Here Are Packers’ ‘Starters’ for OTAs

Reporters got their first look at Green Bay Packers OTAs on Tuesday. Here were the No. 1 units on offense and defense.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers kicked off three weeks of organized team activities on Monday. On Tuesday, reporters got their first look.

Here were the lineups for the first snap of the day.

Packers Starting Offense

Quarterback: Jordan Love

Running back: AJ Dillon (Josh Jacobs is rehabbing an injury)

Left tackle: Rasheed Walker

Left guard: Elgton Jenkins

Center: Josh Myers

Right guard: Sean Rhyan

Right tackle: Andre Dillard (Zach Tom is rehabbing an injury)

Receiver: Christian Watson

Receiver: Romeo Doubs

Tight end: Ben Sims (Tucker Kraft’s left arm is in a sling)

Tight end: Luke Musgrave

Packers Starting Defense

Defensive end: Rashan Gary

Defensive tackle: Kenny Clark

Defensive tackle: TJ Slaton

Defensive end: Preston Smith

Linebacker: Quay Walker

Middle linebacker: Isaiah McDuffie

Linebacker: Eric Wilson

Cornerback: Jaire Alexander

Cornerback: Eric Stokes

Slot: Keisean Nixon

Safety: Xavier McKinney

Safety: Anthony Johnson

Of course, you shouldn’t read too much into who lined up for the first snap of the day. This is merely a starting point, after all.

The draft class, headlined by first-round pick Jordan Morgan and second-round picks Edgerrin Cooper and Javon Bullard, will have to earn their way into the lineups on the offensive line, linebacker and safety, respectively. Moreover, in some cases, specific packages of plays call for specific players. So, the No. 1 receivers for one play might not be the same as the No. 1 receivers for another play.

However, it is worth noting:

- After an offseason of speculation on whether Zach Tom would move to center to supplant Josh Myers – a source told ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky that the team views Tom as a potential Hall of Famer at the position – Tom was at right tackle for the walk-through at the start of practice.

That stands to reason. Right tackle is as much of a premium position as left tackle, and Tom has proven himself an outstanding player at that position.

Of the nine edge defenders with at least 80 pressures last season, six rushed from the defense’s left (or against the right tackle) at least two-thirds of the time. Tom faced them all and gave up one sack in seven total matchups.

- Defensively, TJ Slaton got the first snap ahead of Devonte Wyatt as the tackle opposite Kenny Clark.

“TJ Slaton might be the biggest man-athlete that I’ve ever seen in my life,” defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich said. “If you put a basket right here, my man can two-step jump and dunk that basketball. So, is he athletic enough? There’s no question TJ Slaton is athletic enough to play in this scheme and system.”

- Starting jobs aren’t just handed out, so it was Anthony Johnson at safety and not Javon Bullard alongside Xavier McKinney.

- At cornerback, it’s going to be a wide-open competition to find a starter opposite Jaire Alexander. The lineup to start Tuesday’s practice shows how that competition is viewed coming off last season, when former first-round pick Eric Stokes was limited to three games by injuries and seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine was thrust into a larger-than-expected role.

While Valentine played better than Stokes last year, it was Stokes getting the first-team reps.

“With Carrington, he has that chip on his shoulder,” defensive passing-game coordinator Derrick Ansley said recently. “He has a workmanlike approach. You saw a little bit of that with [seventh-round rookie] Kalen King. We all know Kalen can play football. So, that seventh-round tag is just a tag. He’s going to come in here and prove otherwise, I feel like. I saw some of that in rookie minicamp. He learned quickly. We were playing him inside and outside and he didn’t really flinch.”

“We wanted the picks and we wanted the pass breakups and we wanted total dominance at the line of scrimmage. Sometimes, there’s a difference between being Batman and Robin.”

- Penn State's Terry Smith on #Packers CB Kalen King ⬇️https://t.co/9ewxLmdcR6

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) May 21, 2024

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