Will This Packers Training Camp Be Equivalent of ‘Seinfeld’ Episode?

Green Bay Packers training camp begins on Wednesday, when the 91-man roster hits the Ray Nitschke Practice Field for the first time in the quest to win roster spots and starting jobs.

Unless there aren’t jobs to be won?

That sentence is an exaggeration, of course, but maybe not much of one. Training camp and the preseason will be important to settle some last-man-on-the-depth-chart battles but, by and large, the key roles seem to be set. Barring injuries, only a couple of starting jobs might be up for grabs.

That makes training camp the equivalent of a Seinfeld episode – a training camp about nothing.

Let’s look at every position and try to find the roster battle.

Quarterbacks

Jordan Love will start and Tyrod Taylor will be the backup. Period, end of conversation. The No. 3 battle between Kyle McCord and Kyron Drones will be interesting because the winner will earn a spot on the practice squad and a chance to develop into next year’s backup.

Running Backs

The key to this position will be the health of MarShawn Lloyd. If the 2024 third-round pick is finally healthy and able to get through training camp and the preseason to set him up for success in the regular season, everyone behind the top group of Josh Jacobs, Chris Brooks and Lloyd will be fighting for a spot on the practice squad.

If the injury bug stings Lloyd again, the importance of the running back competition will be ratcheted up considerably. Pierre Strong, Damien Martinez and Jaden Nixon have differing skill-sets and levels of experience.

Receivers

Now this is an important position battle. Everyone knows Christian Watson, Matthew Golden and Jayden Reed will be the primary receivers. After that? It’s anyone’s guess.

Can Savion Williams, last year’s third-round pick, run a real receiver route tree and be the impact player he had no chance to be as a rookie? Can Bo Melton, whose reception production was cut in half from 16 in 2023 to eight in 2024 and cut in half again to four in 2025, be a breakout player after not being one in his first four seasons? The same question can be asked of Skyy Moore, who had five catches the last two seasons.

Or is there a job to be won from the kiddie corps of Isaiah Neyor, Will Sheppard, J. Michael Sturdivant and Jerry Rice’s son?

Tight Ends

This should be a good battle, too. Tucker Kraft, if healthy, will be the leader of the group, obviously. After that, can Luke Musgrave take advantage of all the opportunities he’ll get in training camp to recapture a role? Will Josh Whyle stay ahead of Musgrave, as seemed to be the case during the offseason? And can anyone block?

Offensive Line

The starting five is set, so the battles will be for the backup positions. Given the attrition rate on the offensive line, one or two of the backups are going to have to play important snaps.

Darian Kinnard will have one of those positions after a solid season in reserve duty last year. Fifth-round rookie Jager Burton has a chance to be the top interior backup, though he’ll have to prove on the practice field and during the preseason that he’s a better option than Jacob Monk and Donovan Jennings, both of whom have some experience.

If new starting left tackle Jordan Morgan were to miss time, who’d step in as Jordan Love’s blind-side protector? That will be one of the most important battles of training camp. It probably will be right guard Anthony Belton, though Brant Banks or Tyler Cooper could have a say.

Defensive Line

The only spot up for grabs might be nose tackle, with Nazir Stackhouse, Jonathan Ford and (maybe) Jordon Riley in the mix to be the backup for rookie Chris McClellan.

Edge

Finally, it’s a position group in which a starting job might be available. Who will replace Micah Parsons in the starting lineup opposite Lukas Van Ness? Barryn Sorrell held that role throughout the offseason and almost certainly will be a Day 1 starter at training camp. The job won’t be handed to him, though.

While Brenton Cox had promising pass-rush production during the second half of the 2024 season and the team used a fifth-round pick on Collin Oliver in 2025, the No. 1 challenger might be rookie fourth-round pick Dani Dennis-Sutton because of his (potentially) strong play against the run and (potential) upside as a pass rusher.

Linebackers

Zaire Franklin and Edgerrin Cooper will start, and there’s little reason to believe Isaiah McDuffie won’t be a backup. McDuffie’s contract extension solidified his spot on the roster – and probably as the next man up after starting the past two seasons.

The Packers are strong with Nick Niemann, Kristian Welch and promising undrafted rookie TJ Quinn. If one of those players emerges as more than just a player to help on special teams, could they push former third-round pick Ty’Ron Hopper onto the trade block?

Cornerbacks

This will be the biggest position battle during training camp. Carrington Valentine started 30 games in his first three seasons. The Packers need to do better, which is why they signed Benjamin St-Juste in free agency and used their first draft pick on Brandon Cisse.

Valentine will enter training camp as the starter. He will be pushed by both St-Juste, who started 47 games in his first five seasons, and Cisse, who took some first-team snaps in the offseason. Maybe Valentine will rise to the occasion and have his best season. Maybe he won’t be on the roster at all.

The competition will continue onto the backups. Domani Jackson, a sixth-round pick this year, and Kamal Hadden, who unseated Valentine in the lineup only to suffer a season-ending injury, might be competing for one spot. Neither player practiced in the offseason.

Safeties

The battle here will be to be the No. 5 safety – if the Packers even keep five safeties. That will be Mark Perry, Johnathan Baldwin and Murvin Kenion III.

Special Teams

Kicker will be at the centerpiece of all the competitions. The Packers might have won playoff games in 2023 and 2025 if not for critical missed kicks by Anders Carlson and Brandon McManus. Trey Smack had a rough offseason but will be starting with a clean slate in his battle against Lucas Havrisik.

Because of the investment, the Packers will want Smack to win, but they can’t afford to go into the season unsure if their kicker can make a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter, let alone a 55-yarder with the game on the line.

There is no competition for punter Daniel Whelan – for obvious reasons – and long snapper Matt Orzech.

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