Some of the hits were of their own choosing. Others were not.

Either way you look at it, the Green Bay Packers are three weeks away from selecting a 53-man roster without the services of 13 veteran players that were good enough to play on their National Football League championship team.

On Super Bowl Sunday, tight end Donald Lee, guards Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz, running back Brandon Jackson, fullback Korey Hall and defensive end Cullen Jenkins all were in uniform.

During the regular season, tackle Mark Tauscher, defensive end Justin Harrell, linebackers Nick Barnett, Brandon Chillar and Brady Poppinga, and safeties Derrick Martin and Anthony Smith all played before ending up on injured reserve.

How many veterans did general manager Ted Thompson add to replace them?

Not a single one.

Instead, Thompson drafted 10 players, signed 17 rookie free agents and picked up eight "street" free agents.

Three weeks into the unrestricted free-agent signing period, 156 players have switched teams. Green Bay and the New York Jets are the only clubs that haven't signed anyone.

On the front end of their roster, the Packers are loaded. They can match star for star with anyone.

As for the back end, time will tell how deep they are.

"We think we've got a good roster," said Reggie McKenzie, the Packers' director of football operations. "It remains to be seen if it's really good because we've still got some young guys that need to step up."

The Packers seem deeper on offense than defense.

"If some guys step up, yes," McKenzie said. "We've just got to get that O-line squared away. The coaches are doing a lot of things there, trying to figure that out.

"We've got a lot of tight ends. We added another receiver. The running back is healthy, plus we added one more.

"We lost a couple guys on defense. At linebacker, we had at the beginning Nick Barnett and Chillar."

The Packers are well aware that their roster is being scrutinized daily by competitors seeking upgrades. With a potential surplus of talent at wide receiver, tight end, running back and defensive back, they will look to make the type of cut-down day trade for a future draft pick that eluded them a year ago.

"I think the opportunity will be there for a lot of trades," McKenzie said. "When you don't have a chance to really evaluate the team during the summer like nobody has, some teams will want to go and get certain guys."

As the defending champions, the Packers will be vulnerable to other clubs claiming on waivers some of the young players that they intend to cut but would like back on the practice squad.

"Yeah, but it's hard to predict how other teams want to attack you," McKenzie said. "I'm sure they're going to study it."

As it stands, the Packers' 86-man roster (four under the limit) has 31 players judged to be locks to make the 53-man roster and seven more that appear to be good bets. A year ago, there were 30 locks and six good bets.

Barring injury, McKenzie said that 42 of the 53 berths probably were set.

On Tuesday, an NFL spokesman said the league still hasn't decided if teams will have to trim down to 75 players. The tentative date for that cut is Aug. 30.

All teams must be down to the 53-man limit at 5 p.m. Sept. 3.

On Sept. 4, teams can sign up to eight players to the practice squad. Candidates are waived players who do not have an accrued season of free-agency credit (six games on the 53-man roster or injured reserve) or who were on the 45-man roster for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season.

Players with more than two seasons on a practice squad are ineligible for another. A year of service on the practice squad consists of a minimum of three weeks.

WIDE RECEIVERS (5 or 6)

Locks: Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, Randall Cobb.

Good bets: Donald Driver.

On the fence: Diondre Borel, Chastin West, Brett Swain, Shaky Smithson.

Long shots: Tori Gurley, Kerry Taylor, Antonio Robinson.

Comment: Borel was the run-around starting quarterback for three seasons at Utah State and hadn't been a wide receiver since 2007. All the rookies have been overshadowed by Cobb, but Borel has a ton of potential. He did drop a pass at the Cleveland 3 on Saturday night, but his hands are fine and his quickness is top-notch. He had a nice 23-yard punt return in Cleveland, too.

West has shown considerable improvement in his second Packers' camp but didn't help himself in Cleveland. Smithson isn't as fast as Borel or West but he's also thicker and showed some toughness on kickoff coverage. Swain already was staring at sizable odds before suffering a hamstring injury Aug. 8 that has kept him sidelined.

Neither Gurley nor Taylor is a washout, either. Gurley has imposing size but has dropped too many balls and needs work against press coverage. In his five years, James Jones said it was the best group from top to bottom.

TIGHT ENDS (4 or 5)

Locks: Jermichael Finley.

