Two weeks ago, we made a 53-man roster prediction six practices into Green Bay Packers training camp. Now that we have the data points that are Family Night and the preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns, let’s take another stab — hopefully more informed this time — at the same exercise.
A lot has changed over the past couple of weeks, so we’ll go position-by-position, letting you know what’s still up for grabs in Green Bay, as well as where our roster projection has changed from its last iteration.
Quarterbacks (2)
Jordan Love
Sean Clifford
Prediction change: Sean Clifford in, Michael Pratt out
While Sean Clifford struggled mightily during the first few days of training camp, the heat on him has turned down with recent performances. Head coach Matt LaFleur argued that Clifford might have had his best day of practice on Family Night, which was a big moment for the second-year quarterback.
Against the Browns this weekend, Clifford threw 19 balls for 10 completions and 111 yards (5.8 yards per attempt average). Meanwhile, Michael Pratt put up a similar 6.6-yard average with the third-string unit. While this competition isn’t done by any means, Clifford still holds onto a lead. With the Packers holding out their starters for next week’s game against the Denver Broncos, you’re going to see a lot more of Clifford and Pratt in Denver.
Running Backs (4)
Josh Jacobs
AJ Dillon
MarShawn Lloyd
Emanuel Wilson
Prediction change: Emanuel Wilson in
The X factor here is how serious MarShawn Lloyd’s hamstring injury is. The rookie third-round already missed time this summer with a hip injury before apparently reaggravating a hamstring issue he’s apparently been pushing through during training camp after just one preseason carry. Is Lloyd going to be healthy enough to carry on the 53-man roster? If not, that makes Emanuel Wilson’s chances of making the team significantly better.
Wilson, who was arguably the star of the Packers’ 2023 preseason, led the team in rushing versus Cleveland when he took 13 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown. He also had a long of 23 on the most impressive rush from a back from either team in the game. Keeping four backs might not be the best way to put together a roster, on paper, with the new special teams rules, but the fact that you can make a claim that Wilson is the second-best ball-carrier on the team will go a long way for his case.
Receivers (6)
Christian Watson
Romeo Doubs
Jayden Reed
Dontayvion Wicks
Bo Melton
Grant DuBose
Prediction change: Grant DuBose in, Malik Heath out
Rhyan, who was previously competing with Morgan for the right guard spot before Morgan started to pull away. Rhyan has seen snaps at center and both guard positions this summer.
The swing tackle on the team seems to be former first-round pick Andre Dillard, who was signed by the team just before the draft. Kadeem Telfort momentarily displaced Dillard as Tom’s replacement, but the Washington State product started at right tackle against Cleveland. Dillard is the only true backup tackle to make the cut here, but Jenkins and Morgan both have tackle experience, which might be more valuable than any backup tackle can bring to the table.
The final two players to talk about are Royce Newman, who is working as a guard with the second-team offense, and Jacob Monk, who is playing snaps at both center and guard for the second team. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Packers kept 9, 10 or 11 offensive linemen, but the pecking order is starting to become clear and I’m also not certain Green Bay needs more than Dillard at tackle off of the bench to get them through a gameday.
defense’s total snaps this year.
Instead, the outside linebacker starters — with Walker playing the middle linebacker — have been McDuffie and Eric Wilson, who has mostly been a special teams contributor in his time with the Packers. The team could keep a sixth linebacker on the team, like a Kristian Welch — who was a special teams player for Green Bay in 2023 — but Bisaccia seems to want to play safeties more and linebackers less on his unit this year.
Cornerbacks (5)
Jaire Alexander
Eric Stokes
Keisean Nixon (slot)
Carrington Valentine
Corey Ballentine
Prediction change: Corey Ballentine in, Kalen King out
Carrington Valentine is currently nursing a hamstring issue, but Eric Stokes was taking the majority of the outside cornerback snaps opposite of Jaire Alexander even when the second-year draft pick was healthy. It seems like the Packers really want Stokes to start, which sort of put an end to any discussion about a training camp battle at the position.
Keisean Nixon has been the team’s primary slot defender, though, he has also seen an increased amount of outside cornerback reps with Valentine out of the lineup. In the preseason game last week, when Alexander also missed action with a personal matter, Nixon was a starting outside cornerback who moved inside in nickel spots. The outside cornerback who came off of the bench was Corey Ballentine, who also contributes on special teams.
For a while, Kalen King was getting work with the first-team defense as a slot defender, but that’s happening less as camp unfolds. When it’s not Nixon inside, it’s usually Javon Bullard, who could end up winning the open safety job for the Packers.
Safeties (5)
Xavier McKinney
Javon Bullard
Evan Williams
Anthony Johnson Jr.
Kitan Oladapo
Speaking of Bullard, he’s in a three-way battle with rookie fourth-round pick Evan Williams and 2023 draft pick Anthony Johnson Jr. for the spot opposite of free-agent signing Xavier McKinney. If for some reason there were a bunch of injuries at cornerback, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Bullard get the start at safety, a role he appears to have a lead in, but drop down into the slot in nickel looks, which would allow one of Williams or Johnson to play safety in those situations.
Remember, Bullard played safety last year for Georgia, but he was almost exclusively a slot defender for the Bulldogs team that won the national championship the season before.
Kitan Oladapo, who was taken in the fifth round of the 2024 draft as sort of an enforcer type of safety, recently returned to practice after missing offseason workouts due to a toe injury that he had surgery on before the draft. He hasn’t shown much yet, but he also hasn’t had too many reps in either practice or last week’s game. Considering how much Bisaccia likes to play safeties, let’s just go ahead and assume a fifth player makes the team at this position.
Specialists (3)
Greg Joseph (kicker)
Daniel Whelan (punter)
Matt Orzech (long snapper)
Prediction change: Greg Joseph in, Anders Carlson out
Anders Carlson hit all of his kicks in the preseason opener, but let’s go ahead and describe a few of them as “close calls.” In practice, Greg Joseph has built a slight lead over Carlson this summer, mostly because of one practice where Carlson faired particularly poorly. It’s a tight race, and one where Carlson might ultimately win the tie-breaker due to his draft status, but Joseph has been kicking better in camp.
Daniel Whelan is uncontended at the punter position. Long snapper Matt Orzech does have a competitor in Wisconsin product Peter Bowden, but Bowden was released (and later re-signed) this camp to bring in a fourth-string quarterback. Unless things start to turn south for Whelan and Orzech, you can pretty much assume that they’re going to be on the roster in Week 1.
So there you have it. The most notable releases in this hypothetical would be quarterback Michael Pratt, tackle Travis Glover and cornerback Kalen King, all 2024 draft picks. With that being said, 37 draft picks from the 2022 to 2024 classes made our 53-man roster projection, not including the undrafted free agents and waiver claims the Packers have made, which doesn’t give these rookies much breathing room to make the team.
Let me know how you see the 53-man roster shaking out and where your prediction might differ from mine.
