play in Thursday night’s preseason game at the Steelers. That means the rest of the offense will play, and that means this will be a great measuring stick for an offense that’s been knocked around by the defense for most of training camp.

And, vice-versa, this will be an opportunity to show what the defense can do against a different opponent without the help of Jonathan Gannon’s extensive blitz packages.

“I think it gets you in the right mindset and just gets you back in that real game feel,” Love said. “Obviously, we’ve been going against each other in practice. To be able to see new looks, a new defense, different guys out there, I think it’s all good stuff that just gets you in the right mindset going into Week 1.”

Here are seven players who could use strong performances on Thursday night, which not only will mark the first game of the preseason but exactly one month until Week 1.

Left Tackle: Jordan Morgan

Jordan Morgan is entering Year 3 in the NFL but Year 1 as the starting left tackle. He enters the season with just one regular-season game of experience as a blind-side protector.

He’s had a solid training camp – not unbeatable but not a turnstile – but the preseason games and the joint practice against the Cardinals should provide a clearer picture on whether he’s at least as good as Rasheed Walker.

“I think going back to last year when we had that competition and just seeing how he performed, and I think he’s done a good job,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Tuesday. “It hasn’t been perfect – it’s not perfect for anybody – but the athleticism, the skill-set, all of that’s there. It’s just putting it together on a consistent basis down in and down out.”

If the consistency is there and the pop in the run game shows up at the start of the season, a season of growth could make Morgan a real difference-maker for the stretch run.

The Steelers are expected to play their young starters, so Morgan probably won’t face premier pass rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith but instead will get Jack Sawyer.

Right Guard: Jacob Monk

Jacob Monk, a fifth-round pick in 2024 who didn’t play his first snaps on offense until the second-to-last game of last season, entered training camp on the second unit at guard and center and seemingly was on the roster bubble.

Now, with soaring stock, he’s the clear front-runner to start at right guard. While the Packers are high on rookie Jager Burton, he’s played only left guard and center during training camp. That means right guard is Monk’s job to lose.

He has no intention of doing so.

“Really important,” he said of the preseason. “Good to get some game feel out there, play against another team.”

Running Back: MarShawn Lloyd

Everyone knows MarShawn Lloyd’s story. He’s been injured for two years but he’s been healthy for training camp.

Here’s what nobody knows. Is Lloyd good? Is he potentially great? Is he a bust based on ability as much as availability?

Without full contact and live tackling, the practice field is a poor place to judge a running back. The running back, of course, says he would have gotten past the linebacker. The linebacker, of course, says he would have made the tackle.

There is no live evidence that Lloyd can catch the football, pass protect or hang onto the ball – he had notable fumble problems in college. Just because he hasn’t done those things doesn’t mean he can’t do those things, obviously. He’s obviously talented enough.

If he can do those things – and the Packers believe he can – their running game could be poised for a big bounce-back season.

Tight End: Drake Dabney

No player on the roster has been handed a better opportunity than Drake Dabney. Tucker Kraft has been limited to individual drills as he comes back from a torn ACL. Josh Whyle missed about a week. Luke Musgrave hasn’t practiced at all and there’s no timetable for him to return.

Dabney is quite a story. He went undrafted last year and joined the practice squad after Kraft went down. He caught one pass while playing most of the snaps against the Vikings in Week 18.

Either Dabney will prove he can help the offense, especially as a blocker, or the Packers will be adding one before the season begins.

“He’s kind of shown early in this period of time that he can move people off the line of scrimmage,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said last week. “That’s still an area that we’ve got to make sure as Tuck comes back in the fold that we’re looking at and making sure we have some answers there.”

Defensive Tackle: Warren Brinson

The Year 2 jump is the lifeblood for most teams. After a rookie season in which he flashed a bit late in the year, arguably no player on the roster has taken a bigger Year 2 jump than Warren Brinson.

He’s lined up at nose tackle on first-and-10. He’s rushed the passer on third-and-long. He’s made an impact play or two most days during camp.

“I’m determined just to be the player I need to be for the defense, honestly,” he said after a superior performance at Family Night. “I want to dominate. I want to go out there and be the best pass rusher on the team, honestly. When it’s time to call game, I want to be on the field. That’s what I was trying to prove out there today. I can rush. Let’s go. If we need somebody to call game, it’s me.”

Now, it’s time to do it against another team.

Edge: Every Player

It would be impossible to single out just one of the edge players.

There’s no doubt Lukas Van Ness has to deliver by far the best season of his career. With so much slack to pick up without Micah Parsons, Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare, the defense is going to sink if Van Ness can’t swim. He probably will face the Steelers’ young left tackle, Troy Fautanu, so that will be a real measuring-stick matchup.

It’s not just him, though. Barryn Sorrell, who probably is going to start opposite Van Ness to open the season, has been strong against the run, but can he rush the passer? Brenton Cox has had a good camp but needs to show his red-hot finish to 2024 wasn’t a fluke. Dani Dennis-Sutton can’t play like a rookie. Undersized Collin Oliver needs to have an impact rush or two every game.

“It’s all about stacking days,” Sorrell said. “Anybody can do it for one, two, three days. But the player I want to be, I want to do this thing all season.”

The results on the practice field from the group as a whole have been spotty. All five of the players listed above are going to be on the field playing key snaps. Can any of them deliver anything more than occasional pressure?

Cornerback: Brandon Cisse

The team’s first draft pick, Brandon Cisse, is on track to do what even Jaire Alexander couldn’t do as a first-round pick in 2018.

Be a Week 1 starter.

Cisse has had a promising training camp. It hasn’t been Cisse Island, but it hasn’t been a freeway of completions against him either. He’s talented, athletic and competitive – three traits that will take a cornerback far in his football life.

Cisse will start against the Steelers and will face the likes of Roman Wilson and Germie Bernard, who also was a second-round pick this year. Asked about pregame jitters, he said:

“You trust your keys, trust your alignment, trust the things you know your coaches are telling you to do and you don’t do anything out of the ordinary,” he said. “You do what you’re supposed to do and you read what you’re supposed to read and you try to go out and make the plays that come to you. It’s just kind of how I approach it. Every day trying to get better at those things, one play at a time.”

If Cisse is a solid starter in Week 1, he could grow into a very good starter by the end of the season – and a darkhorse Rookie of the Year candidate (he’s +10000 at FanDuel Sportsbook, which is tied for 29th) – which would be perfect timing for a team with championship aspirations.

Here are five Packers who will take soaring stocks into the preseason. Among them is the player in the picture, rising defensive tackle Warren Brinson. ⬇️https://t.co/PFiEdiLipB
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 12, 2026

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