Five Players to Watch in Preseason Opener

The Green Bay Packers will take on the Cincinnati Bengals tonight. Starters are likely to see little, if any action. Here are five players that need to make a mark in tonight's opener.

For the first time since January, the Green Bay Packers will take the field in a game situation.

No, the game doesn't count in the standings, but there are players that need to perform well in these games as they fight for playing time or try to make the roster.

All eyes will be on Jordan Love as he is expected to start tonight. That's going to be the case every time he takes the field as he attempts to establish himself as the team's long-term starting quarterback. 

While a good performance would go a long way toward building confidence, tonight's game is not about Love. He's making the roster. He's the starting quarterback.

He's also unlikely to play much more than a quarter.

Here are five players that will play more than Love to keep an eye on tonight. 

Colby Wooden

The Packers' defensive line, like most of the team, is going through a transition. Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry combined for 1,187 snaps a season ago. 

Wooden has impressed in practice, showing the penetrating ability that the Packers liked when they took him in the fourth round of this year's draft. 

Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, and TJ Slaton all are likely to have shorter nights, meaning Wooden should see plenty of snaps. 

Can Wooden flash as a pass rusher like he has during camp? More importantly, can he hold up against the run, where the Packers ranked 31st in Football Outsiders DVOA a season ago?

They'll need to be much better than that in a year in which the defense will need to be the stronger unit with an offense like to suffer through growing pains. 

Tyler Goodson

Coach Matt LaFleur said earlier in training camp they might do things a little differently this preseason at the running back position.

LaFleur acknowledged that it's difficult to find a rhythm in a preseason game. 

Who that back will be tonight is anyone's guess, but Goodson has had reps with the first-team offense. Goodson has a skill-set that fits what the Packers are looking for in a third running back.

With AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones already in tow, the third back is unlikely to be used much in a traditional sense, so it comes down to what else they can bring. 

“Not only does he have to run the ball, but almost more importantly he has to catch it,” general manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters last Friday.

“He has to be able to pass block and play a little bit of special teams because if he’s lacking in that area, if he can’t play special teams, if he can’t pass block, it’s going to be hard to use him on the 48-man roster.”

Whoever the top back is tonight will have opportunities to be used in a traditional role. Keep an eye on opportunities in the passing game, and if they're used on special teams. 

Lukas Van Ness

Lukas Van Ness was a player the Packers targeted when they moved from 15 to 13 in a trade that sent Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets.

Playing with veteran starter Preston Smith at times during camp, Van Ness has had his moments. He certainly looks the part. But this will be his first professional game. It's always interesting to see what happens to players when the lights come on for the first time. 

For example, in Amari Rodgers' preseason debut, he never looked comfortable when he was asked to return a punt. That would carry over into regular season action. Romeo Doubs, on the other hand, looked like he belonged almost immediately. He is in line to be one of this year's breakout players.

Van Ness had a good day Wednesday in the joint practice, even being referred to as a "handful" by "Bengals On the Brain" host Joe Goodberry.

Very good. Van Ness is a handful already. Obviously Kenny Clark too. They struggled with both.

Bunch of pass breakups. Bengals QBs were bad.

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) August 9, 2023

One other interesting thing to keep an eye on is how Van Ness is used. 

When the Packers drafted him, they mentioned a role similar to Za'Darius Smith. Van Ness has yet to move around much as he adjusts to the NFL level.

Will they give him some snaps inside on obvious passing downs? 

Jayden Reed

Jayden Reed (Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images)

If not for Luke Musgrave, Jayden Reed might be garnering more buzz based on his performance in training camp.

His speed jumps out immediately. His skill-set is one the Packers have not had in the slot since Randall Cobb was in his prime. 

Reed needs to work on finishing plays and cut back on drops.

The NFL is an unforgiving league. Reed will need to clean those up to become a consistent contributor in the NFL.

In addition to his time on offense, it will be interesting to see what happens when the Bengals line up to punt. The Packers' unofficial depth chart lists Keisean Nixon as the starter there, but they'd probably like to take things off his plate. 

Reed was a star as a returner at Michigan State. He averaged 15.3 yards-per-return and scored three touchdowns in his college career.

He's looked comfortable and explosive in practice. It will be interesting to see what happens with Reed now that the reps are live. 

Anders Carlson

Carlson appears to have a pretty distinct pattern in camp thus far. He misses the first kick before making the next two.

Tonight, he doesn't get a mulligan. If he misses a kick, there are no do-overs.

Carlson is talented. He's shown plenty of leg, but has lacked consistency.

Carlson's best night came on Family Night, where he hit 9-of-10 kicks, with his one miss being the fault of the field goal operation. He had a good day at joint practices, too, with two of his three misses being from 56 and 60 yards.

Carlson has big shoes to fill. Mason Crosby is the franchise's all-time leading scorer. The Packers will be patient.

“The kicker is out there by himself, and they’re usually put in critical situations where you’re counting on them to come through,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said in May. “If Anders can perform like we think he can and can improve, I think we’re prepared organizationally, as well as with a majority of the other draft picks, to weather the storm to some degree.”

How big of a storm are they willing to weather? That remains to be seen.

For what it's worth, Crosby is still a free agent should the Packers choose to go another route.

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