This Incredible Packers Stat Actually Is Completely Irrelevant to Packers

The Green Bay Packers started more players than almost any team in the NFL. Here’s the story inside the numbers.

Clayton Tune was one of 12 Packers players who made their first start of the season at Minnesota. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

No team started more players on offense than the Green Bay Packers in 2026.

Tony Holzman-Escareno, a senior researcher for the NFL, posted this incredible stat on X.

Most different offensive starters in 2025…

1. Packers - 27
1. Saints - 27
3. Cardinals - 26
3. Texans - 26
3. Chargers - 26

Fewest offensive starters…

28. Falcons – 19
28. Rams – 19
30. Seahawks - 18
30. Patriots - 18
30. Bears – 18

— NFL Researcher (@NFL_Researcher) June 6, 2026

No team started more players on offense in 2025 than the Green Bay Packers. Surely, coach Matt LaFleur was forced to start all those players because of the gauntlet of injuries he had to navigate last season.

Right?

Wrong.

The Packers started a lot of players in 2025 because LaFleur treated Week 18 like a bye to get rested and ready for the playoffs.

Let’s revisit the season-ending game at Minnesota. This was the starting lineup on offense.

Quarterback: Clayton Tune. Tune was promoted from the practice squad following Joran Love’s concussion and started the second game of his career against Minnesota (first since 2023).

Running back: Emanuel Wilson. Wilson also started the Lambeau Field win against the Vikings.

Offensive line: LT Jordan Morgan, LG Lecitus Smith, C Jacob Monk, RG Anthony Belton, RT Darian Kinnard. Smith was promoted from the practice squad and started the fourth game of his career (first since 2024). Monk, a fifth-round pick in 2024, started the first game of his career.

Receivers: Bo Melton, Jakobie Keeney-James, Matthew Golden. Officially a cornerback, Melton made his second career start (first since he was a rookie in 2023). Keeney-James didn’t just make his first career start; he was promoted from the practice squad and played in his first career game. This was Golden’s fifth start as a rookie.

Tight end: Drake Dabney. Dabney was elevated from the practice squad to make his first career start.

Added together, Tune, Melton, Keeney-James, Dabney, Monk and Smith made their first starts of the season at Minnesota. That’s six players. Had LaFleur played to win and gone with his usual lineup, Green Bay’s season-starter count would have plunged from 27 to 21, which would have been much closer to the bottom of the list than the top.

Same Story on Defense

The Packers started 23 players on defense, giving them a season total of 50 players who started at least one game. Only the Titans and Jets, with one apiece, had more total starters.

Most players to start a game in 2025…

1. Titans - 51
2. Jets - 51
3. Packers - 50
4. Chargers - 48
4. Giants - 48
4. Cowboys - 48
4. Commanders - 48
4. Dolphins - 48

Fewest starters in 2025…

28. Bears - 40
28. Bengals - 40
30. Seahawks - 38
30. Patriots - 38
32. Rams - 36

— NFL Researcher (@NFL_Researcher) March 29, 2026

This was Green Bay’s starting lineup on defense against Minnesota.

Defensive ends: Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox. Sorrell, a rookie, and Cox, a third-year player, made their first career starts.

Defensive tackles: Warren Brinson, Nazir Stackhouse. The Georgia rookies – a sixth-round pick and undrafted rookie, respectively – made their first career starts.

Linebackers: Isaiah McDuffie, Ty’Ron Hopper, Jamon Johnson. Johnson, an undrafted rookie, was elevated from the practice squad and made his first career start.

Cornerbacks: Trevon Diggs, Keisean Nixon. A few days after being claimed off waivers from Dallas, Diggs made his one start with the Packers. Nixon started and played the first five snaps; Jaylin Simpson played the final 62.

Safeties: Evan Williams, Javon Bullard. Xavier McKinney was inactive but Williams and Bullard were season-long stalwarts who played 21 snaps apiece. Kitan Oladapo and Johnathan Baldwin did not start but played all but one snap.

Just like on offense, six players on defense made their first starts of the season against the Vikings: Sorrell, Cox, Brinson, Stackhouse, Johnson and Diggs.

Added together, 12 players made their first starts of the season in Week 18.

Had LaFleur played to win, Green Bay would not have had 50 players start at least one game. It would have had 38. So, instead of having the third-most players start at least one game, it would have had the third-fewest.

What About Injuries?

While the Packers suffered three devastating injuries with knee injuries knocking out Tucker Kraft, Micah Parsons and Zach Tom for the playoff run, the reality if the Packers weren’t especially injured from a numbers perspective.

According to Aaron Schatz’ Adjusted Game Lost metric at FTN Fantasy, the Packers were the 18th-most-injured team last season.

By AGL, the Seahawks won the Super Bowl by dealing with the third-fewest injuries. The Patriots reached the Super Bowl with the fewest injuries.

The Lions were the second-most-injured team in going from first to worst in the NFC North. The Bears were the 16th-most-injured team, so slightly more banged up than the Packers.

Extra Point

Five players who started in Week 18 are no longer on Green Bay’s roster. Lecitus Smith was not re-signed as an exclusive rights free agent, Emanuel Wilson was not re-signed in free agency, Trevon Diggs was released about a week after the season and Jamon Johnson was released before the draft.

Tune had the ultimate indignity. He was thrown to the wolves against Minnesota behind a makeshift offensive line and alongside bottom-of-the-depth-chart perimeter players, finished with minus-7 net passing yards and was released a few days later. He is not on a roster.

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