On the fence: Andrew Quarless, D.J. Williams, Ryan Taylor, Tom Crabtree.

Long shots: Spencer Havner.

Comment: After Finley, it's almost impossible to say who would have the next best chance to stick.

Quarless has been nagged by injury all summer but did play OK when available. He's just 22, has ideal size and speed and started down the stretch for a title team. His future should be bright.

Williams started fast but hasn't been as good in the last week. He probably won't be a base blocker this year, and might never be. He's a poor man's Finley in the passing game, which isn't bad at all.

Taylor has been a pleasant surprise. Of the top five, he and Crabtree probably are the best blockers and special-teams players. Taylor might have a slight edge on Crabtree as a receiver, although Crabtree is moving more fluidly in the open field than a year ago.

At 28, Havner is four years older than anyone in the group and isn't as talented. He is an emergency-only linebacker.

OFFENSIVE LINE (9 or 10)

Locks: G Josh Sitton, C Scott Wells, T Bryan Bulaga, T Chad Clifton, G-T Derek Sherrod, G-T T.J. Lang.

Good bets: T Marshall Newhouse.

On the fence: C-G Nick McDonald, G Caleb Schlauderaff, G-T Ray Dominguez, C-G Evan Dietrich-Smith.

Long shots: C-G Sampson Genus, T Theo Sherman, T Chris Campbell, G Adrian Battles.

Comment: Newhouse had problems at right tackle in Cleveland but perhaps it should have been expected. He spent the first two weeks at LT and led the O-line in the one-on-one pass protection drill (18-2-2, .864).

If Newhouse nails down the No. 7 berth, either McDonald or Dietrich-Smith figures to be No. 8 because the Packers must have a backup center. McDonald has it all physically on Dietrich-Smith but really hasn't outperformed him. In the one-on-one's, Dietrich-Smith is 17-6-3 (.712) compared to McDonald's 9-5-4 (.611).

The Packers still seem high on McDonald, but right now it's debatable if he's strong enough to play.

Mike McCarthy has opened four of the last five seasons with nine O-linemen. Based on what's here, it's quite likely just nine will stick.

That No. 9 berth appears to be between Schlauderaff and Dominguez. A sixth-round draft choice, Schlauderaff (12-11-7, .517) is smart and persistent but doesn't play with strength.

Dominguez, a free agent from Arkansas, has lost 10 pounds, a key to his improvement. Unlike Schlauderaff, he played tackle in college and probably can play there in the NFL. In flashes, Dominguez has shown potential.

Genus (14-10-3, .574) is an excellent technician but might be too short at 6-0½. Campbell, also a free agent, looked much better than last summer and might have had a shot before a knee injury knocked him out the last 10 days.

QUARTERBACKS (2 or 3)

Locks: Aaron Rodgers, Matt Flynn.

On the fence: Graham Harrell.

Comment: Harrell doesn't have a great arm. Nevertheless, McCarthy has left the impression that if Flynn departs next year Harrell might be No. 2. Thus, he probably sticks.

RUNNING BACKS (4 or 5)

Locks: RB James Starks, RB Alex Green, FB-RB John Kuhn.

Good bets: RB Ryan Grant.

On the fence: FB Quinn Johnson, RB Dimitri Nance, RB Brandon Saine.

Long shots: FB Jon Hoese.

Comment: Johnson didn't help himself by reporting overweight. Most teams get by with one fullback, but the Packers kept three the last two years.

The Packers gave Kuhn a $750,000 signing bonus to start. Johnson hasn't been overly effective on special teams, so his narrow niche would be in the four-minute, grind-it-out offense and the occasionally used inverted wishbone formation.

Nance and Saine have made solid impressions. Yet, there might not be room for either one of them.

Nance runs harder than Saine and probably is the better player now, but Saine has more upside. He's faster and a better receiver than Nance, and his running ability between the tackles has been better than it was at Ohio State.

DEFENSIVE LINE (6)

Locks: NT-DE B.J. Raji, DE-NT Ryan Pickett.

Good bets: DE Mike Neal.

On the fence: DE C.J. Wilson, NT Howard Green, DE Lawrence Guy, DE Jarius Wynn, NT Jay Ross.

Long shots: DE Eli Joseph, NT Chris Donaldson.

Comment: The knee injury suffered by Neal on Tuesday appears relatively minor. If it had been serious, the Packers would have been in dire straits.

