OFFENSE (25)QB:
- Jordan Love
- Michael Pratt (R)
- Sean Clifford
Missed: Eason
RB:
- Josh Jacobs
- AJ Dillon
- MarShawn Lloyd (R)
Barely Missed: Wilson
Missed: Howard, Merriweather
WR:
- Christian Watson
- Romeo Doubs
- Jayden Reed
- Dontayvion Wicks
- Bo Melton
- Malik Heath
Barely Missed: DuBose
Missed: Hicks, Stanley, Starkey, Toure, Wayne
TE/FB:
- Luke Musgrave
- Tucker Kraft
- Ben Sims
- Tyler Davis (STs)
Barely Missed: FB Pearson (STs)
Missed: Wilson, Swinson
T:
- Zach Tom
- Rasheed Walker
- Travis Glover (R)
(OGs Morgan and Jennings are backups too)
Missed: Dillard, Tenuta, Jones, Telfort
G:
- Elgton Jenkins
- Jordan Morgan (R)
- Sean Rhyan
- Donovan Jennings (R)
Missed: Newman
C:
- Josh Myers
- Jacob Monk (R)
Missed: Smith
DEFENSE (25)
DE:
- Preston Smith
- Rashan Gary
- Lukas Van Ness
- Kingsley Enagbare
Just Missed: Cox
Missed: Alexandre, Banks, Mosby, Odumegwu
DT:
- Kenny Clark
- TJ Slaton
- Devonte Wyatt
- Karl Brooks
- Colby Wooden
Missed: Ford, Ester, Waege
LB:
- Quay Walker
- Edgerrin Cooper (R)
- Ty'Ron Hopper (R)
- Eric Wilson (STs)
- Isaiah McDuffie
- Kristian Welch (STs)
Missed: Goforth, Young
CB:
- Jaire Alexander
- Eric Stokes
- Keisean Nixon
- Carrington Valentine
- Corey Ballentine
Just missed: Kalen King (R)
Missed: Gilbert, Green, Rochell
S:
- Xavier McKinney
- Javon Bullard (R)
- Evan Williams (R)
- Anthony Johnson Jr.
- Kitan Oladapo (R)
Just missed: Benny Sapp III (STs)
Missed: Anderson, Coyle
SPECIAL TEAMS (3)
- K: Anders Carlson
- P: Daniel Whelan
- LS: Matt Orzech
Missed: Joseph, Turner
Last Couple of Spots3rd QB vs 4th RB:
Gute has been saying it wants to get back into the QB development business, and when I have written off statements like that from Gute, he has proved me wrong. So I think they could actually be trying to keep 3 QBs, and that could be why we have brought in the extra QB coaches. Plus draft pick QB over UDFA RB, and QBs are harder to find than RBs.
5th DE vs 5th DT
Building rosters is partly all about the numbers, and traditionally 4-3 teams often keep 4 of each DE and DT. So it might be hard to get 5 of each.
Honestly, going with the extra DE makes more sense as Gary and Van Ness can drop down and play a rotational DT role, and I saw a report that said Van Ness has been doing more of this in camp so far this year. Plus STs, the DE would probably be more helpful. That being said, draft picks vs UDFA again, I just felt like they might want to keep Wooden over Cox. Logically, I think it's DE over DT, but I just need to seem more of Wooden and Cox before I could pull that trigger.
Whom is the 5th Safety:
I'm going to assume that McKinney and higher and healthy draft picks Javon Bullard and Williams are locks. Which to me leaves Johnson, Oladapo and Sapp. In college, Johnson was basically a CB, and even when he supposedly got moved to Safety his final year, that was mainly nickel and dime up front roles, he basically had no experience deep until his rookie year with the Packers. Oladapo is currently injured, missing time, and he's long legged and struggling with quick change of the direction, a lot to like, but he can't get too far behind. I don't know how Sapp is as a Safety, but sometimes he can be shockingly good as a ST gunner, STs coach might demand he sticks just for that. Also, once again, going with the draft picks over the UDFA here.
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Not one of my final spots, but I figure this could be a questioned decision.
Whom is the 5th CB and why only 5 CBs?
Simply put, Gute and LaFleaur have gotten away from keeping 6 CBs (4 S) and have seemed to go with 5 CBs (5 S).
Some will believe that Ballentine is the odd man out, and he might be, and he might have the 6th best coverage of the group... but last year, they benched Valentine (whom is better in coverage) for Ballentine, because of Ballentine's run defense and tackling abilities. With this defensive scheme, in theory it's going to force the ball out of the backfield quicker, but that means players will have to rally and wrap up quicker too, and that change really suits Ballentine's style of play.
Also, I'm guessing LB Kristian Welch will be a surprise for most, but he made it onto the 53 man roster last year as a STer and I believe (at least back in the day when Packers used to run 4-3) 4-3 teams used to carry 6 LBers and Packers have been carrying 5 ILB while in the 3-4 with only 2 starting spots, as they wanted more LBers for STs.