Packers’ biggest roster battles ahead of preseason game against Ravens

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Exactly 96 days ago, the Green Bay Packers entered Ray Nitschke Field for the first practice of organized team activities. Training camp began 33 days ago.

All the blood, sweat and tears will culminate when the Packers host the Baltimore Ravens in their final preseason game. The stakes are high.

Here are the biggest remaining battles.

No. 2 Quarterback

The backup quarterback sits in a glass with the inscription “In case of emergency, break glass.”

The Packers didn’t have to break any glass last year, as Jordan Love started and finished all 17 games. Not every team is so lucky. Last season, 67 quarterbacks started at least one game and 63 threw at least 35 passes. Of course, not all of that is injury-related, but you get what I mean.

Sean Clifford was the backup last year as a rookie, but hasn’t made a leap forward in terms of consistency in his second year. Because he’s made too many big mistakes – the kind of mistakes that cost teams games – rookie Michael Pratt remains in the running.

No. 5-6 Recipient

The Packers have great depth at the receiver position. Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks have secured four spots. If the Packers end up keeping six, who gets the final two spots?

It appears to be a three-way battle between Bo Melton, a seventh-round pick by Seattle in 2022, Grant DuBose, a seventh-round pick in 2023, and Malik Heath, a non-drafted free agent in 2023 who beat them both out in the race for a job 12 months ago.

All three have good arguments. After spending most of last season on the practice squad, Melton became a key player in the home stretch. He had an excellent training camp but dropped three passes in Cleveland. DuBose got stronger as training camp went on but dropped two passes in Denver. Heath is a tough guy who lined up behind Ravens speedster Nate Wiggins in joint practice and opened up a big lead.

“When you have that many ballers in the room, some people can get forgotten,” Melton said last week. “And that’s the problem with our room. It’s not normal to have that many people. Look at all of us, most NFL teams don’t have that.”

“I don’t know how they deal with it, but I deal with it by just playing every day and when you get the ball, they start to remember you. ‘Oh yeah! Him!’ You know what I mean? But it’s just a blessing to be put in the position we’re in. Not every team has that many receivers that can play. That’s a blessing.”

Legal protection

Jordan Morgan, selected in the first round of the draft, seemed to have the job already secured before he suffered a shoulder injury that opened the door for Sean Rhyan, who played well in many home stretch appearances last year.

You are listed as co-number 1 on the team’s unofficial roster.

Morgan missed the first two preseason games and likely won’t play against the Ravens either. A strong performance could put Rhyan in the first team for Week 1.

“I think whether it’s Sean Rhyan or Jordan Morgan, I feel comfortable,” Love said Thursday.

No. 3 Offensive Tackle

This is a rather unusual position for the Packers, who had good depth at offensive tackles during the Matt LaFleur era.

This is an important position. Last year’s swing tackle Rasheed Walker started 15 games. Yosh Nijman started 21 games in 2021 and 2022. Rick Wagner started nine games in 2020.

Andre Dillard seemed to have taken over the role of swing tackle before suffering a shoulder injury in Denver. He didn’t practice all week and almost certainly won’t get a chance to close the bag against the Ravens.

In 27 pass protection snaps in the preseason, he did not allow any pressure.

“The most important thing is pass protection,” said offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich. “You have to protect the quarterback. That’s the biggest responsibility of a tackle. That’s the main thing we look at.”

Kadeem Telfort and Caleb Jones are the other players in contention. Telfort (undrafted in 2023) and Jones (undrafted in 2022) have played zero snaps on offense in their careers. The Packers could look to the waivers list after Tuesday’s roster cuts, but competent offensive tackles don’t grow on trees.

Kickers

Anders Carlson may have already won this fight. Carlson was on a roll while his main challenger, veteran Greg Joseph, fell apart last week.

Still, Carlson has to cross the finish line. It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison, but Carlson’s 82.2 percent success rate on the practice field would have only ranked him 23rd out of 31 kickers with at least 20 attempts last regular season. So that’s not good enough. He has to make kicks on Saturday.

Otherwise, the team could turn to the waiver list, where eight other teams host kicking contests.

Below in the depth charts

– The Packers typically keep nine or 10 offensive linemen. Do they have that many worth keeping this year? Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Zach Tom, Rhyan, Morgan and rookie Jacob Monk are set. If Dillard is No. 8, who will be No. 9?

– Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine are safe corners. It was tough competition with Corey Ballentine, Robert Rochell and rookie Kalen King in the race for fifth (and sixth?) spot.

– Can Brenton Cox force his way onto the roster as the fifth defensive end? He had a good training camp, including a sack last week in Denver. Or will the Packers use nine defensive linemen in total because Colby Wooden can play both tackle and end?

– Tight end Tyler Davis, linebacker Kristian Welch and safety Zayne Anderson may be secondary on offense or defense, but is their value on special teams high enough to warrant at least one of them making the roster?

“I think anytime you’re dealing with the fifth receiver or the third runner, some of your backup linebackers, your fourth safety, your fifth cornerback have to be able to contribute on special teams,” LaFleur said.

“I think that’s pretty normal in the league, but you also want someone to help you on offense and right now the competition is great.”

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