Wilson, the next man up, added 10 pounds in a year and doesn't seem as agile rushing the passer. His record in the one-on-one pass-rush drill is 5-21-5 (.242), which ranks seventh among the 10 D-linemen.

Green has worked himself back into reasonable shape and appears in control of the No. 5 slot. The sixth and last job is a fight among Guy, Wynn and Ross.

Guy (6-11-2, .368) seems to have settled in after a slow start. He's young (21), quick and gives good effort. The reasons are evident why he was drafted in the seventh round. It just depends whether the Packers feel he can hold the point.

Wynn (7-9-4, .450) can be a mild threat as a pass rusher but isn't overly stout against the run, either. Ross (3-22-5, .183) made it to the Saints' final cut last summer and knows how to compete.

LINEBACKERS (8 or 9)

Locks: OLB Clay Matthews, ILB Desmond Bishop, ILB A.J. Hawk, OLB Frank Zombo, OLB Erik Walden.

Good bets: ILB D.J. Smith.

On the fence: OLB Brad Jones, OLB Jamari Lattimore, OLB Vic So'oto, ILB Rob Francois.

Long shots: ILB Cardia Jackson, OLB Ricky Elmore, ILB Elijah Joseph, ILB K.C. Asiodu.

Comment: Smith, a sixth-round choice, stands a shade under 5-11 but has been around the ball all summer. Besides a nose for the ball, he works at the game, runs OK and should be effective on special teams.

Because Jones really isn't thick enough to play inside, the Packers might be forced to keep a fourth inside 'backer. Francois isn't as fast as the more active Jackson or the more physical Joseph, but he's dependable and fluent in the scheme. The club must decide if he's athletic enough to keep.

Jones (3-13-3, .237) seems to have a leg up for what would be either one or two outside slots behind Matthews, Zombo and Walden. Because Jones isn't overly physical at the point or dynamic rushing the passer, he could lose out at the end to Lattimore (3-9, .250) and/or So'oto (7-5-2, .571).

Lattimore is 235 now but in a year easily could be 245. He's feeling his way converting from end, but there have been flashes and his performance on special teams has been really good.

So'oto (6-3½, 260) has the frame the Packers seek at the position but he hasn't played to his power yet. Plus, there are questions about his instincts.

The Packers took a sixth-round flier on Elmore after the outside linebacker position had been picked clean. An end at Arizona, he was drafted as a project based on production.

It didn't pan out. Elmore (1-8-2, .182) has shown next to nothing rushing from a stand-up position, even less trying to stop the run. His game is soft.

SECONDARY (10)

Locks: CB Tramon Williams, CB Charles Woodson, S Nick Collins, CB Sam Shields, S Morgan Burnett.

Good bets: CB Jarrett Bush, CB Davon House.

On the fence: S Charlie Peprah, S Anthony Levine, CB Josh Gordy, CB Pat Lee, S Brandon Underwood, S M.D. Jennings, CB Brandian Ross.

Long shots: S Anthony Bratton.

Comment: Now nursing a hamstring, House showed enough in the first 5½ practices to rate with Bush as the fourth and fifth cornerbacks. Assuming the Packers keep a sixth, it's a contest matching Gordy, Lee and Ross.

All Gordy did in the first 10 days of camp was get beat. But he came alive in Cleveland, showing some of the speed and athleticism that Lee doesn't possess. Sound and seasoned, Lee has done well on special teams. Ross offers corner-safety versatility.

Peprah appears to be the No. 3 safety. He started the last 16 games, makes coaches admire him because he's so smart and is a fearless hitter. However, his limitations in speed and coverage were exposed by the Browns.

Levine almost made the club a year as a rookie free agent from Tennessee State and is improved. He can run and hit, and his grasp of the defense is better, too.

Underwood made it look easy gliding around the secondary for a week before suffering a sprained knee. Athletically, he might rival Burnett. But until he gets back and proves he can hit people in a game, the jury's out.

Jennings isn't out of it because of his play-making knack and cornerback-safety skills.

SPECIALISTS (3)

Locks: P Tim Masthay, K Mason Crosby, LS Brett Goode.

Comment: Perhaps steeled by his training-camp battle with Chris Bryan in 2010, Masthay is fast becoming a top punter.

JSOnline wrote: