Rising? Falling?: Packers Stock Report Before Critical Closing Stretch of Camp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The biggest week of Green Bay Packers training camp is here.

The Packers will play at the Denver Broncos on Friday night. Next week, they will host the Arizona Cardinals for a joint practice on Wednesday before playing them in the final preseason game on Friday.

Those will be the closing arguments for players competing for a starting job or a place on the roster. General manager Brian Gutekunst will cut the roster to 53 players on Sunday, Aug. 30.

With those competitions in mind and using our camp-opening Lock-O-Meter as a guide, here’s who’s rising and who’s falling.

Rising Stock: QB Kyle McCord

Kyle McCord entered training camp competing with Kyron Drones to be the No. 3 quarterback. McCord made short work of Drones by showing he’s the more polished and, more importantly, poised quarterback. A season-long spot on the practice squad is his to lose.

“One thing about the NFL is you really never know what’s going to happen next,” he said this week. “Obviously, getting drafted to Philly last year, you think you’re going to spend four years there and then, boom, end up in Green Bay a year later. I think the thing is to continue to put your head down and keep working, and that ultimately leads you to success and puts you exactly where you need to be.”

Rising Stock: RB MarShawn Lloyd

MarShawn Lloyd hasn’t missed a day. Not during OTAs. Not during minicamp. Not during training camp.

After two years in which he basically lived on injured reserve and atop a stationary bike to stay in shape, Lloyd not only is going to make the roster but he’s on track to be the No. 2 back behind Josh Jacobs.

That’s exactly what the Packers envisioned when they signed Jacobs and drafted Lloyd in 2024.

“Emotions were high,” Lloyd said before the Pittsburgh game. “I was ready to go. It was fun. I was juiced up. I was listening to music. I was in it, I was in the zone. It was fun. I didn’t play a lot but it was good being able to get hit and run the ball. It was fun. It was good being out there with them.”

Rising Stock: LT Jordan Morgan

The Packers let Rasheed Walker go in free agency and handed the starting job to Jordan Morgan. So far, so good.

Morgan hasn’t been great, but the Packers should go into the season with few worries about their blind-side protector. What matters is how Morgan is trending, and that’s all positive.

“I think we’re very comfortable with him there,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “He’s going to have to go out and do it over full season and year in and year out. But he’s done a really nice job through the spring, really nice job so far. I’m looking forward to getting some more reps here in the preseason and then get ready for the regular season.”

Rising Stock: G/C Jacob Monk

After two seasons as a backup – he had played only six snaps on offense in the first 33 games of his NFL career – Jacob Monk has gone from entering training camp on the roster bubble to being the presumptive starting right guard for Week 1 at Minnesota.

Falling Stock: T/G Darian Kinnard

The Packers acquired Darian Kinnard from the Eagles for a sixth-round pick at the end of training camp last year. After playing in only three games in his first three seasons, Kinnard played in 17 games with four starts last year.

Kinnard re-signed with the Packers this offseason, collecting a $1 million signing bonus. He’s in a bit of a precarious position while dealing with an ankle injury that sidelined him for most of the Pittsburgh game and presumably will keep him out at Denver.

What might save him are the struggles of the next player on this list.

Falling Stock: T/G Anthony Belton

Last year’s second-round pick started at right guard down the stretch last season. He played inconsistently but there was absolutely no reason to believe he wouldn’t start again at right guard. Really, the only question was how much he’d grow in Year 2 on the job.

Instead, Belton lost the starting job to Monk. He might replace Kinnard as the swing tackle, but he’s barely played any left tackle during training camp and has really struggled at right tackle. Did the Packers blow it on a second-round pick? Is Belton simply reeling from losing his starting job and having to change positions?

Rising Stock: T John Williams

John Williams was like a bonus draft pick. A seventh-round pick last year, a back injury that required surgery sidelined him for the offseason program, training camp and most of the regular season. He didn’t practice with the team at all until he was designated for return from injured reserve for the final three weeks.

Williams spent the offseason and the start of training camp playing center and guard. Now, he’s been locked in at left tackle – his position at Cincinnati – with the No. 2 offense. He hasn’t been great but his versatility could be a tremendous asset.

“You’re always looking for guys that can play the tackle position, and I think he’s gone in there and done his job,” coach Matt LaFleur said the day after the Pittsburgh game.

Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Warren Brinson (91) is shown at training camp Friday, July 31. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Rising Stock: DT Warren Brinson

A sixth-round pick last year, Warren Brinson didn’t get on the field until Week 6. He became a key role player during the second half of the season, playing 20-plus snaps in each of the final eight games, but he didn’t make much of an impact.

He’s made a lot of impact this summer, though. He probably has more pressures than any of the interior players. He added three more pressures along with stout run defense against the Steelers.

“You used the word confident,” defensive run-game coordinator DeMarcus Covington said this week. “I do think confidence is built in when you’re doing it over and over and over. He’s able to do it in practice over and over and over, so that’s helping him build his confidence.

