5 Green Bay Packers Most Likely to Lose Their Starting Spot by Week 8
by Brian Carriveau

Whether due to age, ineffectiveness or lack of consistency, several players on the Green Bay Packers hold precarious grips on their starting jobs.

A poor training camp or a couple mental errors in a game could mean the difference between a spot in the starting lineup and a spot on the sidelines.

No one is throwing in the towel on these players. They'll receive every opportunity to prove themselves this season; they just have to take advantage of those situations.

Donald Driver

Following his attention-getting triumph on the reality television series Dancing with the Stars, Donald Driver's recently restructured contract with more than a million dollars in guaranteed pay has all but assured he'll be part of the Packers' plans in 2012.

But how big of a role will Driver play?

Marshall Newhouse

After a rookie season in which he saw action in exactly zero games, Newhouse was thrown to the wolves in 2011.

Filling in for an injured Chad Clifton, Newhouse had an up-and-down sophomore year.

A.J. Hawk

Solid, not spectacular, might be one of the best ways to describe A.J. Hawk.

The intangibles Hawk brings as a leader––being smart, communicating with teammates, not making mental errors and staying relatively healthy––are all positive traits.

Sam Shields

The unheralded hero of the Packers' 2010 Super Bowl just might have been Sam Shields, a college wide receiver that went undrafted and then made the transition to professional cornerback.

In just his rookie season, Shields played a large role in the Packers' nickel package, shutting down opposing wide receivers and coming up with a couple interceptions at the most opportune times, including the NFC Championship game.

Charlie Peprah

Charlie Peprah finds himself in a similar situation to A.J. Hawk as a player who's solid, but not a standout.

Filling in for injured safeties Morgan Burnett in 2010 and Nick Collins in 2011, Peprah has held down the fort, showing he's good enough to start in a Super Bowl and win it in 2010.