“So, it’s not just talking about it. He’s actually out there performing within practice and doing it, so I believe the same thing. Hopefully, he’ll continue to excel and what we’re going to need him to do is keep rising and showing up every single day, attacking the grind and making sure he’s ready for whenever his number’s called.”

Risking Stock: DT Jonathan Ford

Entering camp, the belief was Jonathan Ford and Nazir Stackhouse would be competing to be the backup nose tackle to rookies Chris McClellan.

Instead, Ford – making the proverbial fifth-year jump – has put himself in position to be the starter due to his impact play against the run.

“I feel like this camp,” Ford said, “I came with the mentality that I’m going to try to get a job as much as I can and show my talents in a defense that favors me as a bigger guy that I can go out and anchor the run and move guys in the run game.”

Rising Stock: DTs Anthony Campbell, Jaden Crumedy

When training camp began, nobody thought Anthony Campbell and Jaden Crumedy would be in position to make the roster. Campbell barely played in two seasons at the University of Miami and went undrafted in 2025. Crumedy was a sixth-round pick by Carolina in 2024 who joined the Packers after last season.

Instead, they’ve been part of the big story of training camp, which is the unexpected power by the defensive tackles. Campbell has been a constant menace on the practice field. Crumedy has, too, though to a lesser extent, but his position flexibility could work in his favor.

Their play might force the Packers to go heavy with heavy guys.

“That is a really good group, and I think the effort level there has been really good, and they’ve been performing each and every day,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said this week. “Those big guys, when you have more than enough, that’s very unusual, so we’re excited about those guys.

“With the opportunities they’re given – because they’re not all given the same – performing at a high level, making plays. That position, sometimes your job isn’t to go make the play. Sometimes, it’s to allow others to make plays and doing what the coaches are asking them to do. They’ve all done a really nice job.”

Rising Stock: Edge Brenton Cox

Green Bay Packers edge Brenton Cox Jr. walks to training camp. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Brenton Cox went undrafted in 2023 and was the big beneficiary of the Preston Smith trade in 2024 with four sacks during the final seven games of the season. Last year, however, Cox suffered a groin injury in Week 1 and wound up playing in only four games.

During training camp, Cox has probably been the most productive edge rusher – with the caveat that most of his reps have come against the No. 2 offense. He’s going to be a key player as the Packers attempt to muddle through without Micah Parsons.

“Honestly, I can go as far as the coaches let me go,” he said this week. “I’m ready for whatever. I’m ready to attack, I’m ready to make plays right away. Special teams, wherever I can help the team.”

Falling Stock: CB Keisean Nixon

It will be interesting to see the cornerback rotation against the Broncos. Some days at practice, Nixon has taken all the first-team reps – which was the case at Pittsburgh. Other days, he’s ceded half the first-team reps to Benjamin St-Juste.

It’s a startling fall from grace after he played more than 95 percent of the snaps in 15 games last season and tied for sixth in the NFL in pass breakups.

One thing’s for sure: If Nixon wants to be paid like a starting cornerback, he’s going to have to grab the bull by the horns to keep his starting job.

Falling Stock: CB Carrington Valentine

After scrapping the Nate Hobbs Experiment, Valentine started 11 games last season. As usual, he covered effectively and tackled horribly.

Valentine entered training camp facing a stiff challenge from rookie Brandon Cisse. The hamstring injury sustained during the fourth practice put an end to that. At this point, if Nixon retains the starting job, the next week might serve as an audition for a new team.

Rising Stock: CBs Kamal Hadden and Jaylin Simpson

We’ll lump these two together for one reason: Hadden, a sixth-round pick by the Chiefs in 2024, is a perimeter cornerback by a trade and Simpson, a fifth-round pick by the Colts in 2024, has thrived as a perimeter cornerback during training camp. There might be room for only one on the 53-man roster, and the winner might be determined by who plays better in the slot.

Hadden had taken barely any team reps during camp following last year’s season-ending ankle injury but suddenly was given a bunch of first-team snaps in the slot in place of injured Javon Bullard this week.

Hadden, who had an interception at Wednesday’s practice, is expected to play in his first game since he was injured against Baltimore late last season.

“I’m ready to be back out there,” he said. “I’m ready to prove to myself but also want to prove to my brothers and teammates and to this organization that I’m still me and I’m back and I’m better. It’d mean a lot to get back out there and perform.”

Simpson, coming off a poor game when playing mostly in the slot against Pittsburgh, had an interception at Tuesday’s practice.

“I was very confident and I went out there and I didn’t play to the standard that I wanted to play, and I felt like I let my coaches down and my teammates down, even though it’s a preseason game,” he said.

“But I know for me personally, we don’t get a lot of chances, we don’t get a lot of shots. So, I felt like I didn’t do my best at the shot that I had. So, it did feel like maybe it was a failed test but, ultimately, it’s not a failed test. You just learn from it. I got two more opportunities. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

With a fresh coat of paint to cover up some rust and an upgrade to iOS 2.6.1, here's our latest run of our Packers Roster Lock-O-Meter™️ with 10 days until roster cuts. ⬇️https://t.co/AoUHJlAHxZ
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 20, 2026

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